Pet shops

EvilKittie

EvilKittie

Well-Known Member
I was in a new local pet shop that sells exotic species, and i was look a chincilla had the same space a a full grown skunk and there was 2 meerkats in 1mx1m boxes.

but what annoyed me was that a BABY albino boa constricter was £450 while the skunk was only £150. It scary!! :mad::mad:
 
Well, we sell exotic livestock at the shop that I work in and we get a complete list of whats available to us each week. I've never seen anything other than the standard reptiles and inverts. I've never seen meerkats or skunks or anything similar. Having said that, I have done work experience in an exotic pet shop that had Ground Squirrells.
 
The pet shop I was originally going to do work experience in had the usual critters, but also a good reptile collection (Leopard Geckos, Bearded Dragons, Hermann's Tortoises, Corn Snakes, Terrapins and an Oriental Water Dragon at one point) chinchillas and a parrot. That closed down due to the recession, and the one I did end up in had a limited collection of things like rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, etc.

I'll be sending my CV off to my local World of Water soon for when a part time position comes avaliable next year, and they have a huge collection: Loads of ornamental fish, lots of marine fish (including things like seahorses, lionfish and freshwater stingrays), reptiles, stick insects, rodents and rabbits.
 
this had cincillas, a mystery rat, meerkats, a skunk enuf snakes+lizards to fill the tropical realm :O
 
EvilKittie said:
I was in a new local pet shop that sells exotic species, and i was look a chincilla had the same space a a full grown skunk and there was 2 meerkats in 1mx1m boxes.

but what annoyed me was that a BABY albino boa constricter was £450 while the skunk was only £150. It scary!! :mad::mad:
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What you do have to remember (not saying you'll agree with it!!!) is that pet shops are not providing longterm housing and nor are they required to meet the standards you would expect if you were to buy the animal.
The pet shop license has specific floor space stipulations for a number of domestic mammals, however I'd be suprised if things such as meerkats, skunks, sugar gliders, african hedgehogs etc are legislated for as yet.

I'm unsure how the cost of the Boa constrictor annoyed you? They are indeed both specialist animals, but the boa is an albino demanding a higher price as they are "desirable", unusual and less numerous than normal type boas (which come in at around 50-100 quid). Prices are about supply and demand not "worthiness" or anything else.
There is a greater market in the UK for an albino boa than there is for a skunk to be kept as a housepet, therefore one commands a higher pricetag.
 
i am often thankful that in australia the situation is so different. we don't even have hamsters here. just guinea pigs and rabbits.

you cant keep ANY exotic reptiles or amphibians other than axolotls.

we can however keep a vast array of exotic parrots and fish (which undergo no substantial quarantine) . and we can also keep ferrets in most states - which one would think pose a serious risk to the environment.
 
the local petshop near me has quite a vast array of exotic and native birds. there is a monkey (not for sale) and a macaw (also not for sale) but some animals that are for sale include.

blue fronted amazon parrots, african grey etc.
 
I have never heard of meerkats as pets, but to me the worst choice would have to be a monkey. Those should not be kept as pets at all.
 
elefante said:
I have never heard of meerkats as pets, but to me the worst choice would have to be a monkey. Those should not be kept as pets at all.
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i agree, but the guy who owns the monkey has had experience in keeping exotic animals does that make a difference:confused:
 
Im Fine With People Having Pet Monkeys If They Can Provide

Large, Clean, Heated Living Area
Food & Water Fresh
Plenty Of Time From The Owner To Look After Them
Other Monkeys
Enrichment
And Basically Things That Zoo's Provide,

I Could Build Something Like Chester Zoo's Lemur Enclosure and keep a monkey, I just dont have the money and time to give it/them a good life
 
I agree that theres nothing wrong with keeping a monkey as long as its not a traditional 'pet' type animal. Keeping it in proper enclosures, with other monkeys and enrichment etc, is no different to what a zoo does. One of my old lecturers at college's dad is a big exotic animal keeper. By which I mean he has lots, not a few larger animals, lol. He keeps Fruit Bats in his attic, which he has converted into a bat cave. I see no problem with this, providing it's big enough, and he's not trying to pin them down to pet them and so on.
 
Huxley Pig and Gouldian Finch, I agree with those reasons for keeping monkeys.
 
In Spain you can pretty much obtain anything that´s not on Cites,unfortunately, if your wallet is fat enough.That includes all manner of venomous species and other animals that are perfectly ridiculous for the non-specialist.Actually, you can get anything that IS on Cites as well, but your wallet needs to be fatter.Disgraceful.
 
you can get pretty much everything in the uk aswell, and £450 for a abino boa in a petshop is very cheap, they where over a £1000 a year ago.
 
EvilKittie said:
i was talking about one that is within its infantcy maybe 6" long
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In many cases, the younger the reptile the more desirable it is to a keeper. It's a lot tougher to sell a fully grown big constrictor to your average shopper, I'd imagine. Not the right mentality if you ask me, but the way it is.
 
groundskeeper24 said:
In many cases, the younger the reptile the more desirable it is to a keeper. It's a lot tougher to sell a fully grown big constrictor to your average shopper, I'd imagine. Not the right mentality if you ask me, but the way it is.
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Probably in the US this is the case with the availability of these animals likely much greater than it is here.

In the UK hobby, the "average shopper" simply does not buy a £450 reptile of any description, whether it gets big or small.
People of little knowledge (who would therefore not be interested in buying the animal at full size if they knew what that was) do not impulse buy animals above a certain pricerange.
"Special interest" Herps such as albino boas and other morphs sell 99.9% of the time to people who know why they are paying a premium for a non-wildtype animal and would therefore likely pay more for a grown on or adult albino boa (which would be closer to breeding age).

In the UK reptile market colour morph animals demand a premium, a price which only increases with age (unlike a normal boa or other normal coloured large boid).
A four year old albino boa would cost considerably more than a 12" neonate and a proven adult albino boa would cost considerably more than that.

I still have no idea why there is some fundamental issue with a 12" neonate albino Boa constrictor costing more (or less) than any other type of animal??? Is it something to do with the other animal being a mammal? Is there some Class-ism here?

You may find this an interesting insight!
Crystal Palace Reptiles


P.S: I worked in the reptile and aquatics trade for 8 years and I dislike colour morphs and the frenzy over them, intensely. ;)
 
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