A Sunny Afternoon Trip to One of Our Livestock Suppliers

We are often asked “where do you get your livestock from?” The truth is that the answer is not straight forward. We stock a very wide range of livestock and there is not a single suplier in the country that supplies a fraction of that range. Some animals we breed ourselves, although not many now due to ill health over the last few years, some come from local breeders that we have used for a number of years, some come from “breeder collectives”, groups of breeders who pool excess stock to sell to pet shops, some come from larger suppliers (again, suppliers we have used for years and can trust). There are also some sources we do not use. Rodent farms (we have visited one of these and wouldn’t use them on ethical grounds), accidental litters resulting from people buying mis-gendered pets from a well known pet supermarket (high risk of sibling mating), random people cold calling and trying to sell us animals (possibly stolen). We visit our suppliers homes or business premises to make sure we are happy with the conditions the animals are being bred/housed in first.

One Sunday in June we took the opportunity afforded by the slight easing of lockdown measures and a beautiful summers day to visit George and his partner Claire for a barbeque in their garden and to collect two crested geckos, bred in their collection at the college they work at. Whilst there I took the opportunity to take a few photos to show what one of our suppliers facilities looks like. This college teaches a variety of equine, agricultural, horticultural and animal courses. As well as taking classes, George is tasked with looking after the collection of animals kept on the college, including developing their environments.

The existing aviaries are stocked with a variety of small birds, including Zebra finches supplied by Angell Pets. There are also large new aviaries currently being developed with different levels of plant growth. The corona virus pandemic has put a hold on populating these as there are currently no students on site but when things return to normal new birds will be sourced for these.

Meerkat enclosure, ferrets, rabbits, aviary.

Where the old aviaries are sited there is also a large compound of other enclosures housing Meerkats, ferrets, chinchillas, guinea pigs (some supplied by Angell Pets for breeding), rabbits, tortoises and others.

Inside the building is a rodent room with rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, degus, chipmunks etc. Another room houses the aquatics section with cold water and tropical fish (some supplied by Angell Pets – angelfish and sydontis and some from which we have had supplies – swordtails and guppies) and terrapins (although these are to go outside into an adapted pond enclosure soon).

In the reptile room are frogs (including a huge African bull frog, grey tree frogs and Brazilian milk frogs – supplied by Angell Pets), salamanders and musk turtles (tank and turtles supplied by Angell Pets). Also there is a large enclosure for a common boa, corn snakes, royal pythons, bearded dragons, a water dragon (supplied by Angell Pets), leopard geckos (some supplied by Angell Pets), crested geckos (breeding colony) and skinks. In a separate room, all to itself is an adult male green iguana.

Back outside at the rear and sides of the buildings and enclosures are several paddocks. One contains the old duck pond (where the terrapins are going to go) with some ducks still to be transferred down the site to the new, larger pond. Next door are the chickens, where my old hens spent their final days when I became to ill to look after them. Behind are some of the pigs. Further back are the goats and alpacas and further back still are the sheep and llamas. coming back round to the other side of the compound are the donkeys and a pony. There are more livestock in the agricultural department, where the stables, milking sheds and farrowing pens including cattle and horses. We have visited these facilities before but my legs weren’t up to it this time. It’s a big site!

Down towards the entrance is the horticultural department, new aviaries and large duck pond. Some impressive growing tunnels and planting areas, not at their best at the moment due to the lack of activity on site with the lock down but still looking good in the bright sunshine. This is where some of the plants we have on sale in our shop for bio-active set ups come from, including those in the leopard gecko set up on our counter.

As well as the crested geckos we have already sourced from George, when the guinea pigs start breeding we will be having their excess stock. If the leopard geckos breed again we will also have these. Once the aviaries are up and running properly I am sure the birds will start breeding and we will also source some of our birds from here too. The purpose of the collection is to teach animal handling, husbandry and welfare not to breed animals commercially. However in discharging these duties there will be excess animals produced and I am sure having seen the excellent conditions the animals are kept in and the time, effort and indeed money that is spent on their welfare, they are a good fit with our mission statement of promoting ethical and responsible pet care.

