Chgo Reptile House

The Bad reviews here are absolutely astonishing. I have been going to this store since I was a child, probably 16 years now. Every staff member knows me and most other regulars by name, they treat every customer amazingly, and help everyone from novice keepers to experienced keepers, I know this because I once bought my first Iguana there. He was my first pet ever, I remember the owner Jeff helping me pick him out, I think I was 8 Years old, It was the most excited I ever was at 8 years old, and they knew it, and Jeff did everything he could to make that day even more special for me. Since then I have bought many reptiles from them, and all are extremely healthy, eat right away, and Ive never had any health issues with them, and absolutely love each and every one of them! Every animal there is treated as if it was their own, I know this because I go there all the time, and everyone working there is as passionate as it gets, most of them have been there for EVER and you cannot do something for that long without being extremely passionate, and KNOWLEDGEABLE about what you are doing. I would give them more stars if I could. Do not listen to anyone who gives this store a bad review, they have no idea what they are talking about. They either were most likely difficult customers and will never be happy with anything, or just like to cause issues for businesses. Ive gotten birds, fish and reptiles here. It is the only pet store I go to, they even sell my Orijen Dog food, and other high quality brands! I would always recommend this store, love the staff, and all of their animals are always in tip top condition. I cant believe anyone would give this store a bad review. Thank you for listening!!!

Unhealthy reptiles. I recently visited this store in hopes of nice animals and a large selection. Their geckos were in poorer condition than Petsmart/​Petco which is infamously known for this mistreatment of animals. For those of you who do not know leopard geckos store their fat inside their tail so a healthy and nutritious leopard gecko has a large tail. These geckos had tails so small I thought they were house geckos upon first glance. I only saw two of the crested geckos but those had their tails completely missing. Even Petco can keep a crested geckos tail on… So unless they were rescues brought in by a customer there is no reason for those animals in those conditions, and if they are in those conditions do not put them on display or for sale.
Tanks were overstocked or too small for some of their animals, there were four adult corn snakes in a 20 gallon. I understand it’s a pet store and you only have so much space but under what circumstances do you put four adult snakes in the same habitat that I would barely put one snake in. On top of it the water dish for a snake that large was somewhat small.
Speaking of snakes their rainbow boa was on aspen. If you do not know rainbow boa’s require around 70%+ humidity. Not only was their NO humidity gauge to verify how humid it was. Aspen does not hold humidity well so even if they sprayed the tank down it would not thrive. On top of the aspen problem they had a basking bulb that made that whole area completely dry. The ONLY humidity I could see was water that spilled out of the water bowl. The snake was under the waterbowl in soaked aspen because the waterbowl fell over.
Their snake selection is completely amateur nothing for an enthusiast that wants to get into higher tiers of snakes. It is mainly corn snakes and king snakes. The snakes are placed in a weird rack system that lets you see into it but barely has any substrate for them to burrow. There is a light on it at all day so the snakes have nowhere to hide due to no hides and barely any substrates.
Other habitats were poorly kept and very few were nice. I couldn’t get a view of the Chameleons because they were high up on a shelf that you had to look up to.
They should not be up for sale if they’re in those conditions. I understand certain animals get sick or refuse to eat but do NOT put them up for sale for others to buy until you have made them healthy for sale again.

Prices are a bit high but are definitely worth it. Always our go to for our bearded dragon and our eyelash crested gecko! They are very knowledgeable and have always been able to answer all of our questions. They always have our tomato worms in stock which is always a plus too.

Rats are good quality, though I wouldn’t mind a chunk of dry ice like GrossBoy Exotics does from the Scott Smith All Animal Expo in Wheaton. If you have access to this bi-​monthly event I highly recommend it.
This store would be fine if you have one snake and keep it as a pet. Totally impractical for the breeder or serious hobbyist.

I was so hopeful that they were just having a bad housekeeping day that last time we were in the store, but we went back and I dare say the conditions were worse than before. They only had about 4 – 5 ball pythons this time, and every single one of them had feces in their enclosure. A healthy BP will literally only poop 1 – 3 times per month, I don’t understand why they can’t keep up with that. If you have an animal in a 6“x10″ enclosure, at least don’t make them share it with their poop. 3 of them were balled up in their water dishes which were BONE dry. Anyone unfamiliar with BP’s, they go in their water for one of two reasons, to cool off, or because they have mites. Assuming they just wanted to cool off, they couldn’t because there was not a drop of water in sight.
We usually come here to stock up on feeders, and they do usually have a good stock of mice, but that’s literally the only thing I would recommend coming here for. The guy that helped us was friendly and helpful, I didn’t catch his name but he was a young guy with a beard. If you have to go here, that’s your guy. If you are in the market for a new reptile of any kind, I would say skip this place altogether and wait for the NARBC in Tinley Park. Sorry.

