Clarke County has recently become home to a store that is the only one of its kind in the state of Mississippi: Archibald’s Exotic Reptiles. Susan Archibald, who is originally from this area, started the unique business not only as a way to provide reptile pets and supplies to everyone, but she also intended for it to be an educational resource.
“I’m from Clarke County. When we moved back from California, I wanted to open something that would help everyone. I majored in education, so education is my goal. When I was teaching in California, I had students who couldn’t speak English at all and some who were proficient in English. I found out when I brought the reptiles in the classroom that I saw more learning and better behavior from them because they were engaged and something had their attention. They were not only learning math but were learning science as well. When I moved back, my goal was to continue educating,” explained Susan. “We have kids come in constantly, and I let them hold all the animals that their parents don’t care if they hold so they can see there is nothing to be afraid of. I also tell them what kind of animal it is. For example, a ball python cannot hurt a human at all. Fully grown, it can’t hurt anything but a rat. I tell them about this snake and make sure to differentiate it from a snake they would see in the wild so they know the difference.”
She makes sure that all the animals that are in the store are healthy and well taken care of, and she does her best to make sure that the store is stocked with inventory that will be best for all of the animals.
“We do our best to make sure that the animals we bring in to sell to people are not wild caught; they are captive bred. We are looking to get breeders in the state instead of buying from out of state to make sure that as much money as possible that is spent stays in the state. We also make sure that all of our animals are healthy. We do breed some of our own animals already and plan to breed more of them,” declared Susan. “We’re steadily adding to our inventory. We try to tell people everything they’re going to need, how much the total cost is, and how much is involved with it. A lot of people will go to other pet stores and get one light that hangs down and miss out on this other light that is needed too. It’s a light that helps keep them from getting bone disease and have their bones become brittle, because they need that UVB light. We sell the UVB lights, basking lights, and ceramic heat emitters (CHE) for those that get really cold. I strongly discourage anyone from using the red and blue lights that they sell in kits at other pet stores because they will damage the reptile’s eyesight.”
When customers come in the store to purchase an animal as a pet, she makes sure that she educates each person on what to expect so that they don’t buy an animal that they aren’t prepared to care for over time. For instance, some animals grow to very large proportions when they are full adults and require custom built pens, and others may have such a long life expectancy that they would have to be left to someone in a will.
“We tell people when they buy an animal what to expect. We don’t want them to come in and get an animal and not know how to take care of it properly,” expressed Susan. “For example, we don’t want someone to get a Savannah Monitor because it’s in a little tank since it’s still a baby. It’ll need a six to eight foot tank custom built when it’s older, so it takes a lot. Plus, those can be aggressive if they’re not worked with daily, so we let customers know everything to expect about that animal before they buy them. I’ve actually talked people out of purchasing a particular animal and found one better suited for them by making sure they know what to expect and how to take care of them.”
Since not every veterinarian deals with reptiles, they also make sure that all of their customers know where they can take their pets for veterinary services and what small, simple services they may be able to assist with in the store.
“Poplar Springs has a veterinarian who deals with reptiles, Dr. Carney, and he’s the only one who does reptiles. We’re sending customers to him if they need that,” stated Susan. “There are some easy things we can take care of here, like stuck shed, nail clippings, and things of that nature.”
Since education was one of her inspirations for opening the store, she does have future plans that involve adding on to the location to create more of an educational resource center. She is also more than willing to allow small groups of students come to the store to learn more about the reptiles, their habitats, and other various scientific facts that can help them in their school curriculum.
“We are willing to take in small groups of homeschoolers and even school groups eventually so they can come in and learn about all the animals and where they’re from and other scientific facts,” announced Susan. “Eventually, we would like to build onto the side of our building and make a reptile zoo in a few years. It would have an admission fee, but anyone who comes in will get to interact with the animals and learn about them, where they’re from, and what the requirements are. We would still have the store, too. My goal is to be able to be established and start building the reptile zoo in hopefully five years. We also plan to host reptile shows. We do plan to carry carnivorous plants such as Venus Fly Traps eventually.”
Although the store is named Archibald’s Exotic Reptiles, it can be a great resource for fishermen. The store breeds its own feeders, and they are more than willing to sell the feeders to anyone, not just those with reptiles.
“A lot of our feeders can be fishing bait as well: crickets and different worms. We sell our crickets 20 for $1, so it’s really cheap to get fishing bait here,” said Susan. “Even if they don’t like reptiles, they can come here for fishing bait. We breed our own feeders.”
They have extremely reasonable prices for everything in the store. The feeders can range from 85 cents to around $40 depending on how much and what is being purchased. The animals are priced from around $39 and up depending on the animal.
Anyone is able to come by the store to purchase or even just learn about the different animals that are there. They are open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 9-6 and on Wednesdays from 9-5. They are located at 517 West Donald Street in Quitman.
If anyone would like to contact them about purchasing anything has any questions, they can be reached by calling 601-938-9306, emailing archibaldsexoticreptiles@gmail.com, or searching @ArchibaldsReptiles on Facebook.
