Lizards for Sobriety
“I’ve never done anything the way anyone says you’re supposed to,” says John Mederski. Standing in a basement strewn with hundreds of rats and many unfinished projects, ducking his head to avoid hitting it on the ceiling, John speaks plainly about his past. Having gone to jail over 50 times for drug, violence and alcohol related crimes, John embraced the chaos of a life filled with sex, drugs, and money for nearly 20 years.
Nowadays, he wakes up surrounded by hundreds of reptiles with one of the most well known exotic pet stores in Buffalo. What was once a routine of self indulgence has shed its destructive tendencies into one of discipline and support. A change that was paradoxically only made possible because of his years spent selling drugs.
Like many others trapped deeply within their lifestyle, John wasn’t able to find sobriety all on his own. His solace came in the form of Alcoholics Anonymous – a support group he once stigmatized as Bible-thumping old folks. The rest of his support comes from his girlfriend and business partner Heather Korte as well as an unlikely ally. Lizards.
He was lost and looking for relief in all the wrong places. Growing up with a single working mother, John found that every day was made out to be a job in and of itself. Often living on his own for full days at a time, he made the decision to try to run away. Ultimately he left and came back home over 12 times.
As a youth John was often left hungry and alone. He recalls a time when he was out on the street; in order to stay warm through Buffalo’s harsh winter he had broken into a stranger’s car to sleep. As he looked into the passenger seat he found his next meal: cold beef and broccoli from a chinese restaurant. A small pleasure found in an unforgiving situation.
So when it came time to get a job, kitchen work was a natural choice. The energy and consistency needed in the high stress environment of a kitchen can be too much for many to handle. But for John it was easier than working just as hard to sustain himself on scraps.
“Working in a kitchen is like joining a gang,” John says with a smirk in the corner of his mouth. Working in the kitchen becomes more than just a job that you can compartmentalize. “It’s one revolving world.”
“Anyone that’s going to be a cook is going to be around drugs,” he says matter of factly. Long and stressful days in the kitchen morph into equally long nights of debauchery. Like groundhog day, it can feel like every day is the same as the one before. Wake up, work all day with no breaks, sleep and repeat. Enter: cocaine.
That crisp white powder isn’t just the driving force of the Pablo Escobar and Tony Montana’s of the world. It’s the gas that keeps the workforce functioning. 28% of food workers consume cocaine while 12% engage in heavy drinking, typically while on the job, according to The National Institutes of Health. John, a young businessman strapped for cash, saw an opportunity to make some money. He dove into his new cycle steadfast and headstrong. He started to sell large quantities of cocaine every week while blowing the money just as fast as it was being made.
“I was making anywhere from ten to fifteen thousand dollars a week while spending seven hundred to a thousand dollars every night at bars.” The cycle became clear. He sold drugs to make money to buy alcohol just to repeat it all the next day. John began to get into reptile keeping at this same time, mainly as a show of wealth rather than passion.
“You can only buy so many drugs when you have drugs,” he says. John bought reptiles with reckless abandon; keeping lizards just to show off. They allowed him to keep the wheel of addiction turning while having something to show for the money he made. In between meticulously planned delivery runs and shifts in bars, kitchens and other restaurant work John began to sow the seeds of his future through his budding interest in reptiles.
Dealing drugs is more than just the deal itself. It’s about setting connections, understanding what and where is safe. But most importantly it is about building an image. “No one wants to buy drugs from a scumbag.” Owning scaley skinks, orangesicle crested geckos, foot-long bearded dragons, and anything in between brings intrigue. It also serves to say “I have more to my life than drugs.” They not only served as a kind of iconography for his brand, John started to recognize the reward they offer personally and emotionally.
“Friends you can talk to… they’re like a journal,” he explains. Without words, but far from silent, John grew a bond with many of his animals.
Talking to them in his downtime, as well as having to tend to them everyday and building fully functioning ecosystems inside of tanks for them to thrive all played a part in what was to become one of John’s greatest support systems throughout his recovery.
