# Reptile Boarding - How would you go about starting up?



## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi all, I have recently been struggling to find a local reptile boarding place. This has lead me to think about a possible business oppertunity. I am not looking at any make me rich scheme but would like to provide a service and I love all reptiles as well as have an amount of experience where I can at least care for most.

I am not looking at doing this anytime soon and have business and self employed experience. Just putting the feelers out.

Do you need any licence? How bout insurance? Are there any standards or compliance? 

Really interested in the idea as an extension to my hobby more than anything.


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

Guess there is little out there then? I really am struggling to find any advice. I am assuming this thread is in the correct place?


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## Darklas (Mar 25, 2009)

tbh I don't know if you'd need a licence. probably. and insurance you would definatly need if you want to do it as a real buisness. 

If it were something you planned to do out of your garage then you probably wouldn't need anything official. Just put out flyers and such, but the problem is unless you have great set-ups people might not trust you with their reps.

The pet shop I used to work in did animal boarding at holiday times. We would fill up with rabbits, birds and small furries. But reps were much rarer. Because they all have different requirments we would have to turn away some species. People tend to trust your ability to take care of a furry much more than a rep. Also the problem that reps might not like being taken from their usual environment, being uprooted for a week, then moved back again. It's unsettling for them. 
I know I'd rather get someone I know to just visit my house and feed my pets for me than board them someplace.

don't know how much of a profit you could really make out of it. Depends how much you put into it I guess. If you went all out, got a huge property with loads of various types of vivs. Then it could be a good idea. 

Sorry for the long post. Hope it is helpful. I know plenty of people who offer small pet boarding from their garages, stacks of rabbit hutches etc. But no-one who has done it with reptiles.


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

Thanks for your post. Have sorted insurance if I decide to go ahead. Not sure if having rabbits and snakes to close is a great idea. The room I am looking to dedicate is big enough but not sure people would be happy putting their fluffy bunny 15 feet away from a burm.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

From the snakes point of view I think having rodents and snakes in different rooms for boarding would be beneficial all around.

I do boarding and we do get very busy, especially in the summer holidays and christmas, sometimes fully booked up to 3 months in advance so I do think there is a high demand for it and it's a very useful service, a lot of people just don't have friends and family that are willing to take reptiles (or more commonly, their livefood) into their homes. We have had to turn people away before and if no one is really doing it in your area I can imagine there would definitely be a demand for it.

We keep boarding spaces simple, just like dog/cat kennels, they're bare - but this is the most hygenic way of doing it. You can get a veterinary disinfectant such as Trigene that is much stronger (and 100% safe) than regular cleaning sprays and whilst disease and spreading is a risk, you just have to be vigilant that everything looks healthy when it comes in - there's no cross contamination with food, water, handling etc. and that the vivs are cleaned out thoroughly after a boarder leaves.

At the end of the day you can put your cat or dog in a kennel and they can pick up cat flu or kennel cough if it's not done properly and likewise with reptiles, there are always risks. If people are worried about the risk of disease transmitting in a viv used despite thorough cleaning you could always offer the service of people providing their own enclosures if you have the space.

Stress wise we don't take chameleons in any more due to it being quite stressful for them and we only take tortoises in that come in their own indoor enclosures as we don't have the outdoor space, and don't have the open topped tortoise tables required, and don't take snakes over 8-9 foot as we don't have the vivs, so you might want to have a list of species that you don't deal with for any reasons, if you can't provide the right setups or you feel it's not in the animals best interest to be moved. The majority of our boarders are beardies and leos which are pretty hardy and we've never had any problems with them due to stress whilst boarding. Make sure you don't take in any species that you're not sure of the care for, you should be 100% sure of the temps, humidity and feeding requirements in advance and don't be afraid to say no I'm sorry, we can't accomodate that safely.

Insurance is definitely a must, as is getting a legal waiver drawn up that people should sign - you don't want to receive an animal that has health problems and then be blamed yourself - and make sure you take payment in advance, boarders can be used to drop off known-ill animals, unwanted pets etc. and they never come back for them! Sounds sad but it did used to happen to us occasionally before we asked people to pay for the full cost in advance - and even then, it has still happened once or twice, so you may want to be in contact with a local rescue, just in case.


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

This post was really helpful so thanks very much. Think I will give the furry care suggestion a miss. There is no where local I am sure cause I need somewhere to look after my reps! I had already thought there were a few reps I would not care for. Chams were one! Insurance I am cool with but would like more info about the legal waiver. Was this done by a solicitor for you? Other than the above is anything else needed. 

I would probably start with only filling half the room with viv's to allow people to bring their own viv/RUB's if they wished. See how this works and install more viv's if needed.

I am also happy to admit I may not be able to look after everything. Although I dont want to loose loads of money I am not doing it for money but for the service and the love of looking after reps. Again many thanks and any further info you can give would be great.


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

Any more info? I have followed some of the above advice ref insurance and contacting local rehoming centre etc. My local reptile shop was talking to me about licence requirments, county council and enviromental health. Do I need to do anything with these bodies?


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi all, just a little bump for this thread. I have now started turning my outbuilding into a serviceable room. Going well! Few questions though. How would I go about creating a legal waiver? Solicitors I take it???? Also do people prefer their reps to go in vivs or racks? I am assuming vivs as most people have these at home?? All and any help would be great. Athraven certainly is a help and I would appreciate help with these questions.


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## Darklas (Mar 25, 2009)

Again i can be of absolutly no use when it comes to insurance or anything legal. But going by holiday boarding places I have seen people tend to prefer their snakes in rubs, and lizards in vivs. In the pet shop I used to work in we would allow people to bring in their full set-up if prefered. Though only up to a certain size. e.g. the 45x45x60 exo terra tanks or similar. Which is perfect for people bringing in geckos and such. 

Is it only reptiles you are looking to board? Sounds like it could be fun.


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

Yeah, reptiles only to start with. I keep and breed small furry things as well but not really interested in boarding for these as of yet. Was going to do both in one room but advised not to keep them together. I would allow people to bring up to 3ft vivs if they wanted. Interesting you say about the RUBs. Must say although I use them now prior to coming on this site I had never seen or heard of them used for anything other than hatchlings. 

Was thinking with going for the following vivs. 1x 6ft, 2x 3ft's, 1x 4ft and 1x 2ft plus a RUB stack and space for people to bring there own up to 3ft. Maybe also get some 2 or 3 exo terra's.


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## Darklas (Mar 25, 2009)

Well my corn snakes for example live in a 4ft viv each. But I'd be quite happy for them to go into a 50ltr RUB for holiday boarding. People are happy with that or even the 33ltr ones for corns/royals.


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

Yeah, good point. I mean for a few weeks I am sure most people will not mind slightly smaller and more basic set ups for there reps. Thanks for your input. Does not seem many opinions out there on this.


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## Darklas (Mar 25, 2009)

Maybe try asking for opinions in the Lizard and Snake sections. You'll get a much better response. 

You going to board tortoises too? Or terrapins for that matter?


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## Phil3822 (Mar 8, 2010)

I dont really have much experience with terrapins although a little with tortoises. My problem with tortoises is the tables can take up a fair amount of room for adults.


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