Where do you shop?

I was just curious to see where everyone shops for thier reptile needs? Supplys and reptiles. I go to Petsmart alot because its the closest store to me but i dont buy any animals there.

I can usually get 100% cypress mulch (substrate) from Lowe's or Home Depot. For everything else I may need, I usually shop online or make myself to save money. I'm all about pinching pennies where I can. For Sterilite tubs, and water dishes (I use plastic jar lids for the babies' tubs) I go to Walmart or Target.

I do occasionally shop for supplies at Pet Supplies Plus because I get my cat food a bit cheaper there. I like to browse the reptile assortment in any shop I go to. My favorite shop for browsing would probably be Fins N Skins in Knoxville for the variety and overall friendliness of the employees. My least favorite was Exotic Pet Center in Pigeon Forge because of ill-kept animals and ignorant employees.

I buy my Aspen from Target and my pinks/fuzzies from Fins N Skins. I don't really need anything other than that.

I actually started going to pets etc. near the kroger of kingston pike. The have the compressed coconut husk bark, and all kinds of weird animals and fish. They had an octopus in there last time i was there. I usually go to critter barn just cause it is sooooo close to me. I only buy crickets and super worms from them. They never count them so you walk away with 2-3 dozen when you pay for a dozen crickets. Not so much on super worms. I do go to pet supplies plus from time to time but I never really buy anything any more from them. I actually don't really like fins n skins. It just kinda gives off a vibe that I don't like, not to mention it is the worst smelling pet store around and idk why lol. They are also crazy priced for snakes. I usually jsut make my own tanks or salvage them from garage sales, and I have all the lamps I need I think so I pretty set.

yeah, fins and skins smells putrid. Not sure if its the fact that he breeds a bunch of bearded dragons there... But it just smells like a "stale stink" in there. Prices are a little high though, but generally has some nice animals.

I order my crickets in bulk from critterbarn generally, they are very good with prices there imo.

If im in a pinch and i need crickets i go to Petsmart. I just cant believe they sell their crickets for 11 cents a pieces.. thats a rip off. Petco is 13 cents a piece for a fucking cricket.

For my actual animals, I buy them from reputable breeders on forums or while im at shows. shipping is a bitch, but i get animals that i know the full genetics of. I dont like little hidden secrets.

When I've noticed an odor at Fins N Skins (I don't always), I am about 90% certain it's related to the fish room or the big show reef tank at the front of the store. Last time I smelled something, it was a sharp ammonia smell that I got very familiar with when I worked at Pet Care.

For most supplies, I shop online, though I do buy a few water dishes, logs, and such from Critter Barn because they are the cheapest around. But I won't buy any animals from them. When I once went in, Larry tried to feed me a line of BS. I hadn't believed the stories people had told me that "he'd fill you full of bs if he thought you didn't know what you were doing" until I actually experienced it for myself.

I abslutely refuse to ever set foot inside the PetSmart in Alcoa again, as the last time I was there, the guy working there in the reptile area was blatantly rude to me (after I was first ignored). I did have half a mind once to go in there and start passing out business cards for myself to any customers in the reptile department, but I restrained myself. LOL

But I do like Fins -n- Skins. I agree that he can be a bit overpriced from time to time, but otherwise Mike and his staff are really nice and helpful. Still telling everyone they need to feed their snakes outside their usual enclosure, but that's neither here nor there, and can be overlooked. Mike will also occasionally buy snakes from private breeders in the area, provided he isn't overrun with the species you are trying to sell him at the time. He's bought some of mine in years past. I've bought a snake from him, as well as some supplies.

Im right there with you on the Petsmart in Alcoa. I usually have to wait 5-10 minutes for crickets when i run out because the people are no where to be found. They also like to take their sweet ass time getting stuff for you. God I miss Petland for my crickets... ask for 10 dozen, you end up with around double that for the 10 dozen price.

I buy all of my gecko's from well known breeders off of various forums... but i still do go to the Herp shops around here for bulk feeders or other random items i need.

Critterbarn's prices are generally rock bottom, and that draws me towards them. i STILL dont get how they are selling Herptivite for $7.55 when EVERYWHERE else (even online) is selling it for $14.99.

Fins and Skins is probably the most pleasing to visit because it is very convenient and in a an overall better spot than most. Nice animals, good staff, and pretty decent prices. The overall setup and feel of the store is pleasing.

We need a full service Reptile Shop in Maryville so i dont have to drive to knoxville!!

Is there nothing in Maryville?

The problem I have with Critter Barn and Fins N Skins is the people. I go into Critter Barn for most of the bulbs and bedding mainly cuz they're close to home but they are all abunch of dicks, not just Larry.

Mike and the guys at Fins N Skins are nice but the problem for me is they seem very reserved about trying to help a customer until the customer tracks them down and needs something

QuietTempest wrote:

Is there nothing in Maryville?

just petsmart. There used to be a little shop that had herp supplies, but it was shutdown... and petland recently closed down due to the puppy mill situation.

