Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will probably post this elsewhere as well, as it is pertaining to more than just kingsnakes. My question is: I know the certain permits and such to have your own pet store, but aside the from the legalaties, is there any special training or education required to have your own pet store? Degrees and such. I have a good deal of experience in the handling and husbandry of various animals, and although I may ask different questions about personal experiences, I believe that I could run my own outlet. All i know is that the pet store we have locally, which is the only one within 50-75 miles of it's location, is absolutely horrible. I hate going in there, and very rarely purchase anything other food or supplies from them. I have put several questions to the owner and her assistant, and usually get an argument or an answer which is completely unsatisfactory. Most people are willing to take the extra trip in order to get higher quality animals, but of course I would like to offer some high quality and expertise within my own community. So, besides the need to acquire the nessecary permits and regulations, is there any special education that is required? I am not a breeder yet, as my home is not designed for that, but of course I also plan on incorporating that into this endeavor. So, any ideas would be very helpful, and of course the advice I have received on this forum has been beyond helpful. Thank you again.

As an afterthought, I would say that closest quality pet store would be more in the vicinity of 100 miles away.

It's a huge investment. I know that much.

The local pet store here - they make a lot of their money on food and quality AKC bred puppies (no puppy mills or backyard breeders).

It's the darndest thing - I'll be in there, and some guy who drove up in an older car that looks like it needs new tires and sounds like it needs a tuneup will drop $1500 to buy his 7 year old daughter a puppy that looks just like the puppies animal control has available for adoption.

They also make a lot of money on fancy packaged food and on their dog grooming service.
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3.6 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
2.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Yeah, you'll make alot of money off of canned cat food also. You have to make sure that even if you like reptiles more, it will be worth the while to be stocked in food and supplies for every type of pet. Also fish make money like crazy. I know our pet store orders from Reptile industries for our herps, and H&H for other animals. You'll have to get contacted with suppliers and stuff too. I really wish you alot of luck.
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-J.Hill

I'm not sure about alot of the permitting, etc......but from what I've experienced in almost ALL pet stores, they certainly have VERY little, to NO experience with reptiles,unless you go to one that "specializes" in them...and I'm pretty sure their not "scholars" in the other animal areas either!!LOL......I think if you have some "well-rounded" knowledge with alot of different animals,stay dedicated, and take good care of them, along with cleanliness, you have a great chance at being very successful at it!...I'll bet it's more difficult than some would think......good luck!...................................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

>> is there any special training or education required to have your own pet store?>>

Unfortunately.. NOT..

But, it sounds like you will have the market locked up if you run a clean shop and provide valuable and correct information on the animals that you plan to sell.

~ Mike

were are you trying to locate this shop at?

Western Marland

ahh... ok... I was hopin it'd be a little closer to western PA... I'd love to see a decent petshop around here... A friend of mine wants me to open up a shop with her here, but I just don't think she'd be reliable enough to make it worth the effort... let me know if you get one opened though... I'm always lookin for a good excuse to take a roadtrip

Yea, I will do that. I'm starting classes now to get my degree in business management, and hope to have something going before too long. I just know that we need a decent store here. Our local shop is horrible. I don't but animals from there unless it was a new arrival and then I watch it for a couple weeks and see the health and progress, and make sure that it is worth the investment. I generally head out of state when I buy most animals though. Examples of how bad this place is: One, they had a corn snake and his water dish had spilled, soaking the cage. I mentioned it to the girl, she wasn't too concerned. A week later when buying food, the cage is still wet. Next week, still wet and the neonate corn is showing signs of respitory problems. Sagging skin, heavy pronounced breathing, looking pretty bad. I tell the girl again. She says, "No, he's fine. Trust me, he's fine." It's an argument every time. I had never had mites before, and after purchasing a live mouse, I had a bout with mites. Nothing serious, one treatment and the cage was clean, snake is happy again. But I mentioned to the girl that mites came from her live feeder mouse supply, she might want to check it out. Again, an argument ensues, I just shut up and leave. I'm starting to buy my food online so I have less reasons to go in there. I have been going in to watch to progress on a blood python they recently acquired. The girl knows hardly anything about it. It's still young, but when I ask her to hold it, she handles it a little too (what word do i want to use, "un"- cautiously, not a word. lol) nonchlantly for my taste, as though she were holding a king or a ball python. I mention to her about the nasty attitude bloods tend to have, she brushes it off of course. I'm waiting to watch her get nailed one time. I hold the snake, beautiful snake, but I'm also keeping a constant eye on the head and watching that I don't make sudden jerks near the face. She is going to get tagged so hard one of these times. Her hands are moving constantly in front of his face. Just once, WHAM, I wanna see it. lol. Ok, this page was far too long. I wish you luck in PA, and I might have to take a road trip myself.

