Design mockup. The shop shown here is invented. The phone number, the address and every price on this page are placeholders.

Warm Side · Liberty, Missouri

Ring the shop

(816) 555-0132

Mon to Sat, 10 to 6. Shut Sunday.
123 Main St, Liberty, Missouri.

Wednesday morning the crickets land. Saturday afternoon nobody can hear themselves think.

Both of those are worth knowing before you drive over, so here is the week from the inside.

When to come

Wednesday, 10 to 6
Live feeders land first thing, so the bins are fullest and the sizes are all in stock. Best day for a big order and the worst day to expect a long conversation before noon.

busy early
Tuesday or Thursday, mid afternoon
The quietest hours of the week. If you have never kept a reptile and you want somebody to walk you round the floor for half an hour, this is the window to use.

quiet
Saturday, 10 to 6
Full. Kids, families, and the day most animals go home. Fine if you know what you came for, hard if you need advice.

busiest
Sunday
Shut. The animals still get fed and watered, and the door still does not open.

closed

Feeders

Frozen is always in: pinky, fuzzy, hopper, weanling, small and large rat. Live rodents are ordered in only, for animals that genuinely will not take frozen, and we will ask why before we order.

Live insects, on Wednesdays: crickets in three sizes, dubia, mealworms, superworms, and hornworms when the supplier has them, which is roughly nine months of the year. Isopod and springtail cultures are always here because bioactive setups eat them slowly and buy them once.

Thaw it in the fridge overnight, not in hot water and never in a microwave. Then bring it up to warm in a sealed bag in tap-hot water for fifteen minutes before offering. A rodent that is hot on the outside and frozen in the middle is the most common cause of a refused meal and of a sick snake.

What we take back

Any animal that came from here, at any point in its life, no questions and no fee
Life changes. A tortoise outlives a marriage and a lease. Ring first so we have somewhere to put it, and bring the enclosure if you no longer want it, but the animal comes back either way.

always
Animals from elsewhere, case by case
Usually yes. We will not take anything venomous, anything over eight feet, or anything we cannot house safely. If we say no we will give you the number of somebody who can.

usually
Unopened equipment, thirty days, with the receipt
Opened UVB tubes and any live or frozen food, no, for reasons that do not need explaining.

30 days

Who to ring instead of us

We are not a veterinary practice and we will not diagnose an animal over the phone. What we can do is tell you within a minute whether what you are describing is normal behaviour or a reason to make a call today, and that is worth ringing for.

Anything involving a burn, a prolapse, an impaction, laboured breathing or a mouth held open needs an exotics vet the same day. There are two in the metro that see reptiles properly and we keep both numbers by the till.

Parking, and the door

Front lot, shared with the units either side, and the two spaces nearest the door are kept clear for people carrying a vivarium. The step is level and the aisle between the racks is wide enough for a chair.

Ring before you drive if it is a specific animal.

Stock moves. If you have a species and a morph in mind, thirty seconds on the phone saves the trip, and we will hold something for twenty-four hours without a deposit.