The crested geckos mentioned are now on sale in our shop as are zebra finches from the same cohort as those supplied by us for the aviaries. Incidentally we also supplied the original birds for the aviaries at Hartpury college just after George finished his degree there, from memory they had cockatiels, budgies, Java sparrows, zebra finch, Japanese quail and Chinese painted quail.

We are in the process of developing new aviaries and animal enclosures in our Hucclecote store so I am sure our relationship with this excellent supplier will continue to grow.

The Angell Pets Team

Gloucester Pet Shop 10 Years Old

Way back in 2009 I was coming to the end of my martial arts teaching career due a combination of injury and wear and tear. I was looking for something I could do as a career that did not involve working for someone else. I had had enough of that with previous employers and had been spoilt by being self employed as an electrician (which I hated) and a martial arts instructor (which I loved). It was whilst out delivering leaflets for my martial arts academy in Tewkesbury that I noticed that just about every every house (near enough) had some sign of animals. This one had a barking dog, that one had a cat flap, this one had a load of bird feeders, that one had a rabbit hutch. One even had a sign saying “beware of the snakes”! I have kept a huge range of animals throughout my life, have an honours degree in biology and have lectured on various courses on relevant subjects so even I was able to put two and two together and the idea of Angell Pets took form. I had no funding, no knowledge of how to start such as business or where to locate it but you don’t become a martial arts instructor unless you are quite driven. Within a few weeks I had resolved all the problems I could think of and formed a company and our Gloucester pet shop was born.

gloucester pet shop
We’ve had venus 10 years this year too.

I borrowed a lot of money against an old endowment policy I’d had for years, and incorporated the company on 23/06/09. We then found a suitable property close to home in Abbeymead, purchased all the shelving, tills and everything else you need for a shop, sourced suppliers, enrolled on the courses needed to obtain a licence, commissioned a website and jumped right in. The whole process, from forming the company to opening the doors of our first Gloucester pet shop took just under 6 months and we finally opened on 17th of December 2009.

gloucester pet shop

We stayed in our first shop in Mead Road for the next five years. Over that time we introduced new services such as free home delivery, a webstore, a new information website, an offers email list and our Facebook page. Despite being launched during a double dip recession, the business thrived and grew every month. Unfortunately, when the lease came up for renewal the landlord wanted the property back for themselves and we had to look for a new location quite quickly. We thought we had found a good new spot at the quays and managed to move the entire business across in only two days! (although there was a couple of months of late nights preparing the new premises and decorating the old).

Unfortunately we did not take into account the stupidity of Gloucester City Council who, at the behest of the Quays development and against the wishes of smaller local businesses, decided to close the local carpark and promptly killed our business overnight. This happened 6 months after we moved in and cut our takings in half. We were tied into a lease for a minimum of 3 years so spent the next 2 1/2 years just scraping by. If it hadn’t been for the launch of our boarding service we would have gone under. Thanks Gloucester City Council.

As soon as we were able to get out of our lease (not cheaply, it cost thousands) we did and found our current property in Hucclecote. The move was not so easy this time. Both properties needed a lot of very expensive works. The Hucclecote site was an old Barclays branch and their contractors wrecked the inside of the building taking out their kit, plus maintenance of the building had not been kept up. They also left behind the vault door which alone cost a few thousand to remove. Worse was the work we had to do on the old property. In order to implement the break clause in our lease we had to carry out a lot of remedial work. Every piece of wood had to be glossed, every wall emulsioned, every piece of flooring replaced (3000 sq ft), shutters that had not been touched in the the 20 years before we got there serviced, the roof cleared of years of debris and repaired where it had been damaged from people going up there without permission (now you know why I was annoyed when the rugby painting on the cafe next door was put up without any consultation with us – it cost me £450 in repairs). Unfortunately most of this work was a complete waste of time and money. We knew, even as we were carrying out the works that the new tenants were going to rip most of it out and sure enough, one week after moving I looked in to see half the new flooring pulled up and stacked ready to go to the tip.

Gloucester pet shop

It was whilst carrying out the remedial works (fitting the carpet tiles that are now buried in the ground at the landfill site) that I injured my spine. This is what was responsible for us having to stop our free local delivery service, I can no longer walk too well and lifting anything is out of the question. I managed to keep it going during the move, when we were operating from a storage unit but had no option but to cease it when, whilst painting a piece of skirting in the new shop I was unable to get up because my legs were too weak. After finally going to the doctors I have been diagnosed with a reasonably serious condition that is not going to improve. I also became quite ill last summer so Billie stepped up and has been running the company since, doing all the work that at one point we had six staff (including myself) doing. George has also been helping out when he can and even Albert stepped in during a break in his studies.

