What’s the deal with Animal Plastics these days?

[jmcrook]

They are worth every penny. Focus is also run entirely by a husband-wife team who basically are working 7 days a week. I have no idea how they manage to remain cheerful, friendly, and very responsive to communication but I've had consistently great experiences with them across multiple orders over the last few years. Plus they are constantly innovating and adding more features based on their own experience as keepers as well as customer feedback.

I am in no way trying to trash AP, as I don't question their enclosure quality. It's just that a couple of other companies (Black Box and Focus) are currently producing enclosures of at least equivalent quality and doing so while maintaining great communication with customers and reliable production and delivery times. I kinda feel like AP maybe got complacent based on their well deserved reputation, but they have real competition now and it seems like their customer service and communication around delivery time has maybe not kept up with that reality.

Oh I definitely didn't read into it that you were bashing them. Nor I trying to bash any new cage makers. Just saying that AP has a 22yr track record of quality product. Sure, communication could be better at times and their lead time has always been long and no one likes waiting. But a solid reputation for dependable products for over 2 decades is likely contributing to their consistently high demand which perpetuates the long lead time in spite of newer manufacturers being worthy competitors nowadays.

If I were in dire need of caging with a much faster turnaround I'd give serious consideration to Toad Ranch/Focus Cubed/Black Box. I just personally can't justify paying +/- twice the cost after shipping depending on the cage. If I ever do a full room overhaul for aesthetic reasons I do very much like the faux wood front paneling (and lack of center support beam on the 4' cages) of Toad Ranch cages though. Full walls of those cages stacked up looks super sharp.

[Gio]

It's a tough spot to be in.

How can I say it properly?

The reptile business is small when it comes to businesses in general, but it's huge when your business is one of very few that produces caging that thousands of keepers want.

AP, being a family business likely gets overwhelmed quickly. Some people order multiple large cages at a time that's a lot of work in a short period, but a profitable sale. That said, they build according to demand as having an overstock of cages ranging from 3 feet wide all the way up to 8 feet may become a burden. They base their supply on demand which is probably why things get slow.

I'm not an AP owner, but I'm a fan of the look of the caging and I've heard good things about the quality of the caging.

When I was looking at caging 10+ years ago, I looked into AP, Boaphile and Pro-Line.

I ended up with Pro-Line from Constrictors NW. They no longer make cages.

I do like those Focus Cubed cages! If they start getting a lot of business, AP's orders could drop a bit and the turnaround time may speed up.

As hobbyists, we certainly don't have unlimited choices for a lot of the things we want or need.

Even with few choices, somebody is always leaving the hobby. There are probably some really nice used cages out there.

[Snagrio]

It's a tough spot to be in.

How can I say it properly?

The reptile business is small when it comes to businesses in general, but it's huge when your business is one of very few that produces caging that thousands of keepers want.

AP, being a family business likely gets overwhelmed quickly. Some people order multiple large cages at a time that's a lot of work in a short period, but a profitable sale. That said, they build according to demand as having an overstock of cages ranging from 3 feet wide all the way up to 8 feet may become a burden. They base their supply on demand which is probably why things get slow.

I'm not an AP owner, but I'm a fan of the look of the caging and I've heard good things about the quality of the caging.

When I was looking at caging 10+ years ago, I looked into AP, Boaphile and Pro-Line.

I ended up with Pro-Line from Constrictors NW. They no longer make cages.

I do like those Focus Cubed cages! If they start getting a lot of business, AP's orders could drop a bit and the turnaround time may speed up.

As hobbyists, we certainly don't have unlimited choices for a lot of the things we want or need.

Even with few choices, somebody is always leaving the hobby. There are probably some really nice used cages out there.

Funny you say that, there was a 6x2x4 AP enclosure I saw on Facebook for the longest time, but the money just wasn't there on my end and it has since sold. Sadly, at least in my experience, if you're looking for anything beyond the usual exo terras and glass tanks, the most that tend to pop up are 4x2s and not much on the bigger end aside from the odd, clunky/questionable custom build.

