City Buzz: '˜Weird' animal pet shop is wonderful

Chameleons to cockatoos, pythons to skinny pigs, in Hillsborough there is a shop where you can find many unconventional pets.
Tim Cavanagh, owner of the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.Tim Cavanagh, owner of the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.
Tim Cavanagh, owner of the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.

The Lizard Lounge, on Middlewood Road, Hillsborough, has been offering adventurous animal-lovers a range of exotic creatures for almost 10 years.

The animals on offer range from £30 snakes to a £999 cockatoo. They sell corn snakes, pythons, boa constrictors, geckos, beaded dragons, chameleons, tortoises, frogs, arachnids, invertebrates, birds, parrots, skinny pigs and more other types of wonderful wildlife.

A hedgehog for sale at the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.A hedgehog for sale at the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.
A hedgehog for sale at the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.
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The store, which opened in April 2007, is run by Tim Cavanagh, aged 35 and his elder brother Lester, 38.

Tim said: “We keep a range of exotic pets ourselves. We decided to open the business basically to turn a hobby in to a job and enjoy the work we do.”

Tim has pythons, corn snakes, parrots and ferrets, while brother Lester cares for geckos and a few invertebrates.

“Our store is unique from everyday pet shops because of the type of animals we specialise in – we deal with the weird and wonderful.

A hedgehog for sale at the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.A hedgehog for sale at the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.
A hedgehog for sale at the Lizard Lounge, Hillsborough, Sheffield.
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All of the animals in the shop come from a professional breeder.

Tim added: “He has animals of the highest quality. The animals which are available changes depending of the time of year as some animals are seasonal breeders but it’s always worth popping in because you never know what you might find.”

Being surrounded by so many exotic animals on a daily basis, the brothers often find they have to stop themselves from taking some of the species home themselves.

Tim said: “We keep being tempted to take more animals home.

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“Recently, I was tempted to take a tarantula home, which is strange because I’m not afraid to admit I’m a little scared of spiders.

“But I can still appreciate the beauty and how amazing they are, but my wife and kids would not have appreciated it, so that stayed at the shop.”

As well as the animals themselves, the shop also stocks accessories and feeds, as well as starter kits to help people get fully acquainted with their new pet.

Tim added: “We try to stock animals that we know about and understand so we can offer the correct help and advice for the customer.

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“We want to educate the public that even though these animals need specialist care, it is really simple to do and many exotic animals are easier to look after than most everyday pets that people keep.

“We pride ourselves on our customer service and helping people as much as we can with any problems or questions they may have.”

You can visit The Lizard Lounge at 100 Jericho Works, Holme Lane. Call the shop on 0114 3272262 and also e-mail [email protected]. The shop is closed on Monday and open Tuesday to Friday from 10am till 5:30pm,

Saturday from 10am till 5pm and Sunday 11am till 4pm. Visit The Lizard Lounge