Sounds like the situation around here... the only petshop in town here focuses completely on dog grooming... and they're constantly out of feeder mice, so I just got pissed and started breeding my own... theres a decent shop about an hour away, and the guy in charge there knows his stuff, as long as its fish related lol... everytime I go in there he's asking me to look at his snakes and asking for advice... At least he's trying to learn though...

Yeah, Like I stated before, most stores are just notorious for knowing almost nothing when it comes to reptiles(there are exceptions though). I went into a local shop a while ago, and noticed they had a Rough Greensnake(Opheodrys aestivus)that was sold to them as a Green Ratsnake(Senticolis triaspis)!lol. She claimed that it "just won't eat that pinkie!"(she had one in the cage with it).....Sooo, after telling her what it "REALLY" was, I told her it will scarf down insects like grasshoppers, crickets, etc......she was embarrased, but appreciative. I always tried to help her out whenever possible as I've sold several snakes to her in the past......Another store, just a couple miles from there had a Mountain King(L.p.knoblochi) listed in his store as a Honduran Milksnake!LOL...... And as a beautiful, well established two-footer with a huge meal in it's belly, I would of bought it in a "New York minute" at his "marked-up" pet store price of only $99.99!!LOL....but again,I also have sold him hatchling snakes, so I told him what it actually was as well, and he could also get more money for it.....he said he'd been trying to sell it for a LONG TIME, and just couldn't get rid of it!!LOL.....WOW!!! again, because most people don't even know what they're looking at anyway!LOL...........as a matter of fact, there's almost ALWAYS snakes that are marked incorrectly in just about every store I've ever been in!.... .the point is, most people that run pet stores know precious little about good ol' reptiles, that just the way it is.................................................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

To be honest, I am a quiet reserved keep to myself type of guy, unless I really know what I'm talking about, then I'm going to argue. I don't want to report these guys on anything, but man, I have seen their animals, reptiles in particular, going downhill. I love reptiles, in my opinion the most intelligent and beautiful animals, except for cats, of course. (I don't like dogs, but I have known some great cats. lol) The lady that runs the store just "knows everything" so you can't tell her anything without getting an attitude. I even tried to help her out and hook up with a couple outlets that sell pre-killed frozen mice for .10-.25 a piece, plus shipping, (she pays .75 plus shipping) try to help her make a profit as well as cutting her prices for her customers. Of course, she told me that no one selling them for that price was worth a damn, and their mice weren't very good. And she's always right. Try to help someone out, and you still can't get ahead. Wow. I really hope I can get something going here. Give me 3-4 years to get my degrees in business as well as a few partners/backers, I'm opening this town up to exotics. lol. Aight. You guys have a good night. lol. Thanks for the response.

You guys would love coming into the store I work at. (At least when I'm working) I actually know about the animals we keep. (Although I can do nothing about them ordering WC sometimes)

When you ask is an iguana a good pet, I say no, and direct them to the beardies and leos. Same with retics, burms I direct them to the kings, corns and no matter how much I don't really like them balls.

Plus when there is a sick animal I can actually take it into the back and treat it. (for what I can at least)

Its also not a small shop (which usually they know more) its a pet supplies plus. I guess this is just a lucky situation were the people working actually know the animals not just love them.
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-J.Hill