LODI − While most families search for a playful puppy or cuddly cat, some find themselves wishing to purchase a skunk, hairless rat, or possibly even a coatimundi or kinkajou.
Those families may end up at NJ Exotic Pets in Lodi.
Manager Megan Zayatz said that her store has a license to buy, sell and re-home exotic animals, as well as game animals and exhibitors.
Zayatz sells various types of reptiles, snakes, amphibians, invertebrates, and many other small animals like kinkajou, sugar gliders and degu (currently sold out).
Zayatz estimated that about 100 people visit daily during the week, and 500 people daily on weekends. Zayatz said the store sells three to five animals daily during the week, and up to 50 on weekends.
Exotic Pets, a business that used to be located at a small shop, has expanded to a large complex right off Route 17. Even before that, Zayatz worked at another pet store with mainly fish. After that shop closed down, she and a partner decided to open NJ Exotic Pets.
“I come very often because I have two leopard geckos, a snake, and a bearded dragon,” pet owner and frequent customer Amber Oppelt said. “I like [NJ Exotic Pets], because it’s very nice here. Everybody is just super friendly and knowledgeable.”
Zayatz won’t sell her animals to just anybody, and is very serious about the care they receive.
“We're very strict,“ Zayatz said.
She said that unlike some other stores “I won't sell an animal to anybody. They [customers] have to buy the food, the vitamins, and mandatory stuff. We have [this rule] written all over the store. If they don't want to buy what the animal needs to eat, they don't get the animal. If they seem like they're completely inebriated and can't take care of the animal, I won't sell it to them. I've refused sales plenty of times."
Zayatz also explained that working as a staff member requires hard work because there is “no playtime” at NJ Exotic Pets.
“You have to love animals [to be a staff member], but also be a hard worker because it's all cleaning,” Zayatz said. “It's not just sitting there and playing with animals—people like that get fired fast. You have to be able to work hard, clean poop, and clean the grossest of the grossest."
Staff Member Rebecca Picinich immediately said how much she loves animals and the roughly 15 pets she owns. Picinich could not think of a negative aspect of working at the store, but did explain an annoyance.
“People who purchase the animals, just not knowing fully what they’re getting into, even when you tell them what they’re getting into,” Picinich said. “They are just like ‘I want it’ and are uneducated owners.”
Zayatz is aware of this problem and works to combat it by recommending researching before purchasing.
Zayatz said: "90% of people come in to look and not buy. Sometimes you can come in and look four or five times, and we tell you about the animal, we'll teach about the animal. Then people like to do research or people will impulse buy, which is not a good thing. It's good to do your research, and know what you're talking about. We'll help them until they understand and then they can get them. Sometimes we're with customers for an hour.”
NJ Exotic Pets also cares for the many animals dropped off from animal control, and sets up adoptions for them. Zayatz estimated that they receive about 100 animals a month from animal control and other sources.
“The [adoption] fee is much lower,” Zayatz said. “Whoever's adopted them, we make sure that they get food and everything that they need. There's a lot of forms. We fill out a form, we have a form that everybody has to fill out, and most of them have attached care sheets. We say, 'If you don't want the animal anymore, we will take it back on donation. No questions asked.' "
On top of everything else going on at NJ Exotic Pets, the store also hosts events and birthday parties.
“On the third Friday of each month, we do something called ‘Creature Feature.’ We teach kids about animals,” Zayatz said. “It's a very low price to purchase a ticket. You come in, I can take like 25 people who do parties in that area, and we teach them about animals. There's hands on experiences, and things like that. They can take pictures with the animals.”
Zayatz says that most exotic pet owners are unique and kind people who buy unique animals as companions.
"I think people were fascinated by the strange and unusual, which is sometimes exotic animals," Zayatz said. "We sell all different kinds of critters, exotic mammals, reptiles, creepy crawlies, arachnids and insects. There’s always something for everybody unless you’re not an animal person."