Thankful to have found this store! My son is completely interested in reptiles and wants to be a herpetologist one day. Being a single mom, I had to man-​up and get this kid something that wouldn’t scare me half to death, and be a treat to him. We got there, and Matt and Sean were able to point him in a direction for a veiled chameleon that would be perfect for a starter animal. Since then, we’ve gotten a pixie frog, and are getting set up for our first salt water tank. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable and are conscientious of the age of the caregiver when showing an animal. We have tried to get food for the animals at a pet store closer, only to have our animals get sick. We won’t make that mistake again. We make our weekly visit to pick up crickets and mice, and love how they educate my son with his numerous questions, and show him how important reptiles are. I won’t go anywhere else!

Brian Potter is rude. Do not ever rest on your laurels, and treat customer with sarcasm and smart-​ass comments. Give people a little time; don’t be in such a rush as soon as you think you sense that they are not going to drop a ton of money. You’ve lost my business and that of my friends who like me are in this hobby 20+ years.

EDIT 2÷4÷16 — Changing my review. I’ve been a customer for 12 years, and this place has gone downhill fast. I recently stopped in to the Reptile House and noticed many of their animals were sick. They had leopard geckos whose tails were the thinnest I have ever seen. I’d trust Petco for better quality, and that’s a very low standard. Also, Brian Potter is a prick. Got into a debate with him outside of the shop and he patronized me for being young and not owning a home («Young,» but I served in the military for 4 years in a combat MOS, and I’m a college student. I think that gives me an excuse to not be a homeowner at the age of 21 and still allows me to have an opinion on the topic we were discussing). Other reviewers have mentioned the prickishness of Brian. But, don’t take my word for the trashiness of this shop. Go to the Reptile House, buy yourself a sick animal and see how it works out for you. I’m a current owner of a v. salvator water monitor, argentine red tegu, multiple geckos, and a bearded dragon. Previously owned large boids. I have 12 years of experience owning reptiles, in fact, my first reptile purchase was from this shop. Shame this place lost my business, they were making a mint off of me for years supplying me with food and bedding. I’ll just stock up from Underground Reptiles or LLLReptile when they come to the NARBC.
But the place is good for supplies, I’ll give them that much. Plenty of feeders available, so there’s that.

I purchased a veiled chameleon from here on the condition that a very knowledgeable employee pick me out a male. At the time I did not know how to determine the gender for chameleons. It’s actually easy, males have a spur on their heels. However, the bald guy knowingly gave me a female after I insisted that it didn’t look it. He insisted that the spurs would grow out. For those of you that don’t know, females generally don’t develop bright colors, are smaller than males, and don’t sell. It was my mistake for trusting him.
BUYER BEWARE– these people are liars and will take advantage of your lack of knowledge for reptiles. They will try to hard sell you way over priced stuff you don’t need. I paid $ 90 for veiled that was suppose to be a male. Go to the all animal expo in wheaton and buy all kinds of chameleons for $ 35 tax free. There you can buy from actual breeders that are very friendly and knowledgeable.

They have the best selection of reptiles and amphibians in the Chicago-​land area. If you are looking for something within reason, they probably have it. With that said, they have a lot of imported animals, which to me, is unethical. Captive bred is the way to go.
They just renovated the store and the animals are housed more appropriately now as well. It’s a step up from your average pet store as far as how the animals are cared for. It’s still far from perfect, but acceptable. The reptiles look well-​fed and it makes me hate the pet trade a little bit less to actually see healthy animals.
I don’t recommend buying supplies here though as they are way over-​priced. The only thing I buy there is frozen food for my snakes.
Overall, it’s a decent place with interesting stock.

I was brought here as a special treat, and boy, was I excited about the wide variety of herps. There are some of the standards one might find in chain pet stores, such as bearded dragons (oh so cute!), ball pythons and treefrogs. There are also many creatures that are not as common: several varieties of monitors, yellow banded poison dart frogs and tegu lizards. The prices were generally the same or less than those at the chain pet stores.
While I didn’t personally interact with the staff, but they seem to know what they’re doing. I overheard someone ask if they could determine the sex of a bearded dragon, and the staff member was able to check for them right then and there.
They have a large section of saltwater fish, anemone and other creatures. They look so cool! Maybe someday I’ll have the money and patience to set up a tank. There were signs indicating «Pond Fish This Way» but pointed to nothing — perhaps they were remodeling?
Some of the birds seemed a little irritable, so I didn’t spend much time hanging out in that area.
It was upsetting to see a few dead critters in the tanks. I’m sure that sometimes animals don’t make it, but please check the tanks throughout the day so I’m not staring in the face of a poor, shriveled frog! I’d like to talk to the owner next time to see what’s up with that. It otherwise seemed like a fun store.

This store has a wide selection of reptile products that you can’t get at stores like petco and petsmart. Many of the exotics they carry are declining at rapid rates in the wild, in part due to the pet trade. Not to preach, but this store will sell anything to anyone regardless of if they can take care of the animal. It seems a little irresponsible especially since they guys there seem to care about reptiles. It would be nice to see only captive bred animals.