reptile & vivarium keepers

boroughmal

It seems to me that in ireland there are many reptile & amphibian keepers but not many people that specialise in it.
I have been gathering imformation on them & on breeders etc
If you know of any shops or dealers in reptiles that are in this country could you post them here.
Your thoughts on who is the snake in the grass that exploits them too will be appreciated.
If there is enough response I would like to start a dedicated reptile site for discussion & care files.

Nala

Boardwalk Pet Store on Wellington Quay, they seem pretty good.
Wacker's Pet Store on Parnell St, though the owner/manager (middle aged crank with the glasses) is a complete wanker and would sell his granny if he thought you'd buy one of his vivariums to put her in. Complete cúnt.

Our man in Havana

Reptile Haven in Fishamble Street is FAB Ben is brilliant he only sells reptiles etc is full of info & has FAB stock.

tallus

Yeah Ben is top man, so is thomas McElerhon in boardwalk pets.

boroughmal

could you give a better location of this shop. Is it in dublin?
Are there any shops elsewhere in ireland ?
Regards

Rancid

I saw baby Hermanns tortoises being kept in a vivarium in Reptile Haven a couple years ago. Totally unsuitable. I wasn't impressed.

Fishamble Street is between the Christ Church end of Dame Street and the Quays in Dublin.

tallus

Rancid wrote:

I saw baby Hermanns tortoises being kept in a vivarium in Reptile Haven a couple years ago. Totally unsuitable. I wasn't impressed.

Fishamble Street is between the Christ Church end of Dame Street and the Quays in Dublin.

did you bring it to the attention of the owner? and if so what kind of reply did you get?
I bought a pair of baby hermans from Ben about 18 months back and they were kept in similar setup, but not for long, they sold like hot cakes.

Sigma Force

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if there are actual reptile rescues in Ireland?

tallus

Not that I know of

Hellrazer

Claws and Paws in Dunshaughlin Village are ok although they are expensive with their stock.

On another note: The only things Ive found the shops over here expensive for are Tarantulas.€70.00 for a tarantula is ridiculous.I buy mine online from the UK and including shipping most are between £10-20 and they always arrive in perfect condition.Sometimes you get an offer of £5.00 each if you buy 3.

Rancid

tallus wrote:

did you bring it to the attention of the owner? and if so what kind of reply did you get?
I bought a pair of baby hermans from Ben about 18 months back and they were kept in similar setup, but not for long, they sold like hot cakes.

Yep, and he said they were only housed like that until he sold them.
Seemed more interested in talking to other customers about their snakes.

So how are your little Hermanns doing and what kinda set up have you for them?

tallus

I have them in a table top type setup ... didn't hibernate them last year tho, looking in to doing it this year just not too sure about it. Been on the Tortoise trust site reading up. Any help would be appreciated .

tallus

On the subject of suitable conditions for tortoises in pet shops, I have yet to see anyone properly house them, I have even seen different species mixed in one shop in particular, and was frowned at when I brought it to the attention of the owner, she doesn't like me heh. Fed them unsuitable food too bloody iceberg lettuce. I also heard her recommend feeding scrambled eggs to another customer, naturally I said it to her and she went on as if I had said nothing... totally ignored me. At least Ben fed his the correct diet and he doesn't mix species.

Rancid

tallus wrote:

I have them in a table top type setup ... didn't hibernate them last year tho, looking in to doing it this year just not too sure about it. Been on the Tortoise trust site reading up. Any help would be appreciated .

Lovely babies!
The TT site has good reliable info. Have a look at these pages, the weather being so unpredictable this year, we're all having trouble winding them down.
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/toowarm.htm
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/induction.htm

My tort is in hibernation now, after 3 weeks of wind-down during which she was way too active. I just could not get the temps down low enough to stop her staying awake all day and using up energy.
She's settled now though.

Where were you thinking of hibernating yours?

