Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:40 pm Post subject: Reptile Island Yorba Linda store
Hello ALl,
I did not buy anything.
I asked for the price on two scoepions and they were 59 dollars each for some Androctunus crassicauda and A bicolor.
The store is small and clean, nice displays.
They consentrate mainly on Snakes and some lizards and geckoes.
they do have some inverts tarantulas mainly terrestrial and docile species.
They also have some Centipedes, they had a subpinipes that the counter guy said he got it in Arizona and he said is was a polymorpha.
I told him it was not a polymorpha, and he replied well I know my snakes and I don't know much about inverts, really nice and honest responce.
He goes Herping to Arizona every year, and he showed me some stuff he brought back
like some Scarabs (Xylorictes sp) and a giant vinegaroon.
Hello,
If they are what I think they are at least 30-35 dollars the going price.
I assume theey probably paid around 25-30 dollars, that is why they want to double the money.
I offer a trade for some of my slings but he wants to pay my slings at wholesale and he wants me to pay for the scorpions at his asking price.
I do want them but I don't think is fair. I have lots of slings so I can trade no problem but I don't think is a fair trade.
I think he should give me a break. But bussines is bussines and I totally understand that.
I've worked as a manager at Reptile Island 5 years ago, and am a good friend of the owners. While they have a few interesting inverts here and there, the owner and his employees are mainly a reptile guys. I've talked with him about having more inverts, but they don't seem to sell very well. Although admittedly, this might be partly because they aren't displayed prominently and he isn't an "expert" on them like he is for herps.
Price wise, I'd say they're decent, but because they don't move fast, they aren't able to buy in the large quantities, and they get their stuff from the same vendors most people on here do. I've noticed some stuff selling way below average, and some things way above, so its quite variable. Like most retail stores, they price they pay is probably the same as what you can get online.
For reptiles though, this is definitely the place to go! (I may be a bit biased on that one though)
As a side note, the owner does a lot of TV work for reality shows (he did all the fear factors with bugs/reptiles) So at times, you might walk in the store, and he's keeping 10,000 lobster roaches in the back, or has a few hundred tailless whiptails. It certainly makes it interesting.
Hello,
Their reptile stock looks great.
Inverts, so so. They had a yellow leg and the manager said he got it himself in Arizona, I really did not wanted to say anything. As you said they need to be better displayed.
I tried trading the 2 scorpions they have/had one A crassicauda and one A bicolor, he wanted 60 dollars each.
When I offer the deal he wanted to trade the scorps at regular price and he wanted to pay my Ts (8 of them worth 30 each retail) at wholesale. ( In my mind I said BS) I said I will think about it and left. I drove 45 min for that, I was disapointed, since I spoke to the manager over the phone and he made it sound like the deal was on, but I was wrong,but bussines is bussines.
I can order A bicolor from reptist for 35 dollars and 15 shipping or from Theresa at the same price with free priority. The A crassicauda is a little bit harder to get.
Well anyways, I tried to talk to the owner but he was in Arizona collecting Lubbers for a TV show. So I said forget it.
I'm sorry if you had a bad experience. You were probobly talking to Zack. He's a great guy, but I don't think he's owned an invert (as you said he admited). Not being the owner of the store, (its not his money) he's going to be very conservative on trades. Unless you're talking rare stuff the owner is personally into, they rarely like to do trades unless its going to be of a significant advantage to the store.
If you were a regular vendor of theirs, then I'm they would have been much more open to trade. After all, its unwise to trade an animal from a vendor you know and trust for an animal of equal value from someone you don't know.
One thing a lot of people loose site of when dealing with reptile stores (in general) is this isn't swapping items in a personal collection; all the inverts there are store merchandise commodities. They make money by selling at retail and buying wholesale. You wouldn't believe all the trade offers we got at the store! Some are ridiculous (ie. offering a bearded dragon for a frilled), but most are ones that won't increase sales, so aren't good for business. Try going into a grocery store and trading your home grown apples for a bag of oranges. As an individual, I'd do it, but as a store owner, I wouldn't.
But if you're in the area, I'd recommend you stop by and talk to Chris. He's a great guy, and I'm sure would be interested in perhaps buying some animals from you (at wholesale though), and, if he knows you, would be much more inclined to make even value trades.
They also have a store in Rancho Cucamonga. Its currently getting re-modled, so its not as polished as the Yorba store, but I think they have more invert customers up there.
I did talk to Zack and he personally called the owner and therefore I was told to come in. I did also talked to Chris about it but he was going to arizona and was not going to be able to help me out.
So Zack looked at my stuff Brachys, good size the ones you can sell for 40 to 50 dollars at the Petstore. He was on the phone with Chris while looking at my stuff.
I took stuff they can easely sell, some of my friends are Petshop owners.
I did mentioned to Zack who do I deal with from time to time.
I think that if they Know a little bit more about inverts he would have said yes on the deal right away. I offer him over 200 dollars worth of Juveniles T Brachys and Pokies for 120 dollars on scorpions.
I might visit them again but only to offer them stuff for sale.
There may be people who like centipedes. I have seen people handling tarantulas and scorpions, but never a centipede handler. I would regard such a person with deep suspicion...Now what sort of man or woman or monster would stroke a centipede on its underbelly "And here is my big good centipede." If such a man exists, I say kill him without more ado. He is a traitor to the human race.
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