However, despite all the problems with recessions, leases, idiot councillors and illness lining up to hold us back, we have made it to 10 years of our Gloucester pet shop and are still going strong. To mark this anniversary we will be having lots of offers on between now and December in celebration. This will be in additon to, not instead of, our regular monthly deals we already offer. Ever since we opened we have made sure even our usual prices have remained competitive and with all the offers coming up, there will be some real bargains. Like our Facebook page or sign up to our email list to be kept up to date with the latest bargain.

So visit us in our Gloucester pet shop at Glenville Parade in Hucclectoe. Lots of FREE parking and right on the number 10 bus route.

The Angell Pets Team

Angell Pets involvement in overseas conservation

We take animal welfare seriously at Angell Pets We follow the top industry standards with our own animals and give our customers the best available advice and information so they can do the same. We also have contributed to animal conservation and welfare at other establishments and around the world. Our staff have worked on a projects locally with the Gloucester Wildlife Trust, across the UK, such as encouraging the re-introduction of otters to Birmingham and for the last few years at various locations around the world.

angell pets conservation

Africa Nature Reserve

George Angell (familiar in the shop to many of our customers) left the UK to help with work on Assumption and Aldabra for SIF (Seychelles Island Federation). Having worked on Rhino conservation in Africa during university, he was keen to get involved as soon as possible. Initially landing on Mahe – the main island in the Seychelles, George worked for a few months on supporting Black Parrot conservation. This work was a long term project, continuing after George left that was recently declared a success. He moved on from Mahe to the main focus of his work on the Seychelles controlled Atolls of Adabra and Assumption. These islands are so remote, even from the Seychelles islands themselves, that travel there is not possible all year round, so George contributed to the Mahe project whilst waiting for transport to be available.

 

angell pets conservation

Mahe

angell pets conservation

Mahe

Aldabra is a world heritage site and as such is an important and therefore protected environment. Invasive species of birds had made it at least as far as Assumption Island (40 km from the coral atoll of Aldabra) and an E.U. funded project was in place to remove these birds before they got to Aldabra (and to check how many may have already have got there and remove them).

George left to assist with the removal of these birds, helping to protect this important and unique habitat. He also did his own research for his dissertation toward his higher degree on the work he will be involved in.

Aldabra and Assumption are extremely remote islands in the middle of the Indian ocean. Situated  1100km south west from the main Seychelles Islands, Assumption is only 11 square kilometres. The only population are the scientists George is joining who go by boat to study Aldabra and support staff who maintain the landing strip. He was not be able to get there until October as travel is not possible from the Seychelles island of Mahe until then.

Below is an extract from the project brief outlining why the work was important and what it was trying to achieve and George’s part in it.

Under the European Commission’s (EC) Thematic Programme for Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, including Energy, the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) is implementing a 4-year project entitled “Mainstreaming the management of invasive alien species to preserve the ecological integrity and enhance the resilience of Seychelles World Heritage Sites” (‘the Action’) which started in February 2011. The overall objective of the Action is to develop and implement a strategic programme applying the ecosystem approach to limit the spread and reduce the impact of invasive alien species (IAS) in Seychelles’ World Heritage Sites (WHS). The Action is being coordinated and implemented by SIF, in partnership with the Seychelles Environment Department (ED) and National Parks Authority (SNPA), and with project associates Islands Development Company (IDC) and Island Conservation Society (ICS).

Under the project’s specific objectives, an eradication of avian IAS from Assumption of the Red-Whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus and the Madagascar Fody, Foudia madagascariensis is underway. Until recently, Aldabra was thought to be the largest island in the world with no introduced avian species but in 2012 both the Assumption introduced species have been observed in the eastern part of Aldabra. These species have long been considered the most severe threat to Aldabra’s avifauna, making their eradication an immediate conservation priority. SIF is therefore running two parallel bird eradications on these adjacent islands. Due to the unexpected invasion on Aldabra , more staff are being recruited to help ensure the success of these eradications.

