As a developer and landlord of commercial and warehouse property in South Florida, Danburg Properties of Boca Raton is home to hundreds of companies – even one that makes homes for pets. When it comes to creating a home for a fish, frog, snake, gerbil or any of a host of other small animals, inventors with BioBubble Pets know aquariums are so 20^th century. Instead, they manufacturer, market and sell an ideal small-pet habitat right here in Boca Raton.

BioBubble Pets is a line of high-quality, water-tight plastic living spaces for small animals – from fish to rodents, reptiles and amphibians.

The device is the brainchild of inventor and company founder Al Venezia, who formerly set up and maintained salt water aquariums for residences and businesses.

Venezia – himself the owner of a dog, fish, a tortoise, a spiny-tailed lizard, and frogs – was pondering how to get average consumers back into pet ownership, said Brad Stroetz, head of major accounts with the company. While at lunch one day, Venezia saw a snow globe, and he had a vision. He conjured the concept for a self-contained device that could be used for any of a number of small pets.

Like so many inventors and entrepreneurs before him, Venezia sketched his concept on a napkin. The concept went to design phase, then to prototype. By 2011, the first BioBubble was being marketed to the pet trade. By 2012, it was available nationwide at more than 500 retailers, including online outlets Walmart, Petco, Amazon, Hammacher Schlemmer and others. That will build on the company’s record fourth-quarter sales, which outperformed the entire year, Stroetz says.

Today, BioBubble is manufactured at the company’s factory in China and assembled at its new 12,000-square-foot warehouse and office space at Danburg Properties of Boca Raton’s Boca Industrial Park development. In fact, BioBubble recently moved to the larger location to meet its growing needs, Stroetz said. The location is central – for shipping and logistics, area highways, and shipping ports. Even employees find the location convenient, he says.

“If you took a map and pinpointed everybody who works here,” he says, “we’d be right in the center.”

The company markets the BioBubble Terra for dry environments only (priced less than $100), and the BioBubble Premium, which is designed for dry, salt or fresh use, and includes a water filter, pump, hose and bedding tray (priced around $129). The Wonder Bubble is an entry-level, high-quality habitat (priced under $50) for parents who don’t know whether the family will take to pet ownership, he says.

Company executives hope to be in the center of a growing consumer market – especially moms in their 30s and 40s who want an inexpensive, durable and convertible habitat for whatever pets the family happens to bring home. “If the kids’ interests change, the BioBubble can, too,” he says.

Even teachers find the BioBubble flexible – and inexpensive – enough for various projects, whether teaching about aquatic life, butterfly transformation or terrarium dwellers.

Next up: A much larger, high-end Bio Bubble for the museum, zoo, aquarium or even office environment. Because to executives with BioBubble, the only limitation is the pet owner’s imagination.