Ehatcher wrote:

QuietTempest wrote:

Is there nothing in Maryville?

just petsmart. There used to be a little shop that had herp supplies, but it was shutdown... and petland recently closed down due to the puppy mill situation.

I do think the puppy mill thing was part of the reason, but I also think their prices contributed to it. They got rid of the puppies, but were still going there for a bit. But did you ever buy a mouse/rat feeder from them right before they closed? The last time I bought rats there, smalls were $7.99 each! They were $3.99, and suddenly jumped to $7.99. I asked about frozen, and they said yeah we have them. I asked how much, and they said "same as live."

I was very glad to find a local rat breeder, needless to say. And then I went and bought the whole colony from the guy when he decided to get out. I still get some feeders from Shane, though, since I've had issues getting my rats breeding. But my breeders were getting kind of old, and I think that may be contributing to it a bit. I've got some young females that are just now breeding size, so hopefully I'll have some feeders from them soon.

I saw a pet supplies plus in oak ridge I think or alcoa. I didn't knwo there was another one.

Yeah, there's a Pet Supplies Plus in Oak Ridge. I haven't been there in a very long time, though. Last time I was there was with Ashley (misskellington) and the sales chick there was too afraid of a little Kenyan sand boa to get it out for us. She gave us the keys and we just checked out everything we wanted. lol

well last time i tried to get a kenyan sand boa out from pet supplies plus it bit me over and over lol i could see how a clerk could be afraid.

But it was TINY! Seriously, no bigger than a pencil. lol Ashley and I got it out and it didn't do anything. If it was pissy it was probably because of the way they were housing it. The poor thing was in blue and being kept on fine sand that was embedded around its eyes. It would have looked and felt a lot better if they kept it in shredded aspen.

There is also a Pet Supplies Plus in Fountain City. So i guess that makes 3 in our area? Kingston Pike, One off of Broadway, and one in oak ridge?

I shop at critterbarn for all my supplies and have no problem with larry or any other employee. Larry helped me save my friends leopard gecko she was viscious (still is ) wouldnt eat and larry recomended minerial oil she started poopin then started eating shes still hatefull but we love her. He let me call all the time when i had my first batch of baby berdies and always answered my questions. He is a very straight forwrd kinda guy but i like him. im sorry it seems he hasnt been as friendly with everyone else. As far as new critters i get them on craigs list from ppl that can no longer take care of them im a sucker cant say no lol

I shop at Critterbarn. The Petsmart here in Maryville/Alcoa is pretty awful. I don't like Petsmart in Knoxville much either, but it is not as bad. I am glad that Petland closed here. It was way overpriced and they had gotten rid of their reptile section.

Critterbarn may be a little messy but Larry has quit smoking in the back for the most part. He is really kind about helping out with animals. I took a snake in to see him twice to get his opinion on a problem it was having. He knows a lot about snakes. It could be a great store if they would just keep it clean! I almost want to work there free just to clean stuff up a bit, but I bet I'd get on their nerves.

Oh and their feeders there are so darned cheap.

Eh.. I've never been impressed by Critter Barn or the people working there. Larry is knowledgeable in some areas but he has a tendency to pull answers out of thin air when he doesn't know the answer to your question or isn't familiar with an animal you're asking him about. It's easy to be misled if both you and he are unfamiliar with the animal in question.

Their method of sexing animals has become a pet peeve of mine as well. I've talked to more than a few people who have had their snakes sexed by Larry. He doesn't pop or probe. He just looks at them. There are only a handful of snakes that can be sexed visually. I've popped/probed for people and Larry's guesses on their have been wrong on every one that I've checked. Mike at Fins N' Skins does probe snakes but charges $5 to do so.

If you want inexpensive feeders, I highly recommend buying from some of the breeders here on this forum. Not trying to undercut local businesses but when your collections grow large it's just ridiculous to pay retail price for food.

Mmm, I don't like to buy live feeders. I much prefer frozen. Also, I prefer to buy from CB because I would be very unhappy to see them go out of business. Even if some of their practices are questionable, they could never be as terrible as some of the large corporate chains. I hate to see small businessmen run out by these moneymakers who don't even care for their animals.

Dagan wrote:

Mmm, I don't like to buy live feeders. I much prefer frozen. Also, I prefer to buy from CB because I would be very unhappy to see them go out of business. Even if some of their practices are questionable, they could never be as terrible as some of the large corporate chains. I hate to see small businessmen run out by these moneymakers who don't even care for their animals.

I used to work for Pet Care Warehouse on Clinton Hwy and kept only a few snakes at the time. My total cost for feeding just 4 snakes at the time was nearly $50 each week! Prices have increased since then (small rats used to be $2 when I was working at PCW and nowadays they're at least twice that in most shops) but because I've been fortunate enough to find local breeders and have an arrangement with a rodent vendor that comes through town. Now I have a few dozen snakes and babies on the way but my feeder bill usually doesn't break $40 each week.


Our breeders here offer both live and frozen if you need them, but to each his or her own. I can understand and respect wanting to support a local business you like.

