Great pet shops

[chris]

Just thought that I would sing the praise of an excellent herp shop near me - Select Garden and Pets, just outside Sevenoaks in Kent, England.
This is probably the best shop I have ever seen - they really look after their animals. The people who look after the herps are hobbyists themselves, for the most part, and everything is set up well and healthy. Just as an example, a couple of months agoo juvenile cb pleurodeles waltl came onto the market - select pets got 5 (i think) in. Three have been sold over this time, but the remaining two have doubled their length and are nearly adult.
Also, they generally don't order newts in (the ribbeds were an exception) unless customers ask them to, thus preventing impulse buying of fairly cheap pets. The more senior staff will try to stop customers buyin an animal if they don't think they are capable of caring for it. They also will refund on any animal that dies after importation, rather than saying it was the customers fault (unless it is)
Anyone else know any good shops?
Chris

 

[kim]

Yeah i know of one...

Its in Woburn Sands Buckinghamshire UK. Its Frosts. I have to say i normally dont like buying from Chain store's if they are the 'normal' type of ones where all the pets are crammed together.

I have recently had a Axolotl brought for me. Where the animals where kept it wasnt over crowded and they were all nice a clean.

The axolotls where in a huge tank! there where 6 of them, they were all different sizes (but none were edible size) Good looking water, one thing tho they had no hidy holes.

Before the pet was brought for me they ask some very good questions.. How many axies i had, what size where they and what size was the tank. He made sure that the person buying the axies knew that had to be of around the same size and the tank wasnt over crowded and that is was a good idea buying the animal as they didnt want it going somewhere where is wasnt wanted and was going to be looked after.

They also give you a 14 day guarantee incase the animal dies once you have taken it home, one thing they do ask if for you to bring a water sample in just to make sure the water was in good condition when you introduced the pet.

I'd shop there again!

 

[william]

Moreton Park in Shropshire is also very good they do mainly fish and have a huge range of very well kept specimens and a small reptile/amphibian section. they don't mix species they set the tanks up to show them of to their best while letting the animals have hiding places. they usually ask for water samples and they make sure that the animals go to a good home. unlike some stores that want to sell everything regardless

 

[paris]

there is a big difference here -these good shops are all in the UK. they have severe laws in the uk for animal abuse-even at the amphib level -shop keepers can loose their shop plus the right to keep or sell pets (even their personal ones i believe) for up to 20 years. there is no such law on the books here -and even if a person is convicted of animal cruelty (seen as important here is the US are cats and dogs and large mammals )the law of taking away the ability to keep more would probably be seen as unconstitutional. it was considered a big deal here when petco finally got fined for the poor conditions they keep their 'lesser' animals in. as far as i can tell the smallest they seem to care about is the mammal level -mice and rats have a limit to how many can be kept in what sized cage at one time - even feeder ones.....

 

[chris]

Paris
there are bad shops here as well. Maybe not as bad as some in the US, but they are here. They tend to be the small, tucked away one-off shops though - chain stores wouldn't dare, while the small shops get away with it...
Chris

 

[andrea]

I have one down the street from me that is very good. They do sell cats and dogs, but only from breeders, not puppy mills. They have a few birds, also from breeders, and small mammals. I've never had one of thier fish die on me, and the bunch of koi they put out in the retention-type pond in the shopping center are now huge! They are also very good with their reptiles and herps. They know what situations these animals need to be in to thrive. I have always had good experiences with them. It seems to me that the privately owned pet shops tend to take better care of their animals than the chains, (ie PetsMart and the C.o. FBT disaster..... btw PetsMart... it's a C.o not a C.p!!!!) I will admit that some of the chains in my area have hired competent staff to take care of their animals, but some stick complete dunces into an area. One girl in the reptile/fish department didn't even know what a newt was! Anyway, back to the good stores. I know two really good ones in my area: Pet Safari and Pets Unlimited, both in Clearwater Florida. I know both owners by association, and while some of the pet supplies can be a bit more expensive than a chain (kritter keepers are like 8 bucks there when I can get them for 4 at petsmart), their animal care is tops!