Strictly Reptiles in Florida?

My name is Vinny Ferraiolo and I own a pet store in VA. We are thinking about purchasing from Strictly but we are a bit cautious. Has anyone dealt with them and if so what do or did you think? Thank you, Vinny

I flew down there last may to hand pick some stuff for some of our wholesale accounts. They have a large variety of animals, as with any importer if you get them when they are fresh in and rehydrate everything you should not have a problem . Every one and there brother handpicks from them, so a lot of the best quality gets handpicked first thing, it would be worth a drive down to pick for yourself.

I used to work right next to them and stopped by a few times. I guess for a wholesaler its not bad however the one ball python I got from them was loaded with mites and refused to eat until it died. The chameleon I got from them died the next day despite major effort from me to save it. I was not very impressed with their keep of baby chameleons either, lots of babies dead on the floor of the cages, babies caught in the door, with the guy stepping all over them. Most of the pet shops down here are hesitant about dealing with them and those that do, get the stuff that just comes in and cherry pick.

I did business with them last summer, and I would not recommend them to anyone.

I called them and ordered a pair of Vietnamese Blue Beauties, CB hatchlings.

They showed up, and a few days later the male died. I called them to see if they would be willing to replace him.

They told me that they didn't have any more CB hatchlings, but they had WC adult males. They agreed to take 50% off a male, if I'd pay shipping. Since I was paying shipping anyway, I also got a wc female adult, at full price. No point in having an adult male and waiting 2 years for the cb hatchling to get old enough to breed.

They arrived the next day. The male was fine. The female, however, had the worst case of nose rub/rot I've ever seen and was half dead when I took her out of the bag.
The nose rub was so bad that the snake no longer had nostrils. This animal should never have been sent to a customer, in fact, it probably should have been euthanized, it was in that bad of shape. She only lasted a couple hours after getting here anyway.

I never bothered to contact them about it because I really felt like the whole thing was a big F.U. for having complained in the first place. Basically, they dumped an unsaleable animal on me, and charged me full price for her.

Also, the cb hatchling female I got from them is tremendously behind in terms of growth. I got 6 other cb hatchlings last summer. The first trio came in at about the same size as cb female from Strictly. They are now pushing 4 ft, while the female from Strictly is maybe 30". And the second trio were late 06s, they've also passed her in size.

Being wholesalers, I honestly didn't expect a lot in the way of customer service from them. But its the fact that they sent that female out, in the condition she was in that pissed me off.

Thanx for the input. I am unsure. There are a few things that I really would like and others that I do not need BUT would balance out my order to make it worthwhile. A 20 hour drive is not what I am in the mood for right now. Thanx for the advice. I am going to call them and see if that makes me feel more confident.

I have been to their facility a few times and was surprised at the cleanliness and good organization that had. As with all importers, being able to hand pick is the way to go. We bought several animals from them over the last couple of years and have been happy with them. I would explain to them they you are a Pet Store considering buying animals from them if you are happy with the quality and I suspect they would treat you right.

I had to do some digging, but I found the a pic of the female they sent me, and the nose rot. It isn't the best pic, but it'll give you an idea of what I was talking about.

I called them earlier today and was pleased. They were nice and answered my questions about allot of what was on their wholesale list. I am sure it was annoying. I really would like to order from them but I am still concerned about wasting my time with sick animals or passing them on to my customers. I am still in the thinking phase.

I have had many fantastic dealings with Ben Siegel and Xtreme in Florida. i rarley stray from them, BUT strictly has some animals that the others do not.

Originally Posted by vferra7777

I have had many fantastic dealings with Ben Siegel and Xtreme in Florida. i rarley stray from them, BUT strictly has some animals that the others do not.

I have been to Extreme and Ben Seigals. NO COMPARISON! I was not impressed with extreme and was very impressed with Seigal. But you are almost comparing apples with oranges. Extreme is an importer dealing in volume. I get the impression that Seigal cleans up his imports and makes sure they are feeding before they are for sale. Seigals shop should be a model for all other Reptile Shops. Very clean, lots of variety, and a knowledgable staff. We bought several animals from him last December and are very pleased.

If historical practices mean anything... someplace in the old Strictly threads should be information about the way the owners have been convicted and imprisoned twice- the first for bringing in boxes half full of iguanas and half full of cocaine (in the seventies) and then, after they were released, how they were convicted shortly afterwards on smuggling charges for bringing in species that weren't legally allowed to be imported.

All old issues... well over a decade and over three in the case of the drug thing... but still worth considering.