Georges specific role in this project was as follows.

1. Eradication of all introduced birds from Assumption and Aldabra

2. Improved understanding of avian IAS ecology on Assumption and Aldabra

3. Continued trial of alternative eradication methods for invasive avian species

4. Elimination of the threat of avian invasive species to Aldabra’s ecosystem and outstanding universal values

5. Recommendations for restoration of avian fauna on Assumption

George’ duties also included catching their own food (to quote the organiser – “hope you like fish and rice”) and there were lots of opportunities to see the local marine life (he had invested in prescription scuba goggles). Fortunately he didn’t get to see some of it too closely (sharks, venomous snails, fish etc.) and got to meet the famous Aldabran Giant Tortoise  very up close and personal. Assumption has an air strip that has to be cleared of tortoises before supply planes can land and so they are not all as friendly as those on Aldabra. George can vouch for that having been chased by “Terry” who’s head came up to Georges hip! He also made a trip across the island to an abandoned unfinished hotel where he had to construct barriers across the door ways to try to keep the robber crabs (giant land crabs) out of the gear – they steal everything!

angell pets conservation

Fishing for dinner on Assumption

This, as you can imagine, was a sort after placement and George had to interview and compete to get the post. We were very pleased to be involved in such a globally important project and wish the team still on the islands every success in their continued efforts to protect our environment.

After completing his term on the SIF projects George returned to the UK to complete his  honours degree gaining a first. During this period he worked in the shop at weekends, providing our customers with the benefit of his growing knowledge base.

On completion of his degree he again looked about for conservation work around the world. There were a number of competing projects looked at, from  the Antarctic to the Galapagos. In the end he opted for New Zealand.

angell pets conservation

New Zealand Office

New Zealand is a group of islands with an endemic population of flora and fauna This means the animals and plants of New Zealand are found there and no where else in the world.

angell pets conservation

Walking The Trails

As these species have evolved in isolation, they are vulnerable to the introduction of invasive competing or predatory species from outside the islands. Since man has reached the islands there has been a decline of endemic species, from the now extinct Moa (a large flightless bird, hunted to extinction by the newly arrived Maori people) to the endangered Kiwis and Kakapo (smaller flightless birds, brought close to extinction by predators introduced by European settlers to control the rats and mice they had already accidently introduced from their ships and initial supplies). George was to become involved in the control and/or eradication of some of these invaders, such as the Australian brush tailed Possum, the European stoat, ferret and weasel to name but a few.

angell pets conservation

Time Off

He spent three years working towards the stated aim of New Zealand to become predator free by 2050 (with a couple of months out to train vultures in Spain to fly with tourist on paragliders!) As a falconer, he also captured, trained and released two Autralasian Swamp Harriers during his stay, being amongst a mere handful of people in the world licensed to do this.

angell pets conservation

Vulture

After three years of this work George has returned to the UK where he is using his expertise to train upcoming animal carers, handlers and perhaps future conservationists at a college in Oxford. At the same time he is working for us back in the shop in Hucclecote on Saturdays where our customers can benefit from his knowledge and experience. We are very happy that Angell Pets staff are so involved in the promotion of animal welfare at such a range of levels, from giving advice on dog food to protecting some of the worlds most endangered species in the most hands on way possible.

angell pets conservation

Working Hard

angell pets conservation

Back Working In The Shop

So there it is. Just a little background on just one of the Angell Pets staff members. Perhaps I’ll do another log at some point on the relevant experience of the rest of us one day.

The Angell Pets Team

Angell Pets Current Livestock List

Time to post a new current livestock list for Angell Pets Hucclecote store. All are on our website but it’s good to put everything in one post from time to time. I have added a couple of “coming soon” items this time as the arrival of these animals is fairly imminent (next week or the week after). We are a little light on spiders this week  but we will be getting some more very soon. I haven’t added these to the list as I haven’t decided which we are getting yet.