Friction with law enforcement became a norm. He was arrested enough times to fill out a stamp card – or several. Waking up in jail after a drunken night out became routine. But in early 2020, as the world felt to be ending, John had the foundation of his life shaken to the core.
A car full of weapons, a stomach full of Jack Daniels, a backpack full of thousands of dollars of cocaine and many wanting customers… perhaps the worst time to get t-boned. Fate is a cruel mistress. John’s most monumental arrest was delivered at the fault of someone else.
With this arrest and the potential of twenty-five years of federal prison and a record of 10+ felonies in front of his face, John decided to make a change.
“Hands down, getting arrested was the best thing to have ever happened to me,” he says while his voice falters. After a brief pause, “Alcohol is its own living breathing demon,” he proclaims. The arrest in 2020 put into perspective just how much his life had been controlled by this demon. Having been together with Heather for almost a year by this time, they came to the conclusion that he had to enter into an Alcoholics Anonymous program.
When walking into an AA meeting, you’re met by men in leather jackets, sleeves of tattoos and beards that look like they belong at a viking funeral, women with bleached hair, and all sorts of piercings and spaghetti strap dresses. All walks of life enter into the room and for just a few hours strangers are able to share the deepest parts of themselves to people who truly get it. No matter how absurd, no story is left unheard. But more importantly, no one is treated any differently for their stories.
Through these meetings, John learned the most important factors to maintaining sobriety: building a support system of people close to you. For John, this came through AA, Heather, and the owners of the bar he was still working at. He began to hold himself accountable for the behaviors he had as an addict instead of trying to move on without facing the root of the problem, engaging them with gratitude and acceptance. Having spent time during his addiction engaging in herpetoculture, he already had something to put his attention and time towards outside of himself. But this time with a renewed passion.
“I could sell them drugs or I could sell them frogs,” John says while Beer by Reel Big Fish plays over the radio. With the skills he developed as a drug dealer, he had become a talented businessman as well. Engaging with some success at reptile conventions throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland and Buffalo, he found he had talent as a reptile breeder and vendor. With his soon to be business partner, Heather, they found their first storefront together in 2022. Avalon Exotics, named after John’s daughter, was officially a public business.
Uncomfortably warm, dank, and located in the basement behind a strip club, Avalon Exotics has roots in humble beginnings. But after only a year filled with tremendous sales, many reptile conventions, and continued sobriety from John, he was able to relocate to 70 Webster Street in North Tonawanda. A bustling little street with popular coffee shops, hobby stores, and even bars. Safe to say that Avalon Exotics has made its place in the world.
“Everyone thinks their life sucks. I know that I have lived an amazing life. I sold drugs and my life is half a billion times better for it,” he says. Having been in difficult situations his entire life, John reflects on his history with some regret but ultimately with respect and happiness. Having experienced the craziness of a chaotic life you would see only in the movies, John moved on, finding for himself both legitimate business and a new purpose in life.
Without hustling day in and day out John would not be where he is today, both in drugs and in the gang lifestyle perpetuated from his time in kitchens. He mentions a quote from Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential: “If your grandmother dies, tell her to do it on a day you don’t work.” This mindset is what he comes into his own shop with every single day. He is always prepared to do a hard thing simply because it has to be done.
Standing in the basement of 70 Webster Street, the cold air mixes with the smells of the plants and reptiles. Customers can see the dirt on the shelves as they walk through. But, they can sense the purpose pervading through it all. The business keeps John busy, and being busy keeps his mind off of alcohol. Even sandwiched between two bars – something his parole officer was hesitant about – the obligation to stay sober to himself, his friends, and girlfriend, helped keep John on the right path. The struggle is never over, but without the struggle, he wouldn’t be here now.
“Just take it one day at a time, one hour, one minute. You just gotta get through that moment,” he says. The moments move slowly, but before the blink of an eye four years have blown by. John has been sober since May 18th 2021. For John, the only way to grow is to plant the seeds of change in the remains of the life you need to grow out of.
“Surviving the past is a badge of honor.”
Avalon Exotics will be hosting their first reptile convention on 4/5/25 at the Knights Event center.
2735 Union Rd, Cheektowaga, NY 14227
