The order was placed on Wednesday evening, and we forgot to read the shipping information – they don’t ship on Thursday unless requested at purchase. I noticed this on Thursday AM, around 8AM EST, so I quickly emailed over asking if they could ship it out that day. To my surprise, Susan emailed back and was happy to ship everything out. The dragons greatly appreciate her right now.

Everything came in on Friday, and the feeders all look great. Mulberry Farms produces quality feeders. I am happy to recommend them, and will likely be using them again in the future.

We will report back on the silkworm eggs once they start hatching. They look great so far though.

If you’d like to place an order with Mulberry Farms, please check their website at: http://www.mulberryfarms.com/

Greg ships Priority Mail, which saves the buyer on shipping. Most other companies require overnight, which can cost an arm and a leg. We’ve been ordering since the shortage started, and we have never received a DOA. All the mealworms look extremely healthy, and are ready to be gutloaded and fed off to the critters.

When the package arrives, the mealworms are usually in a fabric bag with newspaper. Removing the mealworms is a lot easier than one would think, especially with a pair of large tweezers.

If you are looking for an excellent mealworm supplier, we highly recommend Greg at Kettle Moraine.

If you are interested in purchasing from Greg, you can check out his online store at http://kmwoodworking.com, and look under Mealworm Feeders, or on eBay at ttp://stores.ebay.com/Kettle-Moraine-Wild-Bird-And-Pet.

If you are looking for a captive bred Tokay Gecko, Cliff is a great person to buy from. I was impressed with his helpfulness during the entire process of looking for a Tokay. I personally have been searching for some time to find a Captive Bred (CBB) juvenile Tokay, under 6 months.

I contacted Cliff at the very end of December, asking if he had any juvenile CBB Tokays for sale. He responded, stating he had some juveniles, plus a few hatchlings. Over the next month we exchanged emails with updates on the hatchlings, some pictures, and general information. Over the month I decided to purchase 2 Tokay’s, one for another person, to save on shipping. He was able to get me both hatchlings, which was great.

I received noticed they could be shipped, and asked to have them shipped on Jan. 22nd, because someone would be home Wednesday to get them from the mail. This worked out great, the Tokay’s came around 12:00PM the next day in a nice box, with insulation and warmers inside. Both Tokay’s were in great condition, and adorable.

If you are looking for a great breeder, Cliff@Flock Reptiles is the way to go. I’m extremely impressed and happy with my purchase. If I ever have the need for another Tokay in the future I will be going back to Cliff. Shipping prices were also reasonable, only $25 to ship.

Thanks to Cliff I am finally able to own a CBB Tokay, and raise it myself.

Pros: Prices. The prices are generally pretty fair, and often very close if not better than their competitors. They often have a discount code that will come in the mail if you receive their catalog as well. This can be for $5, and I’ve even seen codes for 20% off. This is great for those of us that want to save a few dollars.

Customer Service. F&S’s customer service has a mixed review. I will state some pros here for now. They offer online support, which is a positive note. If you can’t call up at that moment, but want to speak with someone about your problem, the online support is best for you. I’ve used this several times and usually had a decent outcome. Their phone support also picks up pretty quick, and you don’t have to sit around on hold.

Customer Service on Live Orders. F&S mail orders fish, which aren’t reptiles, but still a product I buy. I had a small issue with my first (and only) order with them, 3 of the 4 fish did not make it past 2 days. After a small disagreement with one member of their stuff (who said my saltwater tank was not the right specs), I finally got my money back for those 3, plus shipping. It took getting a knowledgeable staff member that had some knowledge on reef tank setups in order to get this. I would easily purchase more livestock through them, I just have no need for now.

Cons: Customer Service. Their customer service’s performance is just OK. I want impressed by the speed and options to contact them, but after speaking to several people I wasn’t impressed with them in general. Canceling an order is supposed to be simple, but I had it shipped out anyway. Then they said they rerouted the package with FedEx, which was a lie, as it was delivered anyway. I had to fight to get it sent back (and not pay), plus get my full amount refunded. In the end I got all my money back, which made me happy.

Shipping. One word: Slow. I’ll order something in the morning and it won’t ship out for a few days sometimes. I know they are busy, but I’ve never had a company that doesn’t get things out in under 24 hours outside of a holiday. I expect if I order it Monday at 10am that it will ship out by Tuesday night, or Wednesday AM at the latest. My ebay orders come faster than F&S, which is pathetic.

I rarely buy from F&S anymore due to these issues. They had their pluses and if I don’t need something for over a week and they have a great price then I’d purchase from them again. Otherwise, I’d rather purchase from a faster, more friendlier dealer.

Pros: Price. Ghann’s overall price online is pretty decent. They have specials every so often, usually 3-2 when they are overstocked. This is great for those who have multiple lizards.

