Opening a reptile/ petshop in South New Jersey mid. 2012

Good luck with your venture! I was going to open up a pet store several years ago but decided to stick with breeding instead. The best advice I can give to you is to make sure you have a solid business plan and a realistic financial forecasting system in place.
I wish you the best!

I live in the South Jersey area and would welcome a reptile shop! I love your idea of selling the proper caging--something besides aquariums for snakes. We have to upgrade soon and the big chains seem to stock reptiles as an afterthought and the selection of enclosures and supplies for them is horrendous.

We feed frozen/thawed and having someplace to go that stocks those would be a blessing as well. Our choices around here are the big chains (very costly) or tiny all-purpose pet shops that stock frozen feeders that are cheaper but leave much to be desired.

Plus, it would be fun to have a place to just go and browse with other reptile enthusiasts! All-in-all, it sounds like a wonderful idea to me and would welcome your shop with much enthusiasm! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BP-NJ

I live in the South Jersey area and would welcome a reptile shop! I love your idea of selling the proper caging--something besides aquariums for snakes. We have to upgrade soon and the big chains seem to stock reptiles as an afterthought and the selection of enclosures and supplies for them is horrendous.

We feed frozen/thawed and having someplace to go that stocks those would be a blessing as well. Our choices around here are the big chains (very costly) or tiny all-purpose pet shops that stock frozen feeders that are cheaper but leave much to be desired.

Plus, it would be fun to have a place to just go and browse with other reptile enthusiasts! All-in-all, it sounds like a wonderful idea to me and would welcome your shop with much enthusiasm! :)

---

Honestly, I wasn't really planning on selling the Repti-racks cages, but I have been talking to them a lot about using them as display cages in my store, but I was going to order them in about six months to get started on my plans. I suppose since they loved the idea that I could talk to them about selling a few as well, I would only start out with maybe two or three to see how well they sold before ordering multiples.

Frozen rodents as well as live will always be stocked in bulk, to make it cheaper. I will try and prevent ordering by breeding as many as I can, but I am sure that I will have to order some here and there to keep up with the feeder demands.

And of course reptile enthusiasts will always be welcome just to "browse" and have some one to talk to with the same interests!

i wish someone would do this in my area... i live in so-cal but i have to drive 30 - 40 minutes away to get my feeders =\... i don't like buying from petco

At least it would be a relief to actually go to a store that can give out the proper caresheets and husbandry advice!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by anatess

At least it would be a relief to actually go to a store that can give out the proper caresheets and husbandry advice!

---

True that! As a kid my gramps got me anoles for my birthday and all the supplies/info from Petco :( They were ok for a few months before everything went downhill. Now that I've gotten involved in the online community, I almost wonder about printing out some of the BASIC care sheets and dropping them off outside the major pet chain's doors :rolleyes: would make a world of a difference just to let people have that!

large rodents breeding will smell, put in exust fans, make sure the landlord will let you do them.

i found that it was cheaper to buy crickets rather then growing them,

use cages with locks, someone will always try to relocate one or two

use what you sell

you will need to get the electric planed out theres never enought outlets

if you need permits know how to and where to get them

iam sure there is more, good luck

Did you end up opening your store? What's the location I'd love to visit!