What supplies/animals would you want more of in a store?

[trailblazer295]

Originally Posted by Akuma223

Will write those down on the list, maybe see if we can get temp guns you think?

Temp guns are good, personally I know you can buy them in any hardware store for less then one with a reptile brand on it. But hey it will make your suppliers money.

[Tiny Boidae]

A wider variety of prey. My dragons don't just eat crickets and mealworms, and I'd like to see dubias stocked somewhere. And for people with larger/pickier animals, some different frozen prey other than mice or rats would be nice. Maybe chicks, lizards, frogs, etc. It'd be a marvelous world if I didn't have to order all of my prey items online

Another thing I could suggest is maybe printing out a brochure, if you can, of where the animals came from? It'd be reassuring to know if an animal in a store came from an importer or a breeder, and it'd be interesting learning process for some of how the repfile industry actually works.

As far as easy-to-care-for "exotic" exotics, you never do see gargoyle geckos in stores. If the buyer has a slightly bigger cage (not unmanageably large, mind you), red headed agamas or leopard lizards are two beautiful desert gals I'd like to get to know. Skinks are also neat guys, and blue tongues and fire skinks are two guys I can recommend. Sunbeam snakes you'll never see, but are beautiful and easy to care for nonetheless. Chinese beauties are a little on the large size, but they're placid and beautiful animals.

[prairiepanda]

Morphs of the basic species is a great idea. I've seen "fancy" balls and corns in shops, but they're pretty always just pastel balls and amel corns. Some more variety in morphs is bound to attract people who are tired of seeing identical animals all the time.

Skinks and gargoyle geckos are a great idea too; not very common but they're great for beginners. A greater variety of kings and milks would be nice too. I always just see cal kings, MBKs, and sinaloan milks, but Lampropeltis such a diverse genus! I never see rat snakes either; everglades, russians, black rats, baird's, persians, trans-pecos, etc. Loads of beginner-friendly rat snakes with a variety of colours and patterns. There are also some good beginner pythons and boas that I rarely or never see in shops: childrens/spotted pythons, womas, sand boas, rosy boas.

Maybe some invertebrates too? They don't have much of a presence in stores these days...usually there's only rose hair tarantulas, pink toes, and emperor scorpions. Plenty of more interesting beginner species are easily available to add more appeal.

Definitely more prey too, both live and frozen. All sizes of mice and rats(all the pet stores around me have every size of mouse but only small to XL rats, so it's impossible to raise a baby snake on rats without buying bulk online), as well as chicks, bloodworms, fish, and any other frozen prey you can get in the freezer. For live, in addition to crickets and mealworms; silk worms, nightcrawlers, red wrigglers, hornworms, wax worms, and definitely roaches(illegal in Canada, unfortunately, but they're awesome feeders)....and also multiple brands and flavours of gecko food powder.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Akuma223

...Do you have any suggestions on more abstract reptiles that are easy to care for? Something that would catch a customers eye more than a royal or corn? I've noticed with a few customers (as well as myself!) that just having the above mentioned species is boring. This includes any reptile, amphib, invert, etc you can think of.

Be VERY careful with this. The customers who find it boring only want to use the store as a zoo and most likely won't purchase the pricier cool animal. Why would they, they get to see it whenever they want and don't have to put up any money for it.

Your boss might be upset that you're suggesting animals that just won't sell and that's not good.

As sad as it is, the basic stuff is what sells. As suggested, morphs would be a cool way to spice things up without having to teach someone how to care for a brand new species.

With that said, there's a few species that can be added without too much fear of sitting around forever or too costly. Dumerils boa, spotted and childrens pythons, rosy boas, various kingsnakes or milksnakes. Cresteds, gargoyles, leopard geckos, fat tails, small ameivas, day geckos, chinese water dragon, moutain horned dragons, chameleons, bull snakes and pine snakes.

[Akuma223]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Be VERY careful with this. The customers who find it boring only want to use the store as a zoo and most likely won't purchase the pricier cool animal. Why would they, they get to see it whenever they want and don't have to put up any money for it.

Your boss might be upset that you're suggesting animals that just won't sell and that's not good.

As sad as it is, the basic stuff is what sells. As suggested, morphs would be a cool way to spice things up without having to teach someone how to care for a brand new species.