Rancid

tallus wrote:

On the subject of suitable conditions for tortoises in pet shops, I have yet to see anyone properly house them, I have even seen different species mixed in one shop in particular, and was frowned at when I brought it to the attention of the owner, she doesn't like me heh. Fed them unsuitable food too bloody iceberg lettuce. I also heard her recommend feeding scrambled eggs to another customer, naturally I said it to her and she went on as if I had said nothing... totally ignored me. At least Ben fed his the correct diet and he doesn't mix species.

Pet shop people don't like to be challenged on their housing or feeding habits, I know. But it's just unforgiveable to sell tortoises or any animal and not give good care and feeding information to the new owners.
Can it be that difficult to say "Feed weeds and don't use a viv."?

tallus

Rancid wrote:

Pet shop people don't like to be challenged on their housing or feeding habits, I know. But it's just unforgiveable to sell tortoises or any animal and not give good care and feeding information to the new owners.
Can it be that difficult to say "Feed weeds and don't use a viv."?

my sentiments exactly :-) I did Print out the weeds from the T-Lady's site and bring it to the shop,.. doesn't seem to have been taken on board but I felt like I did my bit for the poor critters, she has a hermans tortoise at home and the poor thing has pyramiding on teh shell, saw it myself about 5 months back, and she also keeps the poor animal in a small viv which is unforgivable. I advised her on the correct type of housing,that was also ignored. I troed but what can you do heh they are *only* appendix a on the cities list:/

I have never hibernated mine I have them 18 months .. so a bit unsure visited the TT site a few times and found it to be excellent. They have grown a bit since the pic thereone in particular has grown much faster,he seems to be a lot tougher and caught him trying to hump the smaller tortoise, it was funny I have to sayI could hear him squeaking every time he pushed lol.
Was thinking of using the refrigerator to hibernate them .... any thoughts ?
Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated... there's nothing like talking to someone with practical experience.
Thanks for the links :-)

Rancid

tallus wrote:

my sentiments exactly :-) I did Print out the weeds from the T-Lady's site and bring it to the shop,.. doesn't seem to have been taken on board but I felt like I did my bit for the poor critters, she has a hermans tortoise at home and the poor thing has pyramiding on teh shell, saw it myself about 5 months back, and she also keeps the poor animal in a small viv which is unforgivable. I advised her on the correct type of housing,that was also ignored. I troed but what can you do heh they are *only* appendix a on the cities list:/

No doubt she'll tell you that her tort has always been ok, never shown any sign of ill-health, point being that it takes YEARS for diseases to develop in tortoises and the signs are slow to appear. But by the time they do, irreparable damage has been done.

tallus

yeah she remarked on how she *liked* the shape of the scutes
Just crazy

Rancid

tallus wrote:

I have never hibernated mine I have them 18 months .. so a bit unsure visited the TT site a few times and found it to be excellent. They have grown a bit since the pic thereone in particular has grown much faster,he seems to be a lot tougher and caught him trying to hump the smaller tortoise, it was funny I have to sayI could hear him squeaking every time he pushed lol.
Was thinking of using the refrigerator to hibernate them .... any thoughts ?
Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated... there's nothing like talking to someone with practical experience.
Thanks for the links :-)

Heh... don't assume it's a male just because it's humping the other one! Both sexes do that!
If you're growing them slowly enough you won't really be sure of the sexes until they're around 5, anyway.

About fridge hibernation... it's highly recommended so that you can get a stable temperature and if you have a digital thermometer with a probe you can test your fridge and get the temp as close to 5°C as you can.
3 weeks wind-down without food and gradually lowering the temp and light and baths every second day to ensure an empty tort is essential.

How active are your 2 now? And are they eating much or have they started to slow down at all?

tallus

Still eating... the bigger one eats like a horse, I'll cut down the amount of light and heat so. Still feeding them twice a day.
The bigger one is way more active comes over to me when ever he sees me, last year the smaller one slowed down from the end of december to the end of March, but still ate every day. The biger one was pretty active most of the time.

Rancid

tallus wrote:

Still eating... the bigger one eats like a horse, I'll cut down the amount of light and heat so. Still feeding them twice a day.
The bigger one is way more active comes over to me when ever he sees me, last year the smaller one slowed down from the end of december to the end of March, but still ate every day. The biger one was pretty active most of the time.

