Starting a reptile store

[Russ S]

Still not sure the best way to house the animals [aquariums, front opening cages, etc.] Probably start with a combination of things and see what works best. Maybe I will post some options and solicit opinions.

Front opening cages are probably going to allow for higher density and are likely easier to secure to keep customers from just reaching into cages.

 

[acpart]

Become a craigslist devotee. I regularly check all the MA ones as well as RI and NH. Recently there was a 9-unit front opening cage group on wheels for a really good price. If you check every day (I've finally figured out how to do it in the least number of clicks and I can do it in less than 5 minutes) you will often find some good stuff at good prices. For example, recently someone was selling 6 Exoterra 12x12x18 cages for $20 each.

Aliza

 

[artgecko]

I'm wondering if these Visionariums would be a good option?

Thanks, Aliza. I'll keep an eye on craigslist for any bargains. A few weeks ago I found 4 exo-terra 12x12x12's on there, but keep forgetting to check it daily.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Those are nice cages, especially since they can be divided. Locked too.

 

[M_surinamensis]

I'm wondering if these Visionariums would be a good option?

What follows is strictly an editorial kind of review... of a different product.

I've had firsthand experience with the Vision cages (the stackable types with the gray sides and back, sliding glass doors) in a retail environment and that experience left me with a long list of complaints about the designs, the materials and the overall quality of Vision products when put to that use. I have not seen the Visionariums firsthand so some of the complaints I have about their other products may not apply, but my experience with the company would lead me to give the Visionariums a very thorough inspection before investing in an entire storefront's worth or trusting them as secure and appropriate environments for your stock.

The gray vision cages had the following design issues, some of which are more significant when considering their use in a retail environment:

• the sliding doors had an excessive amount of space between the tracks in which they sat, making them totally unsuitable for a large number of smaller animals
• the fact such sliding doors were incorporated at all meant that the enclosures could not reliably be secured against customers pushing up against the glass to remove the door and open the enclosure, regardless of jewelry case locks being used
• the tracks collected substrate from animal activity and from employee activity and needed to be cleaned out on a regular basis, or the doors would not properly close at either end
• the floor of each enclosure was not an even plane, but was broken by shapes where dividors would be used, this slowed the process of breaking down an enclosure for a complete cleaning. It's only a couple extra minutes per enclosure, but when that applies to the scores of enclosures in a specialty shop, the time- and the employee hours- adds up, since such cleaning is an activity that is repeated frequently
• the lip around the recessed door also contributed to cleaning issues, as well as often ending up being a hiding place for some animals, rendering them totally invisible to the customers and the employees, without opening the enclosure and fishing around blind
• the lightweight design that is so touted as a "feature" makes stacks of enclosures far less secure than I was comfortable with. Once or twice, a large boid (in a large enclosure) or good sized lizard was able to make a stack sway and teeter by hooking their tail or a back leg on the frame of the door as they were being handled for maintenence. I was always paranoid and uncomfortable with the idea that a customer with an untied shoelace could send an entire stack toppling
• the use of lightweight plastics also meant that the enclosures suffered from rigidity problems, heavy bodied animals, the use of sand or rocks, any weight of more than a few pounds really, tended to leave the floors sagging, which disrupted the stack and made the doors stick
• they also melt and warp from incidental contact with heating elements, rest a lamp on its side from a nearby enclosure and the smell of burning plastic will fill the air in about a minute. Seems easy enough to avoid, but on a busy day with a line of customers or when interrupting a routine task to respond to something that seems more urgent... well, sixty seconds of contact can happen. It also makes them, in my opinion, totally unsuitable for high-temperature species like Uromastyx or red headed agamas, the enclosure simply cannot take the heating elements required for the health of the animal
• they were terrible at holding humidity, even when using moisture retaining substrates
• plastic can be- and over time will be- scratched. It can also be repaired, but that necessitates breaking down the enclosure and allowing a patch to cure for a couple days. Small scratches that are not filled become much larger and deeper scratches over time, especially if they occur on the floor of the enclosure where the employees will be digging substrate and animal waste out of them
• acrylic and plastic construction means that the materials crystallize and become brittle upon contact with ammonia (a common ingredient in glass cleaners and found in animal urine), the rate of deterioration depends on the concentration and length of exposure, but over time even incidental exposure can weaken the enclosure
• there was really no professional looking way to attach price tags or species information to the individual enclosures. C-tracks and double sided tape have their own issues, writing on the glass is tacky

Now... some or all of those complaints may not apply to the Visionarium line, they're obviously a different design and may not have some of those incidental features that were the bane of my existence when trying to use the other vision products... but they might also introduce issues of their own. The website you linked shows heat bulbs hanging bare from the top of the enclosure, a sliding door design that probably has many of the same issues, the "knock down" feature strikes me as something which might mean that they are far less sturdy and secure than might otherwise be the case and I didn't see any information listing a variety of sizes, severely limiting the species that it would be appropriate to house in them (potentially in both directions, if the doors have a similar gap to the other vision products).

