Reptile Haven, Dublin, Ireland - great Irish shop!

This is a great shop, healthy animals.

With one exception (a little leopard gecko) all the animals I got here are still alive.

Jool - two month old corn snake, fed on the day I got her, she latched onto the pinky immediately. She is now three years old. She was a worm when I got her and now she has worms of her own. Sold to me as an amel, but now I'm not sure. I've seen pics of amels and she's a different colour.

Jasper - 2-3 month old male royal python. Healthy. Usually fed eagerly though I had to do the "jiggle dance" thing with the mouse for a few months. Now aged two, he recently went thru his first non-feeding period. Now back eating.

Kelloggs the cornsnake - yearly candycane. I've only had him about four months so he's still a yearling. Eager feeder. Will grab thawed mouse and attempt to 'kill' it by constriction. Very pretty and healthy.

Crikey - Hog Island boa. About five months old, I think. Got her the thursday before the events of September 4th 2006, hence the name. I didn't name her Steve because I bought a Steve 7 days earlier. She's feeding, has shed once and appears healthy - at least she's got a healthy hiss (normally quiet, she hisses when offered food (wants to eat in peace), if approached within a day of feeding (wants to digest in peace) and when shedding (normal snakey behavior).

Steve - juvenile leopard gecko. While Crikey is named after Steve Irwin, Steve is not. He or she is named after Steve the wraith from the first season of Stargate Atlantis.


I've seen some disgusting things in the shop though. Like when Graham took out the almost adult (3ft) Bosc. When holding it, he inadvertently put pressure on its bowels, causing an eruption of a shower of sh**.

I saw something really sad last week. A young boy came in with a limp little baby royal python. It was so far gone it didn't even flick its tongue. It weakly moved its head from time to time. Ben (the owner) told him that the little python hadn't eaten in months. You could see a lump in its body which Ben said were its organs. He told him that his pet was going to die and the boy burst into tears. His uncle had bought it for him as a surprise two weeks previously from a garden centre. (sh**heads, IMO. They SHOULD NOT have sold a non-feeding snake. Ben only sells snakes which are feeding, though he may sell a non-feeder to someone he knows has the experience to make it fed. Jasper royal was feeding when I got him). That garden centre should be reported to the ISPCA

sounds like a cool store. I am glad you have found a good place that you can rely on. Poor little kid, hopefully, his uncle will buy him from Ben if he wants to replace the poor little royal. I love royal pythons, aren;t they so frustrating when they don't eat? mine have both gone on hunger strikes, which drive me nuts...

and ew.. shower of cr** sounds so nasty. Some snakes can contain way too much poop for their small seeming size...

I have to agree. I have met Ben and been to his shop. I must say I was impressed with the only reptile store in Ireland. He has great stock and imports stuff from some of the biggest names here in the states. I would like to see more like him in the Irish herp industry when I return.

Jon McMahon

Yeah, the royals are annoying when they go on hunger strike, but I'm more annoying because of the wasted mice. He went on hunger strike earlier this year for about two months, I suspected he was hungry again when I saw him poking his head out from under his log looking at me during the day (when he wasn't eating he stayed firmly under his log during the day, only coming out from under his log at night to try and escape from his tank.). The snakes which are fed on a weekly basis are fed on a Thursday and the next Thursday I offered him a large adult mouse (I stopped offering him food when he was on strike) which he eagerly ate.

He's now seems to be on strike again, he's refused his weaner rat twice in a row. (but I think this week that he might be due to shed). He showed interest in his rat, I left it outside his log and he had his head resting on it.

He can be very annoying. He's in a tank with a removable lid and at night he climbs to the top of his tank and bangs on the lid trying to escape. He keeps me awake some nights.