NARBC shows how the reptile community comes together
Cindy Steinle · Jul 2, 2026
Cindy and Seri at one of the many NARBC Tinley Park shows
Shortly after the March NARBC, Seri Dukart of Gallery Gekko and Creature Care Cards was preparing to go in for her second knee replacement when tragedy struck at home. A fire wiped out both her home and attached dog grooming business. It was a total loss. While most of her animals survived, she lost her beloved African Grey, Toba. With a week to surgery, Seri got everything set. She shipped her geckos across the country to a friend who could hold them until she had a place to live again that was not a camper, a local pet shop opened for her reptile pets to hang out and educate people about reptiles and she ended up finding a place to rent to continue serving her grooming clients. Her home was older and to rebuild, she needed to come up with $10-$15,000 to get the electrical upgrades to get insurance to kick in to start the repairs so she could move back home and restart her life.
