Thinking of starting a Reptile Sitting Service, Need Advice

Dave · Jan 31, 2012

Hi guys,
So Amy and I are contemplating starting a small reptile sitting service for the local Atlanta, GA area, and I wanted to ask my friends here first what kind of complications, issues, or obstacles that are going to incur with such a venture.

I'd appreciate all type of advice, from Health and Care to the average rates to legality issues.

Thanks everyone!
-Dave
SPF

okiroo · Jan 31, 2012

Dave said:
Hi guys,
So Amy and I are contemplating starting a small reptile sitting service for the local Atlanta, GA area, and I wanted to ask my friends here first what kind of complications, issues, or obstacles that are going to incur with such a venture.

I'd appreciate all type of advice, from Health and Care to the average rates to legality issues.

Thanks everyone!
-Dave
SPF

i'd say depending on animal and the kind of care it needs. you would have like a special (3days your 4th off!) about 50$-75$ nightlighy for board.(i would pay this for someone who would take good care of my animal while im gone) something like a snake tho probally much less(like 25ish nightly.) make resservations so you dont end up with more than you can handle and offer feeders you have as a treat option. legality- you'll need some type of insurence to protect yourself. only accept healthy animals or you may run into problems with people. put something up saying you have the right to refuse business and the animal much be healthy upon arrival. a care sheet must be provided ect. mabey think on only doing snakes chams monitors iguanas and a fee other lizzards you have experience with so you know 100% what your doing. sounds like a gr8 idea tho.

whereswaldo · Jan 31, 2012

i cant answer your questions ill just say thats a wonderful idea

millerman6401 · Jan 31, 2012

it would be a great idea but are there many reptile owners by your area?

Texas Panther Man · Jan 31, 2012

Jmo dave but if it were me all animals would stay at the owners home.

Otherwise you risk having issues with mites being introduced or some other nasty critters. Then you charge for travel time and the number of times you feed and check on them.

EvilLost · Jan 31, 2012

A few things off the top of my head having run a dog care business and considered offering reptile services passively...

-there just isn't enough demand to make this a primary business/income source imho

-you will need VICARIOUS LIABILITY insurance and this will be EXPENSIVE and I mean really expensive. This is *NOT* the same as standard pet liability insurance. the reason for this is that most reptiles/etc are considered abnormally dangerous animals and fall under vicarious liability legally.

What this means is that IF an accident occurs, (almost) no matter what, YOU are liable. This is different than a 'standard' cause of action (for example, against a dog that bit) because dogs (unless KNOWN to bite) are NOT vicarious liability animals.

I'm obviously over-simplifying the law.

Additionally, at least as far as our local codes are concerned, the location of the business is very limited. For example, in any residential zoning in Sherman Oaks (where our dog day care is) any RESIDENTIAL ZONING is limited to 4 dogs on the property at any given time. So running th business out of your home would be obviously limited.

Of course, you do have to consider ENFORCEMENT....if you are doing this small time / passively (not as a primary business) you might consider doing it illegally more or less and simply avoiding everything. However, do consider that due to the strict liability issues, you may be facing some really high damage values IF something happens. On the other hand you can try to contract some damages away, but I can't give too much info on the viability of contracting vicarious liability damages...

EDIT: I would *STRONGLY* agree with the "keeping reptiles in their own home" and travelling to them. This avoids SO MANY potential complications.

JRchameleons · Jan 31, 2012

millerman6401 said:
it would be a great idea but are there many reptile owners by your area?

Are there many reptile owners in Ohio?

EvilLost said:
I would *STRONGLY* agree with the "keeping reptiles in their own home" and travelling to them. This avoids SO MANY potential complications.

Not to mention, it's rather impractical to move large and heavy reptile enclosures.

Dave · Feb 1, 2012

okiroo said:
i'd say depending on animal and the kind of care it needs. you would have like a special (3days your 4th off!) about 50$-75$ nightlighy for board.(i would pay this for someone who would take good care of my animal while im gone) something like a snake tho probally much less(like 25ish nightly.) make resservations so you dont end up with more than you can handle and offer feeders you have as a treat option. legality- you'll need some type of insurence to protect yourself. only accept healthy animals or you may run into problems with people. put something up saying you have the right to refuse business and the animal much be healthy upon arrival. a care sheet must be provided ect. mabey think on only doing snakes chams monitors iguanas and a fee other lizzards you have experience with so you know 100% what your doing. sounds like a gr8 idea tho.

