Good pet store!

[led4urhead]

While i was in Wheeling WV yesterday, i decided to cross over the river and head to a petstore in St. Clairsville OH. I'm a sucker for pet stores, esp ones that have herps. Most pet stores you go into, whether it be chain or local, usually have reptiles in less than perfect conditions, but not this one. I was amazed at the amount of care they gave their reptiles and amphibians. Each snake had a water bowl and two hides! There weren't multiple animals in the same enclosure, and when i walked in there was an employee cleaning cages. I wandered over to the herp section and marvled for a few seconds before she asked me if i needed any help. I told her that i was amazed at the care they were giving their herps. She responeded by saying that she was the one who took care of the reptile section. She cleans cages everyday, replaces water everyday, and is the one around when anyone wants to get anything out of the cage. After chatting with her for about 20 mins or so she definitely knew her stuff or knew where to find the information for the questions i was asking . They had a couple of king snakes, one very large bp, two baby burms, and a kenyan sand boa. They also had a myriad of other lizards and frogs. All the cages were clean with no sign of feces left over anywhere and the water was fresh. I was impressed and would definitely recommend it to someone in that area. Its called Pet Surplus in St. Clairsville OH. The other animals looked just as good. My buddy buys fish from there and says that he's never had a problem. The staff is very friendly and willing to answer your every question, trust me on this .

Just thought i'd share.

[sophie42204]

It's so nice to hear a good experience @ a petstore for a change. I wish I could find the same down here. So far I've been very disappointed and I've been here 5yrs....but my quest will continue!! I've actually been thinking of the possibility of opening my own pet store, but unless I found someone way more knowledgable than me when it comes to herps, I don't know if I'd have a herp section--maybe a limited one at least. Besides, I don't have the capital right now, but I do have the experience w/starting and running my own business...maybe someday!!

[Marla]

Good to hear, Carson! i may never be in the neighborhood, but if I am, I'll want to check out that store.

[usaforanarchy]

That's awesome because the closest pet store to me is a Pets Mart that has horrible animal conditions. They have three beardies, one looks starved, in about a 1 x 1 x 1 cage. They have about four water dragons that are a little bit bigger than babies in a cage about triple that which is okay. But they have another 1 x 1 x 1 cage that holds two mountain horned lizards. They also have a couple leos and frogs that are housed badly. I like their sudden interests in herps but they need better housing

[Anonymous]

Sophie theres actually a lot of breeders/petstores that are really good down here. For example theres a store in Boca Raton called - Underground Reptiles, which is wonderful

[sophie42204]

Blink, Boca is a bit far for me to be going for a casual run to the petstore. I should have specified and said I haven't been able to find any in the Bay area thus far. If you know of any near me, please let me know!!

[led4urhead]

I thought it was great to find the one i did. Granted its about 2.5 hours away ( if you average about 85 or so you can make the 170 miles in a little under 2 hours ), but it think its still great to see a manager/owner of a petstore providing a good home for their herps and all other pets

[Anonymous]

Best Way to find Breeders/Reptile Stores in Tampa would be attending a Reptile Expo in Tampa ... I'll try to find an expo in your area.

Edit -
http://www.reptileandexoticanimalsho...ter/index.html

F.I.R.E will have an Expo in Tampa on Oct 1st and 2nd.

[sophie42204]

AWESOME!! I was so bummed I missed it in Orlando as it looks like a pretty kewl show...thanks for the tip!!