Products.  Most places have only one or two sizes of specific feeders, where Ghann’s offers all sorts of sizes. Crickets come in 9 different sizes, from pin head to full grown, and mealworms range from mini to large. This gives more options for smaller reptiles who cannot eat the small crickets (or worms) sold at most stores. One of my favorite products by Ghann’s is Crickets-in-a-Can. There are 100 crickets in this can, for only $6.99 including freight. This is a great deal for those who need smaller crickets, but do not want to order 500+ at a time. Ghann’s also offers ‘contracts’ for 3 or 6 shipments, which sends out one can a week. These contracts can save around $0.30 and $1.00, depending on which one you pick. This is a great choice for those who want a steady supply at a great price.

Shipping. Overall I’ve been impressed with the fast shipping Ghann’s offers. I purchased a thing of phoenix worms as well as Crickets-in-a-Can. They both arrived the same day, even though the phoenix worms were shipped UPS and the crickets were shipped via USPS First Class Mail. My order was mailed out right away and I had my order by the end of the week.

Cons: I don’t have many cons on Ghann’s as I haven’t had a bad experience. I continue to come back to them for live food due to great prices and friendly service. There is one thing I wish could be changed which would be the combining of items. Above I spoke about the Crickets-in-a-Can and the phoenix worms, which were ordered at the same time, but came in two different packages. It would be nice if they’d place everything in one box, that way the buyer doesn’t have to meet the mail person and the UPS person. Personally I’d rather just get my package from one, and have everything there at the same time, while others might not agree.

Pros: Prices. The prices are fairly inexpensive compared to your local pet store, and generally a lot cheaper than Petco and Petsmart. The in store prices are a little more money than the online prices. I’ve found that requesting their catalog and using the rewards coupon in it can save you money in the store. This is a great feature for those that live by, or decide to visit.

Sales. Now I love sales, and I know most people do too. ThatPetPlace has some great brick and mortar sales. Every year in the Spring is their anniversary sale. They have incredible pricing for all animals, and the place is jam packed. For the sale in Spring 2007, they had to use overflow parking across the street and they had probably around 100 employees in there to run the place. Depending on what you are looking for, you can find some of the best deals here. Heating elements are generally so much off, as are all the hides for the cages. Sometimes even the reptiles themselves have decent pricing.

Products. I am impressed, they carry most of the items I could want for all my pets. I can make one order, and everything will come together. It’s great to be able to order from one place, rather than selecting a different store for each pet you have.

Shipping. You are given several options for shipping, from the economical, cheapest methods, to overnight. I generally use 2-day shipping, as it is the cheapest method, and because I live only 3 hours away it comes the next day. I’ve ordered well over $1000 of merchandise from them between my fish and reptiles and had never had a problem with a damaged item either.

Cons: For every good thing there is always something bad.

Speed. Some days you can order and it will ship out that night, other days you could order and it could take a few days to ship out. This doesn’t impress me, as I like to have some consistency to ordering. I understand holidays, but on a typical day it shouldn’t take 2-3 days to ship a simple, 2 item order out.

Out-Of-Stock. Some items are labeled out-of-stock, while others are not. They do not notify you if you order an out-of-stock item usually. Instead, you will receive a package without that item, and on the invoice it doesn’t list it. When you check the online page, the item is still there, but it hasn’t been shipped. What gets me is that it still says in-stock. I’ve made calls to them and sent emails, the response: Items are backordered and will ship out as soon as we receive them. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited a few weeks for an item once. That was my mistake. It never came in. I ended up having to cancel that part of the order.

Loss of information. This is by far the worst experience I had with ThatPetPlace.com. It isn’t related to reptiles, but is related to their customer service. During their big sale in 2007 I decided to purchase a few saltwater fish for my fish tank. The ones I purchased had a guarantee, which influenced my decision to buy through them, and they were 20% off. I picked up a Six-Line Wrasse that day. After getting him home I noticed a small white fuzz area on his fin, turns out he had some disease. I sent emails and pictures with an employee there during the time I had him. He died a few days later, as did a few snails as well. I was then issued a store credit (as I purchased with cash). I was fine with this, and I was told I’d have to order via the phone rather than online. No big deal, right? Wrong.

I went to place my order in the summer. I had all the papers she had faxed over to confirm my credit and I read the lady the number on it. No record. I argued with her for some time and was told I’d have to wait for a manager. I spent several days on the phone, many hours wasted of my time for a $30 credit. I finally got a manager to issue a giftcard that way I could use it online. At this point I didn’t even want to purchase through them. A month later I received a check in the mail for the amount of the credit. I was happy about that, but still, they lost my credit and proceeded to argue with me even though I had all the emails and proof of it.

~Awesome