Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Find here the answers to the questions most frequently asked by our visitors.
1.Communication
- 1.1 Can I contact you by telephone?
We are a 100% online company, completely internet based. We have no physical store or secretariat. This allows us to keep overheads low and above all, to work with few staff.
These savings directly benefit our customers in the form of the lowest possible prices. It also means we don't have the staff to answer phone calls all day long. On the other hand, we respond to e-mails diligently, but rather in the evening, after the working day spent shipping packages.
- 1.2 I have not yet received an answer to my e-mails?
We process messages in order of receipt. Sometimes, the questions asked require more time to prepare an answer (search for prices, technical characteristics, intervention on our computer system, etc.). After a period of 3 working days, do not hesitate to contact us!
Nevertheless, check carefully whether the subject of your request actually concerns the service to which you have written to us. Otherwise, a much longer delay will be necessary before answering you!
- 1.3 I have not yet received a response to my messages via social networks such as Facebook or Messenger?
We do not take messages via social networks. The only way to contact us is by email
2. Legislation, authorizations and documents
- 2.1 The animal species that interests me is prohibited in my country / I do not have a Certificate of Competence (CDC) / authorization to keep exotic animals, can I place an order?
Hobbyreptiles is a Belgian company that applies the regulations dictated by the Belgian Government and the Walloon Region. As such, any animal sold legally in Belgium can be sold to any resident of the European Union.
Concretely, this implies that a French, German, Luxembourg customer, etc. can legally buy tarantulas, scorpions, turtles, etc. from us without having to provide us with specific documents (detention permit, proof of approval, Certificate of Capacity or other ).
Indeed, it is not the responsibility of Hobbyreptiles to request proof of authorizations but it is up to the customer to comply with the legislation of his country.
- 2.2 What documents do you provide when selling an animal?
All sales automatically generate an invoice accessible via your customer account. For animals in Appendix A of CITES, you will also receive the original yellow CITES document is individual (chip number appearing there for certain species) for each animal purchased. For animals in Appendix B of CITES, the invoice will mention either the CITES import number and if this animal was born in captivity in the European Union, only the EU NC mention is necessary (therefore no CITES number) . Animals in Appendices C and D do not require any particular document other than the purchase invoice. A transfer certificate is not applicable when it comes to a purchase from a professional, this is reserved for transactions between individuals. The purchase invoice then serves as a certificate of transfer.
3. Shipments
- 3.1 Where is your store located? Can I come on site to take an order?
Hobbyreptiles.com is a 100% online business. We do not have a showroom, warehouse or physical store where our customers can come to shop. All orders are made via our website www.hobbyreptiles.com and are either shipped or collected at a "Package collection point".
The Parcel Pick-up Point with which we collaborate, exercises a commercial activity having no connection with the animal world! On the spot, it is not possible to add articles to an order or, in the event of refusal of one of the articles of the parcel, to obtain an invoice modified immediately.
This store in the HORECA sector has the considerable advantage of particularly long opening hours. Our customers can get there easily before going to work, during mealtimes or after the day's work. Here is the address and hours of the parcel pick-up point:
The Fritkot
17 Cretinier Street
7712 Herseaux (Belgium)
7 days a week even on public holidays from 12:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The parcel pick-up point is right on the Franco-Belgian border near Mouscron, Tournai, Estaimpuis,... Wattrelos, Tourcoing, Leers, Lille, Roubaix,...
- 3.2 How much will it cost to send my equipment / animal order?
Shipping costs depend on the total mass of your package and in some cases, your delivery address. Therefore, to know the shipping cost of your order, you will first have to create a n account on our store, log in and then place items in your shopping cart. Since your account is linked to an address, our system will automatically display the shipping costs for the items in your basket.
The animals travel in an insulated package equipped, if necessary, with a heater or an ice pack that will maintain an adequate temperature during transport for more than 24 hours. The value of an insulated package is between €3.5 and €6, this amount is automatically included in the final cost of delivery costs or deposits at the package collection point.
- 3.3 I don't live in Belgium / France, I live in Switzerland...can I place an order?
Shipments of live animals are only possible in Belgium, Luxembourg and France (except Corsica) but in the case of equipment, every week we send parcels all over the world. Customers located in the DOM TOM or outside the European Union can place an order. We take care of the customs documents, however, customs fees payable by the customer may be requested when entering the country of destination. Animals, on the other hand, cannot be delivered outside mainland France, including Corsica, and Belgium.