I'd definitely recommend getting your hands on one in person and giving it a serious shake-down before investing in a store-full of them. You don't want to find out after you already own forty of them that you can't use them to house leopard geckos or any snakes under thee feet long because they can slide through the door sideways, or that enclosures can collapse if a customer taps on the glass.

That said... I do support the idea of aiming for some degree of uniformity in the enclosures you select. Depending on the variety of animals you're going to be stocking, there will need to be some obvious differences in design and it's not inappropriate to have some larger enclosures and a rack system and some deli cup displays... but by avoiding a total hodgepodge of different enclosures, you maintain a professional, clean and prosperous atmosphere that will be much better received by customers than steel shelves loaded with a bunch of cracked fish tanks or no two enclosures looking alike. It also does cut down on overhead by standardizing the actions your employees will take in servicing each enclosure on a daily and weekly basis, lowering the total number of employee hours required over time.

Just a thought but... have you had any discussions with some of the smaller companies that build custom enclosures (and show displays)? The prices may not be that far off the kind of investment required to pick up Vision/AP/Neodesha type enclosures and you'd have direct input about design elements and quality of materials used. It may turn out to be a dead end, I haven't tried pricing anything like that in seven or eight years, but when I did last investigate it, the prices were surprisingly similar and the quality was substantially higher (though there were no standardized replacement parts). It's probably worth the time it takes to copy and paste a few emails and find out, anyway.

 

[acpart]

I do have one visionarium and it will be my only one. Here are some things that have been problematic:
--because they're set up with a recessed lighting option, the inside of the tank is much less than 12" high making it impossible to do a decent second level
--the floor sags
--the corners are rounded which makes it difficult to put solid substrate like tile in (I end up using no substrate)
--the underside of the enclosure, where you'd put a UTH has all sorts of odd projections. I use heat cable so it's not a big deal, but it would be hard to get a UTH there
--I once tried using the divider when I wanted 2 compartments for babies. The dividers didn't fit well

I do like the heavier glass and the fact that it breaks down and the doors come off easily, but that doesn't outweigh the problems. If I were you I'd go with zoo-meds, exoterras and/or glasscages.com stacking tanks (but you have to vent them and not put them directly on top of each other).

Aliza

 

[artgecko]

Thanks Seamus and Aliza! Your input is invaluable.

I think I will look into having some display enclosures custom-built.
I like the look of these -> http://www.petstorefixtures.com/Reptiles.html
But they are probably too pricey.

 

[UnicornSpirit]

Artgecko- when you do open a store let me know so I can come n' visit when I'm up visiting my relatives up in Ipswich, MA! I don't ever get to see any reptiles when I'm up there. lol

 

[acpart]

Artgecko- when you do open a store let me know so I can come n' visit when I'm up visiting my relatives up in Ipswich, MA! I don't ever get to see any reptiles when I'm up there. lol

You can always come to our houses (or at least mine, I shouldn't speak for Steve) and see geckos when you're up visiting.

Aliza

 

[artgecko]

The renovations to the store are taking longer than I hoped. Although it is going to look nice once it is done. Hoping to get the pet shop permit in the next couple weeks and open for business by Oct. 1.

 

[artgecko]

I haven't posted here in a while, but the store is now open.
We are @ 959 Main St. Winchester, MA
if you are in the area, stop in and say "Hi"

 

[Russ S]

I haven't posted here in a while, but the store is now open.
We are @ 959 Main St. Winchester, MA
if you are in the area, stop in and say "Hi"

Congratulations, Stephen.

 

[acpart]

It's a really nice looking store, clean and bright, not like a lot of dingy, dirty reptiles stores.

Aliza

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Fantastic! I hope lots of folks come in for Christmas shopping!