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Regal Reptiles - Meh.

I am almost positive that Regal has a license to be a zoo or zoo like facility in the state of rhode island. I am not 100 % on this, but have been there many times. You can purchase a membership which gets you a percentage off on animals/purchases and also free admission(and I think you get a free membership if you spend a certain amount of money). It is not a pet store, and makes perfect sense truthfully to charge for people to peruse. There is nothing worse than people taking their kids there to occupy them and have no intention of buying anything. Something has to pay to keep the lights on.

I have purchased several animals from there and was not pleased with any of them. Every single one came INFESTED with mites, usually had a resp infection of some degree, and was often under weight. The first time I went there I bought an adult blood just because I felt so bad for him. He was in the three-four foot range and in an enclosure about the size of a ten gallon tank. He had no water dish either. I know it is stupid to buy something just because you feel bad, but there was no way I could have lived with myself if I left him there. He was clearly old and had never been well cared for. I took him home had him for a few years before he eventually passed.

Anyways I also bought an Everglades rat snake, Brazilian Rainbow boa, and my former roomate got an Argentine Boa there. All as I said came loaded with mites and illness and I havent bought anything other than heatpacks and such from there since. I almost bought a rock there a while back because it was in a shoebox rack loaded with mites, flies, and sitting in its own feces. It was severly emaciated and it just tore me apart. I hate seeing animals treated that way(especially a poor rock, being that they are my favorite). My friend talked me out of it, and I regret not taking him/her out of there. Also I can't count how many times that they have had adult burms that were so sick it was sad. I remember one instance where there were about 8 of them in this big enclosure and one of them had such bad resp I would guess it didn't live to see the next month. Well obliviously with such a mite problem and all of them sharing water and such you know all the others are going to get sick as well. I mentioned it to the guy working there and he pretty much shrugged it off like no big deal. I know a lot of people drop stuff off there and such, but its not hard to treat an RI in a burm, or at least keep it seperate from the others. Not to metion this snake was for sale! All in all in the 5-10 times I have been there I have never been impressed. There are a few people that work there that are decent and care, but they are few and far between. It seems there that the almighty dollar takes priority, and that everything else is secondary. This is just my experiance there for what its worth. Take care.
 
Maybe charge a fee if the place is kept nice and is something great to look at and you could spend time looking at all the animals.But like was said,half the tanks are empty and some even have dead animals.I go there about twice a year to buy a couple supplies.I have been to shows that they were at,and there was about 6 adult redtails stacked on top of eachother in a small rubbermaid bin.
 
There are 3 reptile specialty shops in the greater denver area:

Scales n Tails
Reptilian Haven
and Pro Exotics.

None charge admission to visit their store, although Pro Exotics does not display most of their breeder animals in their store.

If you ran a rescue or an adoption agency or a zoo or something that would be one thing, but to charge admission at a normal reptile shop is just greedy.... if you ask me.
 
spawn said:
Agreed. If the place is not in showcase quality, the fee is just BS.
Click to expand...
It definitely isn't. Think big dark warehouse (VERY dark in the back part of the building) with crappy looking cages of unlabled and unpriced animals. You need to track someone down to find out if you are looking into an empty cage or if something is actually in there and then depending on which person you talk to, get the "price of the moment".
The way they have it setup, you walk in and are at the part of the store with the supplies and counter. You cannot even see an animal or walk into the back part until you pay the admission.
Total BS IMO.
 
No, I haven't. I will if you think it's entirely necessary, but nothing they could say would change my experience (which was largely negative).

I'm not saying "don't buy from them" or "don't go over there". I'm just detailing what turned out to be an unpleasant afternoon (that i paid for the privilege of having). Those who read my words can take them or leave them. I'm sure there are people who have gone and left feeling better for the experience, but i wasn't one of them.

kmurphy said:
Jessica, you posted this in the BOI. Have you called, or emailed, Sean, or Regal, to let him know of this thread? It is only fair to give them a chance to respond.
Click to expand...
 
I've seen there adds on kingsnake and almost ordered some geckos from them. I 'm glad I saw this before I did.
 
They are understaffed

I was there this week myself and have known Shawn at least 15 years. While I wont pass judgement on animals, I will let the rest of you know that he is in the middle of opening/moving into a new facility.His inlaws were working there this week,lol. He does have a zoo license, and he is the only game in town(so he can get away with charging admission). No pet stores will bother with any reptiles within 100 miles because of his pricing(compared to retail stores not kingsnake.com), and he has been able to grow(shrewd businessman). Right now it is a work in progress, let him open the new place before leaping to judgement.
 
I've never bought any animals from Regal before, but I do have a Gray Banded King that's supposed to ship tomorrow for Wed. delivery and will post back when it gets here on condition. Have a tank set up in another room well away from my Boa collection and supplies to treat any condition if needed. Can only hope for the best on this purchase as we must do on most unseen & unhandled purchases online.
 
The GBKing arrived about an hour ago and in great condition. Was well prepared for shipping in thickly insulated box w/2 heat packs. No indication of any mite issue as posted earlier or health issues. Though others have had issues in the past I can only say for my 1st purchase from Regal I'm well pleased.
 
I think its kind of silly to charge to go to a place where you buy animals. [At zoos, you cant usually walk in and buy a zebra] but I also frequent the East Bay Vivarium here in CA, and Parents LOVE to take their kids, LARGE GROUPS of kids, to the "free reptile zoo" at EBV. Moms will walk around 4th street to do some shopping, and drop their kids off, like a babysitter. Like classes will make a field trip out of it. But their displays are really nice, everything is labeled and clean, etc.
 
Regal Animals

Hey,
Just kind of was going through posts and thought I would see what was up with Regal. I have a female woma adult now that I purchased as a baby in 2000 for $800. She was healthy when I got her and is still a great animal. Still can't seem to get the breeding thing down with her I got eggs twice but had a crappy hovobator then. Now I have an awesome incubator from Casey Hulse and I got really small screwed up looking eggs this last week. But the animal has been great and has always fed well. As far as charging to enter I completely understand. I worked in a pet store in the Northern Virginia area just outside of D.C. off and on from 16 to 21. Different stores in one chain however there was nothing more annoying then people just going through the store to look or kill time while they waited on a table at a local restaraunt. I remember in one store we posted a sign saying that children under the age of 12 can't be in the store with out parental supervision. It was next to a Giant Food and parents would leave the kids and go next door to shop for groceries. Later Mike
 
Seth

Hey Man,
I used to work at Oakton Pets as a high school student, then Tyson Pet Mart and then Centreville Pets they were all of the Northern Virignia Pet Centers. The owner Passed away and the daughter and I believe son inherited the company. Last I new the store in Alexandria was the only one left. I also worked for Rob at Fox Mill Pets in Fox Mill, Herndon, and the last one was Franklin Farms off Fairfax county parkway. I still am obviously in the hobby but no longer working at a pet store. I have debated the idea of opening one here in the northern neck though. The snake I bought came from a show in Harve De Grace, Md. LAter Mike
 
Thanks, Mike. Fox Mill Pets is still around but I have not heard of the other ones in quite some time, so I'm assuming they have closed up shop. There is also a Centreville Aquarium, but I'm not sure that it was related to the Northern Virginia Pet Centers.

I worked at Wally's for two years and then moved over to Marine Scene in Herndon. Usually we are aware of who our competitors are, and I didn't know of any in Oakton or Alexandria. Thanks for the clarification.
 
sometimes you think u know people when in all reality you dont ! this has left me in shock becuz i have know him since he 1st opened ! and even the living conditions at home were not right !!
 
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