For our Swiss customers, the only possible solution is to have you delivered to a France Express agency (= the carrier of live animals) near the Swiss border, in France.
- 3.4 It is indicated costs for sending animals to 39€ but once connected to my account, the costs increase!
As long as you are not logged into your account, our system cannot know your delivery address. Therefore, by default, the shipping formula for Belgium is displayed. Once connected, if you live in France, the price for a delivery in France is displayed
- 3.5 There is no carrier available to send me my order!
We deliver equipment worldwide but when your basket contains "special" items, it is impossible for us to deliver outside of France (except Corsica), Luxembourg and Belgium. Are considered as special items:
- live animals
- live food (insects, rodents, etc.)
- frozen food
- parcels over 30kg
- Some terrariums and aquariums that are both heavy and fragile.
-3.6 Can I have the tracking number for my order?
When your package is taken care of and therefore scanned by the Belgian or French postal service, you will automatically receive a tracking link by email to the email address you have indicated in your Hobbyreptiles customer account.
If you do not receive this tracking link, your package is probably not yet supported by the carrier or the tracking email has been blocked by the anti-spam of your mailbox. .
If your package contains one or more live animals or frozen food, it therefore transits in less than 24 hours via the approved carrier. In this case, there is no real follow-up other than a confirmation notice that you have received your package by email and/or text message. Indeed, a package that is imperatively delivered to you in less than 24 hours after it has been picked up is not scanned multiple times during the day.
- 3.7 Do you ship animals worldwide?
No, sending animals is only possible in France (but not in Corsica), Luxembourg and Belgium. We sometimes go to some reptile fairs across Europe, this could be an opportunity to join us there to take your order for free.
- 3.8 What happens if my package is lost during shipment?
As long as the package is not delivered, it remains under the responsibility of the sender and the carrier. For shipments from Hobbyreptiles.com, in case of loss a new package will be sent to you or your order will be refunded in full. For shipments from your address to our after-sales service, in the event of loss, you will have to organize yourself with the carrier you have chosen.
- 3.9 I sent my package back to you for withdrawal / repair but I haven't heard from you yet?
Delivery times are sometimes long, especially when sending to a foreign country. In any case, the tracking number of your shipment will tell you if we have received your package or if it is still in transit.
In the event that we have received your package, the verification, repair, resend of a new package or refund may take up to 31 calendar days even if the vast majority of cases are handled in less than 10 days.
- 3.10 Can you tell me when I will receive my order? I need it urgently, I have to organize myself to receive the package.
A customer who has placed an order receives a confirmation email in saying:
"...As indicated in our item sheets, all orders are shipped within 1 to 14 working days (generally 1 to 3 working days before deposit at the postal agency and 1 to 7 working days for orders containing animals)
If your order includes animals, we will contact you as soon as we have a delivery date to offer you. Your validation of the delivery date is essential, we will not be able to deliver to you without your agreement. Please do not ask us about this before our proposed date reaches you by email..."
Regarding the deadlines for animal deliveries, this means that we must first receive the animals ordered from our suppliers and that as long as the latter have not informed us of their date of passage in our facilities, we will therefore not have not the possibility of proposing a delivery date to our own customers. We do our best to inform our customers as soon as possible and therefore, as long as an email from Hobbyreptiles is not received and that at the same time the status of the order has not yet changed to "Question asked to the customer" , is that we do not yet have the information at our disposal.
4. Payments
- 4.1 Can I pay for my order in installments?
We can only send orders when they are paid in full. Payment in installments is therefore not possible.
- 4.2 Can I pay for my order on delivery?
Only orders paid in full before shipment are taken into account.
- 4.3 My account has been debited and yet I have not yet received my order / the status of my order has not changed!
For an order to be taken into account, it is imperative that payment is received in full before sending. It is therefore normal to see your account debited when the package has not yet reached the customer.
It happens that Paypal imposes a delay in the validation of your payment (deferred payment). In this case, Hobbyreptiles has not yet received your money because Paypal is holding it for the time of its investigation. As a result, we do not yet consider that an order has been validated and the status remains “Awaiting payment…. ". Our company has no influence on this procedure and cannot intervene.
