I been thinking! (scary I know)

[suds]

I have allot of friends who have "exotic" animals everything from snakes to monkey's and they all have the same complaint its hard to find food and supply's locally .

For some time now I been thinking about trying to open a exotic animal supply shop I would love to specializes in ferrets but as far a good business model it would probably never work but to include lots of other animals greatly improves the business model end on it.

I would carry live prey such as mice rats,crickets ,worms ect. . and natural foods of course but will need to carry high end kibble( I so hate kibble the more I learn about the more horrified I become) as well as good feed mixes for birds, reptiles and such. as well as toys,and enrichment items,
I also would love to make packets and flyers on educating owners where they can resources online to care for there pets properly. for ferrets it is easy I already found the best site for nutrition and caring holisticferret.com where I would need the help is for good site's on reptiles, sugargliders,pet mice ,rats and so on. the thought is when someone comes in and says what type of animal they have I can give him/her a paper or packet dealing with that particular animal as well as online recourses ( to google anything now is hours and hours of rummaging through junk before you find something worth looking at) aswell as be a guide for me to know what's best to carry and help other people with .

I never was planning on selling animals I do not want to be a part of the puppymill problems there are way to many shelter animals that need homes as it is , But after dealing with our local SPCA I seen they had allot of exotic animals there that they had no resources to properly care for them so I was thinking maybe I could set up a adoption area with cages , proper bedding in the store that we could foster for the SPCA until they or we could find foreverhomes for them, it still would not be the best thing for the animals but maybe would give them more exposure to people who never would of thought about adopting before, if even if it helps for some educating purposes ? what are you r thoughts on this ?

keep in mind I am in the early stages of planning the business model and will not even start investing any money until at least next spring . and I have a sound business model .

I would love to have any input whether negative or positive anyone mite have.

[buzzonesbirdie]

To me as an idea it sounds really good, there is a need for special care for exotic animals.

[josiesmom]

I think you could actually focus on ONLY offering wholesome natural foods for the "exotics". Your shop could be a "kibble free zone"! There are enough shops selling sub par foods yours would focus on IDEAL species specific nourishment!

Offering only adoptable pets is a great way to releive the burden on shelters and get people to realize their impact on the plight of animals.

YOu could offer introduction classes so people could become comfortable with handling the animals they are considering opening their homes to. This would allow the animals to pair up with a person and allow the people to really understand the animal. The class fee could go towards the adoption fee of the animal, or be offered as a donation to the originating shelter. You could require "X" number of classes before taking the animal. People really wanting to commit to the animal won't mind waiting.

Monthly or Bi- monthly get togethers would keep folks coming back to the store and would show new clients the successful rehomings!

Cheers,
Kim

[buzzonesbirdie]

Those are all really good ideas Kim

[suds]

great Ideals Kim thanks

[Forum Administrator]

I think it sounds like a great idea! Definitly alot of work but definitly a great idea! If you have the time/money/resources I say go for it!

I am only knowledgeable in natural nutrition for dogs/cats/ferrets but I KNOW there are other species out there that are suffering from commercial diets.

This sounds like an amazing idea, just be sure to have a sound business plan and whatnot.

Im eager to hear if you go through with this!

[whipple]

I know that many species suffer greatly from commercial diets. I had an iguana for a while (It hated me and quickly found a new home, it was only a baby and that whip tail would only get bigger), and she came with a kibble food. I was supposed to moisten it and give her that. It looked nasty. So I read and got online. I learned that they eat veggies and fruit only. While they're babies you have to chop it up and make a salad for them. So I got a bunch of really odd fruits and veggies (at the time I was quite the meat and potatoes gal) and made a huge salad. Put it in baggies and froze it. I'd just take some out everyday for her, she gobbled it down!
Same with my birds, did you know they can not live off of just seed diets. Well "they" would like you to believe budgies and tiels can. So again I researched. They also got salads and seeds and bugs. I even scrambled eggs (with shell) once in a while. My birds were so healthy and beautiful!
Then the rats, they got a pasta/veggie mix daily. Along with a fruit piece for breakfast and other odd little snacks. Variety is the spice of life!

If you need any help at all figuring diets for omnivores/herbivores let me know. I've only ever fed kibble to cats, dogs, and ferrets. And obviously I am changing that habit.