Lol, see, I don't have the same problem you do. It costs me maybe 6 dollars to get the feeders I need for five snakes. If that.

Dagan wrote:

Lol, see, I don't have the same problem you do. It costs me maybe 6 dollars to get the feeders I need for five snakes. If that.

How many/what kind of feeders are you getting each week at that rate?

3 adult mice, 3 hoppers, and some peaches, all frozen

I'm not a big fan of dealing with frozen rodents because thawing them out just takes so long and I have a tendency to forget about them and then have a nasty mess to clean up later when I do remember. I buy live and keep them fed and watered until I need them. I prefer offering fresh/killed to my snakes but start babies out on live. Whatever isn't eaten by one snake is offered to another and if I have anything left over, it is frozen for later use.

If you have space in your freezer, you could also look into RodentPro and stock up on what you need. It would save you a great deal of money. They've always got sales going and for what you use, you would be paying $0.14- $0.35 for each feeder used. Just a thought.

Critter barn can be alright, out of the choices near us I do agree with you Dagan. It is better than pet smart, and is decently close, for me. It is a bit farther for you. The feeders there are cheaper than other stores but when you can get feeder rats from some one who breeds them they are much cheaper. I have 3 snakes, plus one who is at Quiet tempest's place right now.

I have never ordered frozen feeders online because I have heard that the shipping can be quite expensive. Other than that, I personally don't like feeding live because they can injure the snake, besides the fact that my family is highly allergic to rodents. I'm willing to bet the freezer helps kill any parasites they might be carrying as well.

I will check RodentPro sometime. Do they have a website? I guess I could Google it...internet laziness strikes again.

F/T isn't that hard once you get a system going. It takes about 45 minutes for all of the feeders to thaw completely in a bag in hot water. Then I just feed each snake, and it's all done.

Dagan wrote:

I have never ordered frozen feeders online because I have heard that the shipping can be quite expensive. Other than that, I personally don't like feeding live because they can injure the snake, besides the fact that my family is highly allergic to rodents. I'm willing to bet the freezer helps kill any parasites they might be carrying as well.

I will check RodentPro sometime. Do they have a website? I guess I could Google it...internet laziness strikes again.

F/T isn't that hard once you get a system going. It takes about 45 minutes for all of the feeders to thaw completely in a bag in hot water. Then I just feed each snake, and it's all done.

I don't like feeding live, either, because of the potential for injury to the snake. I use live to coax hatchlings into taking their first meals and I like to get them accustomed to taking p/k or f/t feeders before I sell them. It just makes things easier for both the snake and its new owner.

I've never had an issue with parasites on my feeders but I am rather picky when it comes to buying feeder rodents. I've gotten some really healthy rats from stores and from locals but I've also gotten some really gnarly ones from the same. Honestly, the best looking bunch of feeders I've bought came from one of the people advertising here and a few other local forums.

Here's RodentPro's website - http://www.rodentpro.com

When you buy from them in bulk, the shipping really isn't that unreasonable. You can easily buy a year's worth of food for a few snakes this way. You could split shipping and qualify for quantity discounts if a group of people go in on an order together. That's certainly something that we could do here if enough people were interested.

With me, I'm a stay at home mom to two kids (age 3 and 5) so finding time to devote to thawing out frozen rats can be difficult. For me, it's simpler to just euthanize what I'm going to be using and feed it off right then. No waiting and no having to bring out a hair dryer to warm up a rat's head to get a fickle snake interested. I have never had a problem feeding f/t to any of my colubrids, but there are several pythons here that just have no interest in frozen dinners. I don't have any problems out of them when offering fresh killed rats, but it can be really hard to coax them into accepting a frozen rat without going the extra mile and heating/re-heating its head or scenting it.

well I don't have much of a problem with f\t. I roll a rat up in the heat tape I have spare and turn up the temp lol it works just fine.

The Anti-Poon wrote:

well I don't have much of a problem with f\t. I roll a rat up in the heat tape I have spare and turn up the temp lol it works just fine.

That's definitely an interesting use of heat tape. lol

I've never had a snake refuse f/t before. In fact my supposedly WC snake, Kubrick, will NOT eat if it "moves" to much when I offer it! Haha.

Dagan wrote:

I've never had a snake refuse f/t before. In fact my supposedly WC snake, Kubrick, will NOT eat if it "moves" to much when I offer it! Haha.

Yeah. My colubrids never turn down a meal (with the exception of a few stubborn hatchlings last year that had to be coaxed into their first few meals). They're so easygoing. It could be cold and wet but as long as it smells faintly like a mouse, they'll chow down on it. I can always rely on my corns to scarf down leftover mice when the intended snake didn't feel like eating them.

Critterbarn is great for prices. The guy that works the front generally gives me 250+ crix when i buy 100, so i cant complain there. Most of their multivitamins and calcium are cheap as well.

For my other stuff i use Wal-Mart. Paper Towels for substrate and sterilite/rubbermaid for my racks.

That's cause eric is cheap :-P