The good and bad shop debate

Good Shops and Bad Shops?

This is a difficult article to write. Good shops and bad shops? What do I even mean by that?

For me, the biggest difference comes down to one thing: responsibility of care. The welfare of the animal should be paramount. In fact, it should be the single most important consideration for any shop selling animals to the general public.

Some shops—fairly well known in the West Midlands—will sell anything to anyone without asking a single meaningful question. A few basic enquiries, no proof of setup, no real discussion about care requirements, and certainly no guarantee on the animal itself. The animals they sell can be questionable, to say the least: wild-caught specimens, animals carrying parasites, "free rehomes" with little or no history, and no quarantine procedures worth mentioning. If you've got a pulse and a wallet, you're halfway to leaving with an exotic pet.

Then you have the good shops.

These are the places with high standards of care, excellent husbandry, sound advice, extended guarantees, and thoughtful aftercare. They ask the right questions. They properly assess potential owners. The goal isn't simply to make a sale; it's to place an animal in the best possible home. The difference between the two approaches is night and day.

This brings us neatly to the animal welfare licences issued by local councils, which operate on a star-rating system, with five stars being the highest rating available.

"Applications are handled by your local council, which will require specific documentation, a premises inspection by a qualified official, and the payment of a fee. Licences typically last between one and three years and are awarded a star rating based on welfare standards and risk assessment."

Now, here's where things become a little frustrating.

Some of the bad shops—and I won't name names, although if anyone wants my personal top three worst offenders in the West Midlands, feel free to drop me an email 😊—somehow manage to attain a five-star rating simply by continuing to exist.

Many, if not most, of the "qualified officials" conducting inspections appear to have once owned a goldfish and a guinea pig and are now deemed qualified to assess businesses selling reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates to the public. The logic is, shall we say, less than watertight.

I've personally been through several inspections as part of businesses I was involved with, and I took great pride in maintaining high standards of care and husbandry. On one occasion, I had six months' worth of detailed records prepared and ready to present. These covered UV exposure, temperature gradients, humidity levels, water quality (where applicable), dietary requirements, and species-specific husbandry information for every animal that had passed through the premises during that period.

None of it was requested.

In fact, during one inspection, an enclosure containing an Asian Forest Scorpion received little more than a passing glance before the inspector asked whether it was legal to sell chameleons.

I'm sorry, but shouldn't you be telling me what's legal to sell in the UK?

Experiences like this are a major reason why businesses that arguably shouldn't be selling exotic animals are allowed to continue doing so. Pay the fee, tick a few boxes, and away you go. As long as the local authority receives its payment, it can sometimes feel as though almost anyone can sell almost anything—regardless of experience, knowledge, or even a basic understanding of what they're selling.

This is one of the reasons my better half and I started this company.

We wanted to help people who had been sold an animal with little or no guidance. No care sheets. No dietary advice. No information on temperatures, humidity, behaviour, or common health concerns.

We've lost count of the number of calls and messages we've received from owners asking:

"Why is my bearded dragon doing this?"

"Why is my gecko doing that?"

"What does my snake eat?"

Or, perhaps most alarmingly:

"What species of lizard/snake/tortoise do I actually have?"

Now, let me be absolutely clear: this is not necessarily the buyer's fault.

Could more research have been done beforehand? Absolutely. Is impulse buying an exotic pet a great idea? Usually not. But why wasn't the buyer given the relevant information at the point of sale?

Any experienced pet owner will tell you that every animal has its challenges. Dogs, cats, tortoises, anacondas, Nile monitors—every species comes with quirks, behaviours, habits, or requirements that may not suit every household. There is always something prospective owners should know before taking an animal home.

In my opinion, shops should be honest about those realities. Not just the positives, but the drawbacks too.

Take tortoises, for example. Contrary to popular belief, most don't particularly enjoy being handled. Some will tolerate a head scratch, some may actively seek interaction, but I've yet to meet one that genuinely enjoys being carried around like a handbag.

Or consider the humble corn snake. It can reach six feet in length. Many don't, particularly with some of the modern bloodlines available today, but they absolutely can. Shops that describe corn snakes as "small" and claim they don't need a substantial enclosure are simply misleading customers.

Every animal in our care deserves the opportunity to live a full and enriching life. That means providing appropriate housing, correct husbandry, proper nutrition, and an owner who understands what they've taken on.

Businesses that sell exotic animals play a crucial role in that process.

In an ideal world, every shop would place animal welfare above profit, every customer would leave fully informed, and every animal would end up in the right home. We may not be there yet, but it should certainly be the standard we're aiming for.