Invertebrates

  • Fruit Beetles
  • Deaths Head Cockroach
  • Madagascan Hissing Cockroach
  • Headlight Cockroach
  • Indian Stick Insect
  • Giant Spiny Stick Insect
  • Giant Prickly Stick Insect
  • Dwarf White Woodlice
  • Tropical Grey Woodlice
  • Giant Orange Woodlice
  • Argentinian Star Tarantula
  • Cameroon Red Baboon Spider
  • Flame Rump Tree Spider
  • Guyana Goliath Birdeater
  • Hati Hati Purple Tarantula
  • King Baboon Spider
  • Malaysian Earth Tiger
  • Mexican Red Rump Tarantula
  • Togo Starburst
  • African Land Snail
  • Giant Malaysian Shield Mantis *COMING SOON*

Amphibians

  • Alpine Newt
  • Whites Tree Frog
  • Albino Horned Frog *COMING SOON*

Reptiles

  • Rankins Dragon
  • Chinese Water Dragon *COMING SOON*
  • Leopard Gecko “Montanus”
  • Madagascan Giant Day Gecko
  • Kotschys Gecko
  • “Kastanie” Corn Snake
  • Milksnake
  • Kenyan Sand Boa
  • Common Boa
  • Carpet Python
  • “Chocolate” Royal Python *COMING SOON*
  • Marginated Tortoise

Birds

  • Timineh African Greyt Parrot
  • White Faced Cockatiel
  • Grey Cockatiel
  • Budgerigar
  • Java Sparrow
  • Zebra Finch
  • Yellow Canary
  • Orange Canary

Mammals

  • Fancy Mouse
  • Dumbo Rat
  • Syrian Hamster
  • Gerbil
  • Guinea Pig *COMING SOON*
  • Lion Lop Rabbit

Fish

  • Coldwater *COMING SOON*
  • Temperate *COMING SOON*
  • Tropical *COMING SOON*

Please note our list changes daily. For example if I had writeen this before opening this morning it would also have contained guinea pigs in stock and a Yemen chameleon, so please get in touch to see what we have in our Angell Pets Hucclecote store on any given day. Alternatively visit our website.

 

The Angell Pets Team

September offers and discounts

Discounts and offers available at Angell Pets throughout September (plus a couple of extras!)

We have loads of fantastic special offers in store and online now.

Dsicount pet food

Aquarian Tropical Flake 50g only £4.95
Tetra Goldfish Flake 52g only £2.99
Pointer Treats 500g 2 for £2.50
All these offers last until the end of September.
Whilst stocks last we also have Pedigree Dentasix Medium dog for only £9.99 for 56 and James Wellbeloved Puppy Duck and Rice 2kg for 20% off.
We also have one BIORB 30L left at 20% off. This is the last one at this fantastic price.

So grab you discounts whilst you can in store, over the telephone or online. FREE local delivery to Gloucester and Cheltenaham available.

The Angell Pets Team

Angell Pet care sheets page

Angell Pet give advice on all aspects of the animals we sell and on others we don’t. In addidtion tyo the advice given to prospective pet owners we have a page devoted to care sheets on this site which is constantly being up dated and expanded.

angell pet care sheet page

Just click on the Angell Pet Caresheet tab for a page of sheets and articles on mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, fish and additional sheets on hygiene, handling and treatments.

The care information for each animal will also be added to the description on our Angell Pet webstore over the next few months.

We also have additional advice on our Angell Pet You Tube channel.

The Angell Pet Team

Christmas gift ideas

It is difficult enough to buy gifts for kids at Christmas. Often presents from relatives remain untouched after the intial buzz of Christmas mornings. If the present is an animal this is obviously a serious issue. It needs caring for even if it is not really wanted.

Instead of buying a pet for Christmas how about buying a kit or starter set up. Then after Christmas, when all the excitement has died down, the child can come and pick out an animal to go with the kit.

Christmas gift ideas

 

No animals to worry about caring for on the run up to Christmas whilst trying to keep the present a secret and if it turns out they didn’t really want a pet then there are only inanimate objects to sell as “unwanted” gifts and not a living creature to find a new home for.

We have a large range of set ups and starter kits for sale from a few pounds to complete reptile kits. Also complete fish tank kits in attractive packaging that make ideal gifts at resonable prices.

pet shop gloucester aqua 40

 

How about a millipede set up, spider, scorpion, stick insect or landsnail. Everything you need to care for these interesting and easy to care for creatures that, after Christmas, would make an excellent pet for a child. Have you been pestered all year for a snake or lizard. Why not buy the set up and come in after the day to select a pet at your leisure.