A payment by bank transfer always takes a few working days before our bank account is supplied with this payment. Thus, the debit of the customer's account being done for example on Monday, it is not uncommon to have to wait until Thursday or Friday for Hobbyreptiles to receive this payment and validate the order.
- 4.4 Can I have a commercial gesture?
No. Our sector of activity is subject to very strong competition, particularly from non-professional breeders who are freed from VAT and social security contributions. We do our best to make our prices already very attractive. We do not wish to work for a clientele wishing to take advantage of internet prices, a professional service and the legal guarantees that European laws impose on online merchants.
5. Animals
- 5.1 Is sending live animals by courier not too risky for reptiles / amphibians? Under what conditions do the animals travel until they are delivered?
Hobbyreptiles.com implements a maximum of measures to secure the sending of animals:
- Shipping is done only by specialized and approved carrier, in less than 24 hours. Obtaining authorization to deliver live animals is so regulated that to date, only one company is able to provide this service in France and Belgium!
- The vast majority of the animals we ship stay with the breeder/supplier until the day before they are picked up by the specialized carrier. Thus, the animals do not undergo multiple changes of terrarium and maintenance conditions before finally arriving at the customer. The “transit” period is shortened as much as possible.
- The animals travel in suitable packages. In some cases, and more particularly outside the summer, the packages are insulated and equipped with heaters maintaining +/- 20°C for 24 hours. The value of an insulated package is between €3.5 and €6, this amount is automatically included in the final cost of delivery costs or deposits at the package collection point.
- The package is clearly and officially identified as containing live animals. This type of identification necessarily implies special treatment on the part of the approved transporter: no turning over, no treatment by sorting machines, no shocks during handling, etc.
To date, shipments of live animals as we organize them are so well controlled that we record less than 0.4% of mort on delivery! By way of comparison, La Poste admits almost 3% of breakage of equipment having passed through its network. Our animals never pass through the postal service, this is prohibited!
Live animal transporters do not deliver during periods of extreme cold, frost, heat waves, strikes, Mondays, Fridays and weeks when Tuesday, Wednesday and/or Thursday are public holidays, etc. The transporters themselves define the days of restrictions according to their own criteria. Hobbyreptile has no influence on the dates of application of the restriction days. In these cases of temporary impossibilities of deliveries independent of our will, the customer cannot ask for any compensation other than the reimbursement of his order.
- 5.2 Can I receive a photo, the weight, the exact size,... of the animal that you offer for sale?
We do not provide photos, weight readings or accurate measurements of the animals we sell as we do not maintain these animals in our facilities. They are all either with the breeder or with the supplier until the day before they are picked up by the specialized carrier who will deliver to you.
For breeders / suppliers, taking pictures, weighing, measuring is a major constraint in terms of time and organization. Moreover, if photos exist, they are not necessarily recent or of good quality. To avoid any controversy and preserve a certain image, we therefore do not distribute photos that are potentially outdated or of poor quality.
Our advantageous prices imply an agreement with our suppliers: no photo will be requested in return for a priority of supply and attractive prices.
A customer wishing to benefit from the expertise and prices specific to Hobbyreptiles.com must imperatively accommodate this constraint.
However, in some cases exceptions exist but never follow a specific request from a customer: the description of a particular animal for sale on our site sometimes includes the photo of the animal that is precisely for sale ( such as for animals born and kept with us). This is then indicated in the advertisement.
- 5.3 How can I be sure that the animal I want to buy is in good health?
We can never be 100% certain, an animal is not a factory-produced product delivered with a guarantee and a certificate of conformity. Some animals may have an undeclared disease, not visible at the time of sale. Most diseases have an incubation period of several days during which the animals appear perfectly healthy.
In any case, we have no interest in selling sick or weak animals because we always want our customers to build loyalty and reorder on our site. We buy our animals from experienced breeders with whom we have sometimes worked for ten years. We care about animal welfare, upfront maintenance conditions and no questionable animals will be sent.
- 5.4 My animal is sick, is it guaranteed or what do you offer me to treat it or to compensate me?
The animals are guaranteed to be in perfect health on delivery. If there is any doubt when opening the package in front of the delivery person, refuse the animal which will be returned to us and you will be refunded (excluding shipping costs). However, once the animal has been delivered and therefore accepted, the customer becomes solely responsible for the future of his new companion. A problem due to the stress of the move, poor maintenance at its new owner, unsuitable food, etc. can very quickly weaken a reptile sold in perfect health.