Do they eat much at each feed? You don't want them to end up pyramided!
By rights, if you reduce the amount of heat and light they're getting, their appetites should lessen. *Should*!

Did you ever have them wormed?

tallus

never had them wormed... the heat has been reduced and light has been reduced by an hour in the morning and the evening
The bigger guys shell is not as smooth as the smaller guy now that you mention it. slightly lumpy looking ..

Rancid

They *need* those weeks of hibernation to slow the growth and prevent the lumpy shells.
Keep bathing them anyway. I rarely see mine drinking anything, but she definitely hydrates herself in the bath.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Nala wrote:

Boardwalk Pet Store on Wellington Quay, they seem pretty good.
Wacker's Pet Store on Parnell St, though the owner/manager (middle aged crank with the glasses) is a complete wanker and would sell his granny if he thought you'd buy one of his vivariums to put her in. Complete cúnt.

That the one opposite the ilac centre? A guy working the reptile basement, possibly running that section a bit of a tosser, had live adult black crickets in a viv with baby geckos, asked him why and he said it was because there was bigger geckos in there too. But still had a know it all attitude to every customer with a question.

Reptile haven's great, and Boardwalk seemed really good too.

Shelli

I refuse to even step into that shop anymore, I've always had problems with the way they kept their animals, reptiles and turtles especially, I've overheard them purposely give cutomers mis-information to make a sale, like telling people that YBS dont grow much bigger than 4 inches and you can keep 4 of them in a 20gallon tank! Bleugh!

Anyway, the final straw was two weeks ago. My boyfriend was buying me a beardie as a present and I had the whole set up ready, he went to Whackers (not knowing any better bless him) and asked for a bearded dragon, forked over his cash and happily trotted home with our new baby.

You can imagine how pissed I was when I took a Striped Water Dragon out of the bag! Not only had they been keeping him in a desert tank with no humidity, they had him in a tank with a Basilisk! The poor guy was so ill he only lasted 2 weeks with me. I had toyed with the idea of taking him back the first day, but he was so sweet and had such a great little peronality that I couldn't send him back to those conditions, they didn't even know what he was for Gods sake!

Ill stop ranting now, it just really makes my blood boil!:mad:

tallus

You have a right to rant, I.M.O. the pet trade needs to be regulated in this country. There aren't that many shops where the owners have practical knowledge or experience of the creatures they are selling. Also ... you can't tell them anything, most of them seem to know it all, apart from the aforementioned
Boardwalk pets and Reptile Haven, both of the owners have been maintaining and breeding reptiles for years.

boroughmal

Does anyone know any other reptile shops outside dublin?
I would have thought that specialist shops would not have to be in the capital as most keepers would travell anywhere.

boroughmal

reptile life in ireland is all centred in Dublin

tallus

I'm surprised we only have two *dedicated* reptile shops. Every pet shop seems to sell reptiles, but if you're asking about shops that deal exclusively with reptiles why does it surprise you that we only have 2? It's still a small country man.

Nimrod's Son

boroughmal wrote:

Does anyone know any other reptile shops outside dublin?
I would have thought that specialist shops would not have to be in the capital as most keepers would travell anywhere.

The Orchard in Celbridge, Co. Kildare do reptiles. They're not a specialist shop (they're a garden centre in fact) but they have a big pet-area in the store and a nice little selection of reptiles.

Hellrazer

Nimrod's Son wrote:

The Orchard in Celbridge, Co. Kildare do reptiles. They're not a specialist shop (they're a garden centre in fact) but they have a big pet-area in the store and a nice little selection of reptiles.

The Orchard havent a clue how to keep reptiles.They were keeping Chinese Water Dragons in totally wrong conditions and as a result 2 of them had severe nose rubbing problems.One of them died as a direct result of miskeeping.

They also have some reptile cages with 3 or more different species in the one cage which is a big no-no unless you have done your research.

Before they extended the petshop they put a bit more time into the reptiles but now they seem more concerned with the tropical fish sales.