We are open over the holiday period, so you won’t have to put up with the badgering for long!

Also, more kids get money at Christmas now than ever before. You could wait until the new year to go with them to select a set up for a pet and put up with all the pleading in between, or you could pop in and see us, We don’t have time off between Christmas and new year so you can.

Order your set up online now or call us to put together a bespoke kit to suit your needs. Better still, if you can, pop in and see us so we can show you what is on offer and you can get to see the animals too.

 

The Angell Pets Team

 

Our pet shop livestock list prior to the launch of the live site.

We will be soon launching our new pet shop webstore. Whilst you will not be able to buy livestock directly from this site (we believe you should always want to see livestock before buying and will not send our livestock by courier) the list of livestock available in store will be on there and it will be a live list. In the mean time here is a list of the livestock currently available at Angell Pets. We will continue to give updates of new stock in through our email subscriber list and on our Facebook page.

Mammals

pet shop gloucester ferret

  • Dwarf lop rabbit
  • Guinea pig
  • Chinchilla
  • African pygmy hedgehog
  • Gerbil
  • Syrian hamster
  • Fancy mouse
  • Blue rat
  • naked rat

Birds

pet shop gloucester birds

  • Grey cockatiel
  • White faced cockatiel
  • Rainbow budgie
  • Fife canary (crossed red factor)
  • Yellow bishop
  • Zebra finch
  • Java sparrow (white and pied)

Lizards

pet shop gloucester chameleons

 

  • Balkan green lizard
  • Crested gecko
  • Leopard gecko
  • Tokay gecko
  • Pink tongued skink
  • Yemen chameleon
  • Bearded dragon

Snakespet shop gloucester snakes

 

  • Corn snake (Carolina, amelanistic, snow)
  • Brookes kingsnake
  • Pueblan milksnake
  • African house snake
  • Western hognosed snake
  • Royal python (normal)
  • Royal python (spider)
  • Blood python
  • Jampea dwarf reticulated python
  • Carpet python (100% het granite)
  • Colombian rainbow boa
  • Common boa

Chelonia

pet shop gloucester tortoise

 

  • Horsefields tortoise
  • Common musk turtle

Amphibians

pet shop gloucester livestock fire bellied toad

 

  • Axolotl
  • Ornate horned frog

Spiders

pet shop gloucester spider tarantula

 

  • Chile rose
  • Curly hair
  • mexican red leg
  • Mexican flame knee
  • Chaco golden knee
  • Giant white knee
  • Pink zebra beauty
  • Brazilian pink toe
  • Martinique pink toe
  • Costa rican tiger rump
  • Chile bumble bee
  • Brazilian blonde
  • Brazilian red rump birdeater
  • Salmon pink birdeater
  • Venezuelan sun tiger
  • Indian ornamental
  • Gooty ornamental
  • Malaysian thick foot
  • Malaysian earth tiger
  • Green bottle blue
  • New Guinea rust rump
  • Togo starburst
  • Vietnam blue earth tiger
  • Usumbara red baboon
  • Blue foot baboon
  • Socotra island baboon

Scorpions

 

 

  • European scorpion
  • Asian jungle scorpion

Other Invertebrates

pet shop gloucester assasin bug

 

  • Giant chocolate millipede
  • Giant spiny stick insect
  • Indian stick insect
  • Jungle nymph
  • Indian mantis
  • Dead leaf mantis
  • Red spotted assasin bug
  • Fruit beetle
  • Giant hissing cockroach
  • Giant African landsnail

Coldwater fish

 

 

  • Black Moor
  • Calico Fantail
  • Red and Black Fantail
  • Calico Fantail

Tropical fish

pet shop gloucester tropical fish

 

