Reptile Island — Local services in Rancho Cucamonga

Update: The place came under new management and it really cleaned up quite a bit. Great place.

TLDR: It's unfortunate, but this is the only dedicated reptile store located in our area. The employees seem poorly educated on reptile care, and the animal's enclosures are significantly under-maintained to the point that the store had a foul odor beyond the typical smell associated with reptile stores to the point that my family refused to go in with me. There are positives to this store, but in my opinion the negatives are inexcusable.

The pros: +Very good selection of items. A lot of great hides, terrariums, aquariums, lighting, tools, substrates, foods including live food, etc. Big-name stores have nowhere near as wide a selection, but this is to be expected of a specialty reptile shop.

+Also a wide variety of animals. Tortoises, geckos, boas, monitors, beardies, tarantulas, chameleons. They have a little of everything with the occasional especially rare species such as Cuban knight anole, green tree python, and others.

Now for the cons: -The employees, at least in my experience, have low overall knowledge of reptile care beyond the bare basics. Depth of knowledge from my experience is comparable to big-name pet store employees (I.e. The -Cos and the -Marts). Recently asked an opinion on the care of one of my animals. They suggested placing a high heat lamp in its enclosure. Upon further reading from other keepers, they highly advise against this as high heat can kill them (cave geckos). More recently, I called them asking for Phoenix worms, the associate said they don't carry them but stated they have wax worms which he said are the same thing but larger, which is shockingly inaccurate. Wax worms are fatty, once a week treats for reptiles, while Phoenix worms are staple high protein and high calcium everyday feeders. The fact he said that to me concerns me regarding what they are telling other, less informed reptile keepers, potentially harming pets.

-The biggest problem I have is the care of the animals. The enclosures are small, but that is expected with such a small specialty store and not the main problem. The enclosures are completely filthy. The humid subtropical species enclosures have white and black molds in the substrate and the foods. The leopard geckos have bowls with 30+ mealworms left in the cage consistently with adult beetles in the enclosure, meaning they leave the food in the enclosure significantly past the healthy period, which can lead to overstimulation and dangerous stress levels for nocturnal reptiles like leos. Water is left in dishes with significant green algae growing in the bottoms. So much that is simply inexcusable. If it was a dog or cat store, they would be closed, but for some reason reptiles stores seem to always do this sort of care with their animals.

Overall, I can't say I'll be back unless they improve the level of care for the reptiles and improve overall knowledge of reptile care (or at least be able to admit when there is something they don't know rather than give a guess on care guidelines). I hope they do improve. Reptiles are wonderful animals and this store could serve as a great specialty store if they actively sought to improve as a store and as...

For starters this place smells bad and there are many visible dead crickets lying all around the store. I came to look for a new home for my bearded dragon and they were all incomplete. The glass doors were grinding and they did not have handles. The employees were very rude and paid nor cared for any customers. I was not told any information and had to speak with three different people in 2 minutes they were all useless. Thats not all folks my black buddy was accused of stealing a snake! I get its owned by white folks blasting heavy metal music but to just come at us accusing him of stealing one of your pets that apparently you guys can not properly care for while already on the phone with the police is absolutely ridiculous! The manager called the cops on us yet he had no idea how the guys that took the snake looked like. This is how you guys treat your customers! I asked him why would we come back to a store we stole from and he said there are people who steal 3 times from you guys and still come back. Maybe if you paid more attention to your customers or pets that would not happen! Plus everything is overpriced and unless you want crappy service and looked at like a criminal (even for being black) when you walk in due to their lack of supervision absolutely avoid this shop. TAKE MY ADVICE GO TO AMAZON REPTILE CENTER! SO MUCH CLEANER AND THEY ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE SO MANY MORE REPTILES WITH WAY...

Just went earlier today(11/1/14), we lost a rosy boa recently and wanted to get a new one. Went in looking for only one older rosy boa, walked out with a baby hognose, a new tank, decor, etc. We were extremely excited since we have always wanted one but found that they were hard to find.

When we entered the store, we were greeted politely, were left alone to peruse the clean exhibits. We walked in during feeding time, so we got to see excitement within most of the displays. My husband also loves that this store does NOT smell horribly and the animals lived in very clean surroundings.

After we grabbed a few items, we asked if they sold a premade bundle(there were quite a few for geckos around the shop). He said they were out, but we can build one from scratch and he'll apply the bundle discount, which we weren't fishing for but happily took the offer.

We confirmed they were a good shop when we realized the shop was filled with people the entire time. Yes, there was a small Asian family who were just giggling at everything, but every other minute two different parties come in with questions and walk out with good advice and supplies.

We aren't anywhere near being knowledgeable snake owners, but they didn't shove their expertise down our throats, which is a huge plus around here.

Keep it up guys, thanks for...