This is some great advice. Is $50 per night really that common? Or is this a common "exotic" rate?

Do you think I would still need the insurance if I kept the animals at the owner's home?

whereswaldo said:
i cant answer your questions ill just say thats a wonderful idea

Thanks you for your input

millerman6401 said:
it would be a great idea but are there many reptile owners by your area?

Well Atlanta is a very diverse area, and I've been building a large local client-base lately, and just a few mentions to a few clients have been very appealing.

Texas Panther Man said:
Jmo dave but if it were me all animals would stay at the owners home.

Otherwise you risk having issues with mites being introduced or some other nasty critters. Then you charge for travel time and the number of times you
feed and check on them.

This is some great advice. I'll be doing just that, keeping the animals at the onwer's home, while covering the cost of the feeders as a quality service perk, kind of a benefit from having Small Pet Feeders ;-)

EvilLost said:
A few things off the top of my head having run a dog care business and considered offering reptile services passively...

-there just isn't enough demand to make this a primary business/income source imho

-you will need VICARIOUS LIABILITY insurance and this will be EXPENSIVE and I mean really expensive. This is *NOT* the same as standard pet liability insurance. the reason for this is that most reptiles/etc are considered abnormally dangerous animals and fall under vicarious liability legally.

What this means is that IF an accident occurs, (almost) no matter what, YOU are liable. This is different than a 'standard' cause of action (for example, against a dog that bit) because dogs (unless KNOWN to bite) are NOT vicarious liability animals.

I'm obviously over-simplifying the law.

Additionally, at least as far as our local codes are concerned, the location of the business is very limited. For example, in any residential zoning in Sherman Oaks (where our dog day care is) any RESIDENTIAL ZONING is limited to 4 dogs on the property at any given time. So running th business out of your home would be obviously limited.

Of course, you do have to consider ENFORCEMENT....if you are doing this small time / passively (not as a primary business) you might consider doing it illegally more or less and simply avoiding everything. However, do consider that due to the strict liability issues, you may be facing some really high damage values IF something happens. On the other hand you can try to contract some damages away, but I can't give too much info on the viability of contracting vicarious liability damages...

EDIT: I would *STRONGLY* agree with the "keeping reptiles in their own home" and travelling to them. This avoids SO MANY potential complications.

I love detailed advice. + rep for sure. I love how you gave both sides of the story: by the book, and actual reality. I think I may consider doing a selective boarding service, while requiring the majority of reptiles to be kept at their own home. In this case, I could take care of all the other animals as well, as I've really cared for just about everything, with the exception of chinchillas and ferrets.

I believe a contract would definitely be a good idea. Do you have a rough template you could send me? [email protected]

JRchameleons said:
Are there many reptile owners in Ohio?

Not to mention, it's rather impractical to move large and heavy reptile enclosures.

Yes, but I have a bunch of extra cages as well. But as Texas Panther said, I run the risk of introducing parasites and mites into my home, which would be devastating to Small Pet Feeders' quality rating and I'm not willing to sacrifice that.

I think I'll be doing the majority of sitting at peoples homes.

okiroo · Feb 1, 2012

Dave said:
This is some great advice. Is $50 per night really that common? Or is this a common "exotic" rate?

i would pay 50$ yes, i like peace of mind and you get what you pay for imo. if you are driveing all over the place all day careing for peoples pets gas will add up. mabey do a charge per hour and add in drive time

example- takes 30mins there and 30mins back twice a day and 30mins to clan feed ect twice a day at 10$ an hour-ish= 30. or add a distance charge on the equation above, every 10 miles travled to get there = whatever you decide. that would be a good way to charge so you always got a wage out of it. ^^

so people who live further with more complicated animals will pay more. you could proablly charge more than that actually beacuse people who own exotics either take good care of them and have money, or dont.

Elizadolots · Feb 2, 2012

I think your contractual language can cover a lot of the liability issues.

People care for human children on a regular basis, this cannot be more difficult than that!

I agree with keeping them in the home if they are within a defined "drive-able" area. You could make more expensive "housing" options for those outside your driving area.

You might want to look into becoming "bonded". You will have to have access to their homes while they are gone, that's sort of a huge deal. Usually people who have that are "bonded".

It's really all about the contracts. Legal Zoom is your friend!

Thinking of starting a Reptile Sitting Service, Need Advice

Dave

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okiroo

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whereswaldo

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millerman6401

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Texas Panther Man

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EvilLost

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JRchameleons

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Dave

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okiroo

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Elizadolots

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