Hoeffer's Pet Store

Pets are wonderful to have around the house but they have to come from somewhere. Also the pet owners have to get the food and supplies they need to properly take care of their pets. So where do they get it, at the perfect pet center called Hoffer's Pet Store.

Hoffer's Pet Store is like no other pet store anyone has ever been to. It was started in 1972 as a 600 square foot store. It has now turned into a 34,000 square foot, free standing store located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was designed and built in 2001 as one of the most unique pet stores anywhere. The staff at Hoffer's teaches free classes several evenings out of the week. There is a very large variety of animals at Hoffer's, such as ferrets, snakes, turtles, lizards, small animals and the largest department, fish! So take a look at some of them.

First look at the reptile department. In this department there are over 160 individual cages resembling the animal's natural habitat. The habitats are home to snakes, turtles, lizards, and tarantulas. When you walk outside you can find two 12 foot pits that house alligators and turtles during the summer months. In winter they are kept inside to be kept from freezing. I looked at a few specific ones like the Olive Python, the Rose Hair Tarantula, the Albino Burmese Python, the

This is the Green Iguana named Captain Morgan.

Red Footed Tortoise, the Sulcata Tortoise and my personal two favorites in this department are the Nile Monitor named Buford and the Green Iguana named Captain Morgan. Most of these animals are very expensive. For example the Olive Python is $499.99, the Red Footed Tortoise is $299.99 and the Rose Haired Tarantula is $24.99. So Hoffer's reptiles can get a little pricey but the reptile department is the second largest in their store.

The next department I looked at was the small animal department. This department includes Gerbils, Mice, Rats, Hamsters, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Degus, Hedge Hogs, Chinchillas, Sugar Gliders, Ferrets and Kittens. This department is home to over 80 cages. But in the back room there are over 100 enclosures home to the rats, mice and the very special sugar gliders. In this department the animals are

These are two gerbils in their little hut.

pretty cheap, for example gerbils are $9.99. Kept along the south wall of the store are birds, ferrets and kittens all in their own rooms. Kittens are specially checked by vets and kept for one week before finding a new home. The wonderful staff at Hoffer's makes sure people can find the perfect pet for them when adopting. Classes are given on how to take care of small animals and dog training. The small animal department is one of Hoffer's smaller departments.

Next is the Bird Department. The birds are located in 2 enclosed rooms along the back wall of the store. Here budgies, finches, cockatiels and