We cannot either indicate medical treatment to treat an animal, this is forbidden to us and beyond our skills, it is the role of a veterinarian.
We do not particularly encourage the sale of animals to be shipped away from our facilities. This is very costly for the client and stressful for the animal. We greatly prefer the sale of animals to customers coming to us or joining us on reptile fairs where we go as visitors or exhibitors.
- 5.5 Can I choose the sex of the animal I am going to buy? Is it guaranteed?
You can choose the sex of your animal if this option exists on the item sheet of the species you are ordering (just below the price). Sexable animal listings always indicate whether you are about to order a male or a female. Sex is then guaranteed. If the sex is not indicated on the description sheet, it means that we cannot sex these animals (too young, no visible differences within this species, choice of sex not possible with our suppliers/breeders, …)
- 5.6 Can I sample youger my reptile against one of yours?
No, this is not part of our usual practices. We only buy animals when ordered by a customer.
- 5.7 I am a reptile breeder, would you buy my babies back?
In some very specific cases, yes, but in most cases we will not respond favorably to your request. You can always contact us via our site for an answer.
- 5.8 Are your animals dewormed?
No, almost all the animals we sell come from private breeding and, according to our veterinarian, therefore do not need to be dewormed. You are free to consult your own veterinarian when you are in possession of your animal. However, this may be recommended for wild caught wild animals. This important information on the origin of your reptile is then clearly indicated on its descriptive sheet.
- 5.9 I have changed my mind, I want to return my reptile to you and receive a refund. Is it possible ?
No, animals are not goods that legally imply a withdrawal period from buyers.
- 5.10 Where do the animals you sell come from?
Mainly from private farms. More rarely, from professional breeding and exceptionally imports of wild animals.
- 5.11 Can you give me the contact details of a reptile breeder likely to be able to sell me an animal that you do not have at the moment?
This does not correspond to our commercial activity. On the other hand, we can try to provide you with an animal that is not usually in our lists by doing some research among our contacts. Send us an email with your request, please: info@hobbyreptiles.com
- 5.12 I am a beginner, which species would suit me best?
Here is a non-exhaustive list of some species that are easier to maintain:
Snakes: Elaphe Guttata, Lampropeltis G. californiae, Lamproeltis T. Hondurensis, Python regius,..
Turtle: Hermanni, Boettgeri, Horsfieldii, trachemys,…
Lizards: Eublepharis macularius (leopard geckos), Physignatus cocincinus (water dragon), Eumeces Schneideri (schneider skink), Pogona Viticepts (bearded agama),…
Amphibians: Litoria caerula, Litoria infrafrenata, Rhacophorus leucomystax, Hyla cinerea, Ambystoma,…
- 5.13 My animal is not eating well / is sick / is not active, what should I do?
Check the maintenance parameters properly: temperature, humidity, quality of light and UVb, etc. If the problem persists, a visit to a veterinarian is in order.
- 5.14 Can I come and see and choose from you the animals I want to buy?
You can collect your orders free of charge and by appointment, at the parcel collection point located in Herseaux (Belgium). On site, if several animals are in stock, we could show you some of them to let you make your choice.
However, we do not have a showroom or breeding room open to the public. We keep almost no animals apart from our breeders, peacefully installed in the homes of some of our passionate employees. The animals we sell are either with the breeder or with the supplier until the day before they are picked up by the carrier who will deliver them to you.
In some cases, the description sheet through which we offer an animal for sale on our site includes the photo of the animal that is specifically for sale (such as for animals born and kept with us). This is then indicated in the advertisement.
The point of withdrawal with which we collaborate, exercises a commercial activity having no relation with the animal universe! On the spot, it is not possible to add articles to an order or, in the event of refusal of one of the articles of the parcel, to obtain an invoice modified immediately. This store in the HORECA sector has the considerable advantage of particularly long opening hours. Our customers can get there easily before going to work, during mealtimes or after the day's work.
6. After-sales service
- 6.1 I sent you a package for after-sales service / withdrawal but I have not yet been reimbursed!
We generally process after-sales service / returns in less than 15 days. If this deadline has passed, please send an email to sav@hobbyreptiles.com to let us know of the delay. We would then take your case as a priority.