Prehistoricpet

[reticguy76]

That was quite the interesting thread from back then.

 

[Giantsfan24]

This was the most recent thread about PP and my comment did not warrant a Bad Guy thread per se. I have been going here for a while by in all honesty, would never buy a reptile here. The snakes you can see are in cages way to small for them and don't look great(obviously some animals look better than others as far as condition and cage cleanliness). It has a history of mites as well. I only will buy feeders from here.

This is not meant as a defamation in any way but my own experience from here. Up until 4 months ago, I lived about 1 mile from it so I went there often and had been going there for a long time until I wised up. Please note these comments(save the mites and overall dirtiness of the cages) can be said of alot of reptile retail stores and does not in and of themselves present a bad picture.

I have talked with Jay a few times and he seems like a nice enough guy. The employees are mix of grizzled veterans and younger employees who, for the most part are very friendly.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the prices. They are very inflated. I get that it's a retail store, but so are alot of other retail stores that advertise on KS and which have better prices. Personally, there is almost nothing in this store you can not find elsewhere, from a place you really trust.

On a side note: they turned alot of the store into a zoo and charge admission. Granted there are animals in the "retail" part of the store(the majority are in the back or in the zoo portion, tho they will pull one for you from the zoo portion if you are interested in buying) but the place is nowhere, not even close to big enough to warrant paid admission or be called a zoo.

 

[dhaisten]

I live in the area and I have been in there multiple times (10). I even pay admission to the zoo just to bring other people to have a look. Two times is enough.

If you order from them online they are professional and there will be no problems with shipment, etc.

What has been said before, that some large animals are in small cages is true. Some large snakes are also in adequate cages. Some cages have empty water bowls with a fat turd in them.

There is a mite problem in the store and vapona pest strips lie directly in cages, cut into a chunk and dropped onto the substrate.

Back in the day when people used these for mites, the instructions for doing so were quite clear.

1. Place a piece into a ventilated container so that an animal cannot come into direct contact.

2. Remove the water bowl so that water is not contaminated.

Pest strips did and can cause neurological damage in large doses.

Offhand I would say that dropping raw pest strip chunks into cages is, well.....if you know anything about dealing with mites....

So, my grade for overall husbandry, B to C- to D- to FAIL. Depends on which cage/animals you are looking at

They do not know what they are doing with chondros or emeralds at all. And these have mites. The chondros in the zoo have stuck sheds. I could say more about many of the animals in the zoo, conditions, conditions of animals.

They do have nice madagascar ground boas, and I would buy one if I had the space to house these larger animals.

But I would want to inspect the animal thoroughly and look for mites first, and if there is a pest strip in the cage it is obvious. I also do not really want an animal that has been exposed to pest strips.

It is possible to eradicate the mites, but that would be a long hard war with what they have going on.

Or a quick one. Just depends on whether or not you are a fighting General or just plain ignorant.

The grade for husbandry is not just because of the mites.

So, will you get the animal you have shipped clean? Most likely.

Should they deal with their mites and other issues?

Not sure they know how.

 

[David Reid]

I took my wife there one time, and one time was enough. When we left, she actually had tears in her eyes. The animals were in cages several sizes too small. I would never do any business with them.

Dave

 

[antiquity]

I have quite a bit of experience to add. I grew up in Fountain Valley, and this place was there in a nearby but different location even in the 1980's. I don't know if the current owner was the owner back then.

As a pre-teen and teenager in the late 80's, I bought a garter snake, Florida kingsnake, and Colombian boa from them over a period of about 5 years. I also bought all the mice (live) from them that I fed my snakes, or gold fish for the garter. Snakes did fine, and I didn't know and just dropped the live animals in with the snakes (I think most people did back then).

My parents still live there, and I have since moved and have my own family. When I visited them, I took my boys there. We currently have a small collection of snakes from fine breeders and we are pretty immaculate in our care. I certainly would not buy an animal from them. The snakes are cramped, dull-looking, and do not have proper care. A healthy animal from a reputable breeder comes shiny, gleaming, and robust. As I walked through with my young sons and father (who is not a snake person but has seen my collection), it was clear to even the untrained eye that these snakes are not glowingly healthy. I didn't see mites or rot-mouth, but I did see enough to know I would not buy from them.