As we’re walking down the street on some errand or another, a buzz of people distracts us, and immediately captures our attention. We wander into the store where a flurry of excited adult’s and children’s faces were all lit up and smiling down at beautiful scaled, slimey, and armoured creatures crawling all over their hands…

“Wildside Encounters will be at Fur & Fangs on Saturday 17th November for our last public event of the year. This is always a very busy event so come along and meet the animals including snakes, lizards, tarantulas and many other creepy crawlies. We offer full fear and phobia sessions as well as answering any questions you may have on both exotic as well as British species. The shop itself will have a huge range of equipment and livestock available with great knowledgeable staff who can help with all queries you may have on all aspects of keeping.” [source]

I am so glad we stumbled across this event, not only was Fur and Fangs a fantastically stocked reptile supply store, complete with helpful, knowledgeable staff, but I was in love with the education ethos of Wildside Encounters.

Like Wildside Encounters on Facebook, and check out their events to page to see details of upcoming encounters you can visit.

We had arrived during a very busy time, it was a little difficult to get in to see all the creatures being handled. We waited our turn, browsing the small shop, and peering in at the residents of the permanent animal enclosures. As people started to filter out, we managed to get ourselves to the front and were up close with the animals on display. There were a variety of snakes, lizards, frogs, and minibeasts. My favourites were the beautiful crested geckos, the surprisingly gentle White’s tree frog, and the little hermit crabs peering out of their shells at us… and the wonderful staff of Fur and Fangs did a pretty good job of convincing me that I needed a Brazilian rainbow boa in my life!! When we move to our larger flat, I think a snake makes a good housewarming gift to ourselves right?!
I mean look at this lady… she’s gorgeous!!!

Wildside Encounters creates wonderful educational experiences for children, and adults alike. Their animals can’t help but charm even the most fearful person, and with knowledgeable, friendly animal-keepers they really know how to make a day special. Set within Fur and Fangs, this experience was perfect for reptile lovers, as well as novices like us to be able to see the setups and products needed to care for the lovely creatures we met in our encounter. It was perfect being able to ask helpful staff more about the animals we met, and hear lots of information about their care needs at home.