  • leopard angelfish
  • Veiled angelfish
  • Cherry barb
  • Golden barb
  • Odessa barb
  • Tiger barb
  • Tinfoil barb
  • Leopard danio
  • Pearl danio
  • Gold zebra danio
  • Zebra danio
  • Giant danio
  • Gold sucking loach
  • Clown loach
  • Albino bristlenose plec
  • Gibbiceps plec
  • Neon tetra
  • Black widow tetra
  • Red phantom tetra
  • Serpae tetra
  • Firemouth cichlid
  • Gold severum
  • Lab caeruleas (electric yellow cichlid)
  • Gold thick lipped gourami
  • Sky blue dwarf gourami
  • Dwarf pencil fish
  • Red coral platy
  • Calico sunburst platy
  • Assorted molly
  • Black lyre tailed molly
  • Green swordtail
  • Blue mix guppy
  • Red dragon tail guppy
  • Green snakesking guppy
  • Female blue guppy
  • Brochis spendens (emeral catfish)
  • Albino corydora
  • Bronze corydora
  • Albino rainbow shark
  • Golden wonder panchax

Aquatic invertebrates

  • Yellow rabbit snail
  • Mountain shrimp
  • Blue lobster

 

 

This list, whilst extensive is only what we currently have in the shop. We also have a network of breeders and suppliers from whom we can get a wide range of animals and colour morphs to order. Please remember ALL of our animals are captive bred, most in the UK.

 

 

Pet Supplies April offers

Pet supplies April offers sheet. These offers are avaialbe in store through the whole of April. Click the link for supermarket beating prices.

Here are our pet supplies offers for this April.

Pet Supplies April offers

The Angell Pets Team

 

Pet shop Gloucester advice series – good hygiene

Pet shop Gloucester advice on avoiding infection from animals through good hygiene.

All animals have the potential to carry organisms (viruses, bacteria, protozoa, multicellular parasites) that can cause disease in humans. The most obvious and common is E.coli bacteria. We carry this ourselves, that’s why you should wash your hands after going to the toilet. Another common one is salmonella, potentially carried by a host of animals including reptiles and birds.

The commonest way of spreading these disease causing organisms is through faecal material (poop), urine, saliva and breath (in the water droplets). So on the face of it owning an animal seems to be a bad thing to do if you want to avoid being ill.

Well you actually stand more chance of being infected by disease from another human than you do from an animal, wild or a pet. How many people do you know who don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet or before preparing food, after blowing their nose, who sneeze, pick their nose, cough and splutter all over the place when they have a cold or worse and every one knows the story about the research into how many individual samples of human urine can be found on bar snacks! I even gave myself food poisoning recently, most likely from blue cheese, although I can’t be sure.

pet shop Gloucester

Humans eh! Dirty, horrible things.

With regard to animals, especially pet animals, the risk can be greatly reduced by ALWAYS following a basic set of rules. It is common sense really when you think about it but it does no harm to reiterate the rules here. You wouldn’t lick a rat’s bottom (I would hope not anyway!) but that is exactly what you are doing if, after handling your pet rat, you bite that little bit of hang nail off or wipe your mouth with the back of your hand.

  • Do not do anything that involves putting your hands near your face whilst handling any pet animal. This includes eating, drinking, smoking, sucking your thumb!
  • Keep your pet’s enclosure clean and dry generally. Remove soiled bedding and use a disinfectant appropriate to the species (household disinfectants can be toxic to animals).
  • Wash you hands IMMEDIATELY after handling you pet or cleaning its enclosure. Also after handling anything your pet touches such as toys, dog beds, scratch posts etc.
  • Do not kiss your pet or hold it close to your face, that’s what humans are for.
  • Cover any cuts, abrasions, sores or scratches with a water proof dressing before handling or cleaning. Also if you pick up any new ones in the process clean these and apply  a suitable dressing.
  • Don’t keep animals in rooms used to prepare food. Never let them walk on food surfaces and don’t wash animal items in sinks used for human food utensils. If you have no choice, always thoroughly disinfect the sink and surrounding work surfaces afterwards and don’t use the same cloths for both.
  • Don’t let animals onto your bed and especially not your pillow.

Follow these rules and you shouldn’t end up as one of the many people with an undiagnosed gastrointestinal infection (24 hour bout of diarrhoea) or one of the very rare cases of rat hantavirus (the only two cases of this flu like disease I know of in the UK were breeders who were in constant contact with rats but clearly didn’t have sufficient infection control).

If you are sensible pets have been shown to reduce disease in humans but if you lick a rat’s bum (figuritively speaking), expect the worst!

Keep visiting for more pet shop Gloucester advice.

The Angell Pets Team