With that said, there's a few species that can be added without too much fear of sitting around forever or too costly. Dumerils boa, spotted and childrens pythons, rosy boas, various kingsnakes or milksnakes. Cresteds, gargoyles, leopard geckos, fat tails, small ameivas, day geckos, chinese water dragon, moutain horned dragons, chameleons, bull snakes and pine snakes.

I wouldn't ask to order anything that wouldn't sell rather easily. Good suggestions btw.

[SnoopySnake]

Better enclosures. I'm talking enclosures that aren't glass tanks with screen lids, I'm not 100% sure how this can be achieved, maybe custom orders or something, but its something I'd like to see offered. Also I'd like to see more pet stores promote bioactive setups, inverts (millipedes, isopods, beetles, ect.), thermostats, infrared temp guns, digital t-stats, hooks, tongs.

[chairman]

Better enclosures would be nice but a business still needs to maximize dollars earned per cubic foot of shelf space. If a store were to order some AP T10s, for instance, how many would they need to order for a discount and how much of a premium would customers pay for not having to deal with lead times or shipping?

Running a retail store is not easy, especially in an industry that leans as heavily on hobby producers as the reptile industry does. If you've ever tried to go into the reptile "business" for yourself, either breeding or building supplies, then you know that profits are typically low and usually just get fed back into your collection anyway. It takes a lot of work to make money and it seems like many people abandon their businesses in order to get back to where reptile keeping is fun again.

[Akuma223]

Our store is very small, the pet area even smaller. I plan on rearranging some things where possible to make room for new products but having anything besides our small aquariums wouldn't happen. I've added these things to the list

Tools-
Thermostats
Better hooks
More tongs
Temp guns
The simple black hides that come in many sizes(name please?)
Temp controller
More ecoearth , forest floor, reptibark bedding
More attractive/higher quality water dishes and hides

Animals -
Millipedes
Tarantulas
Scorpians
Roaches (feeders and pets)
Other above mentioned critters from other users (too lazy to list right now)

Plus, better prey variation. I'm thinking size ranging from frozen pinkie mice/rats up to extra large rats and chicks. Larger or more specific prey could be requested as ordered. Feeder roaches are a big one, anyone have ideas for other live feeders?

I already have a plan on how I could organize these things effectively and make the most out of the shelf space we have.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Akuma223

Our store is very small, the pet area even smaller. I plan on rearranging some things where possible to make room for new products but having anything besides our small aquariums wouldn't happen. I've added these things to the list

Tools-
Thermostats
Better hooks
More tongs
Temp guns
The simple black hides that come in many sizes(name please?)
Temp controller
More ecoearth , forest floor, reptibark bedding
More attractive/higher quality water dishes and hides

Animals -
Millipedes
Tarantulas
Scorpians
Roaches (feeders and pets)
Other above mentioned critters from other users (too lazy to list right now)

Plus, better prey variation. I'm thinking size ranging from frozen pinkie mice/rats up to extra large rats and chicks. Larger or more specific prey could be requested as ordered. Feeder roaches are a big one, anyone have ideas for other live feeders?

I already have a plan on how I could organize these things effectively and make the most out of the shelf space we have.

Just check local bylaws and federal laws for your area on the various inverts and the roaches.

For example, in Canada we aren't allowed to keep any roach due to them being considered pests.

[Akuma223]

Also, Just an FYI but I wouldn't ever order an animal I thought was going to get screwed over. I'm practically OCD about things like this, when I was given leave to improve the care of our reptiles I was so relieved. I'll be able to provide the basic proper care and requirements for any of the reptiles we have now. In fact, part of the reason the bearded man wanted me hired so badly was because of how adamant I am of ensuring all care and information is correct and up to date. They got a savannah monitor in a month ago and I chattered on and on about their requirements to both pet area people, and then decided to jot down a quick and basic care sheet for them on a peice of paper despite not working there. He liked how well I handled the monitor, I only held it three times but each time it got noticeably better about it.

[Akuma223]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Just check local bylaws and federal laws for your area on the various inverts and the roaches.

For example, in Canada we aren't allowed to keep any roach due to them being considered pests.

Yup, I always do.