[kath_]

Thank you so much to everyone for their feedback and insight. This is why this community is still my favorite reptile forum since getting my first royal six years ago. You guys always offer valuable insight and while not everyone agrees 100% we can still have a respectful and quality discussion.

I can totally understand the small business aspect of AP. As a small business owner myself, I know the feeling of being overwhelmed all too well. I don’t think they are intentionally choosing to ignore customer service problems. They are just clearly swamped with orders and not enough man power.
That being said, I think I’m going to have to move forward with another company.
Thank you so much to turning me onto other high quality brands!

As I’m reading through these posts it makes me realize how much the industry has changed in such a short amount of time. While it can be challenging and confusing, I’m just glad there are still forums out there like this one that I can turn to for guidance. It always seems like we genuinely support each other and want to give our animals the best quality of life.

[Snagrio]

Well, can't say my latest experience has been good so far. To begin, I literally leave tomorrow for vacation for a week which is why the chain of events are so staggered because I've been busy getting things in order.

Packages arrived a few days ago, and I got around to opening them up last night. Immediately noticed one of the glass panels was broken. Fully opened the boxes today and it was not only broken but in a million pieces. Called AP and left a voicemail, probably won't hear back till tomorrow and will have to see if they'll sent a replacement panel the week after this one when I'm back home. The thing I noticed during all this was there were no "fragile/handle with care" labels on any of the boxes. One would think you'd put those on boxes full of sheets of glass.

[jmcrook]

That’s on the shipper, not AP. They’ll make it right but also a good reminder to open packages asap upon receiving.
As for not being labeled fragile, UPS/FedEx don’t care what’s written on the box. I send dozens of packages around the country every year and have even had 3/4” thick plywood shipping crates with FRAGILE written all over them come back to me completely twisted and broken.

[mistergreen]

That’s on the shipper, not AP. They’ll make it right but also a good reminder to open packages asap upon receiving.
As for not being labeled fragile, UPS/FedEx don’t care what’s written on the box. I send dozens of packages around the country every year and have even had 3/4” thick plywood shipping crates with FRAGILE written all over them come back to me completely twisted and broken.

This is true. Fragile label is nothing more than enough excuse to charge the shipper more.

[Bogertophis]

While it's always a good idea to label pkgs as "fragile" if they are, it doesn't guarantee any special handling with all shippers, including the USPS- because automation doesn't read that & packages (including padding inside) are supposed to be adequate to protect the contents- no employee is going to hand-carry your pkg. around- it's going to tumble along with all the others, & some of those are bigger & heavier than yours.

@ Snagrio: that's heartbreaking to wait so long for this arrival, only to have part of it broken. And yes, as jmcrook mentioned, you should ALWAYS open pkgs immediately upon arrival to address any issues with the sender, including damages or incorrect contents. When you wait, it gives them time to imagine that YOU broke it, & not the shipper. But I expect they'll make good anyway.

Sometimes it does seem like marking "FRAGILE" on a pkg is a total waste of labeling. Many years ago when I had some Neodesha enclosures shipped to me, they were huge* & had sliding glass doors- (*Neodesha cages didn't disassemble to ship flat like yours). The boxes said "FRAGILE" & "GLASS" in huge lettering, but UPS paid no attention & tossed them over a 5' locked fence without a care. Amazingly, nothing broke, but r-e-a-l-l-y people??? (As I recall there wasn't even padding of any kind inside the box- but Neodesha cages had rounded corners & the plate glass was firmly in place, so all I could figure is that they "bounced well".)

[Snagrio]

Good news, I got the callback already. They will ship the replacement door next Monday after I am already home again and I emailed them the pics of the damaged door for the claim.

[kath_]

@Snagrio, holy cow I would actually start crying. Especially after waiting for that long! I am SO sorry that happened but I’m glad it seems to be heading in a positive direction. FedEx is definitely the biggest offender when it comes to shipping. Did you hear about how Alabama locals found over 400 FedEx packages abandoned in the woods? And then it happened again in a nearby ravine!

@Bogertophis, thank you so much as always for the great insight. Lol idk if you’ll remember me but you’ve been helping me on these forums since I got my first BP back in 2016 and then my BCI in 2019. So glad to have you around!