The reptile show that I went to last weekend was very good, I was surprised how many spiders and bugs were on sale there. My main reason for going was to collect some Giant Train millipedes but I also picked up several other species of millipedes. Of course I also purchased some more spiders and a few scorpions and other interesting creatures. I was very restrained and didn't buy any more leaf eating insects. I seriously need to cut down on these before the winter weather really sets in. Digging bramble out from under snow is no fun at all but looking on the bright side perhaps we won't have any snow this winter! I was very pleased with my new millipedes, they are popular pets and I haven't managed to get any new ones in for a while now. The price of millipedes certainly seems to have gone up over the last couple of years, it would be great if I could actually breed some of these. I have had several orders for them this week, since adding them to the site on Monday. Sadly I haven't had many other orders this week. I expect things will pick up next week when the schools go back after half term. Monday is Halloween, a great time for spider lovers. My nephew and family always have a super party, we all get dressed up and play games. I know a lot of you will find this hard to believe but my family won't let me take any live bugs to the party. Sadly nobody likes them except me and my great nephew Hugo. Hugo lives in Luxembourg but he is over here for most holidays (his half term is actually next week). I bought myself a brilliant t-shirt at the reptile show, it is covered in arachnids of all sorts and I bought a matching t-shirt for Hugo. I'm sure he will come over for a day next week and 'help' me in the bug house, he is only 8. I loved the various t-shirts on sale at the show, they had all sorts of prints with bugs and spiders on them. I was looking at the American suppliers website yesterday and thinking about ordering some for my site. They are lightweight, so would be easy to post and appear to be very good quality.
I was dismayed to read this week about how Royal Mail may be able to charge what they like and put first class postage up by 70% (I think that's what they said). If it goes ahead goodness knows what will happen to the Special Delivery prices. I cannot believe how much my postal supplies cost already. This week I started using heat packs and larger boxes with plenty of insulation, this all adds to the weight and cost of sending out orders. I have recently spent a fortune on cardboard boxes and this week I ordered new heat packs. I ordered the heat packs from an alternative company and ordered a couple of different types to try them out. I already have quite a few of the previous ones still in stock. It will be interesting to see which ones perform best. I am in the process of writing a newsletter and I will be asking for help in assessing how well the heat packs work. When I have the results of my survey I will know which ones are better and therefore which ones I should use in the future. I worry about over heating the animals in transit so I never put the heat pack against them in the box. Sometimes when I receive things in the post the heat pack is squashed right against the tubs with the bugs in it. Everything seems to arrive ok so perhaps I am worrying about nothing but I would definitely like to know I am using the correct heat packs for the job. I hope to get the newsletter finished this weekend and then send it out to everyone next Monday or Tuesday. It will only go to those who have subscribed on my website. My last newsletter contained a code for a postal discount and a few people had heard about the discount and then moaned that they had not received it, I cannot send it to people who have ticked 'unsubscribe'. That is the whole point of opting in or out! Anyone can go back onto my site and opt in if they want to.
The last newsletter managed to crash my website, I'm not exactly sure what happened but I think it might have overloaded the system. My super website guy has suggested that I let him send it out this time, which sounds like a good idea to me. Unfortunately there were also some initial problems with the discount code but they were soon sorted and it was a very popular offer. At this time of year I am struggling not to put the postage up, so there will be no postage discount but I am thinking of giving a 10% discount on all orders collected from me in November. I don't have a large number of customers collecting from me, it is obviously not very practical if you live a long way away. However I am close to junction 3 of the M40, a very busy motorway, people do arrange to collect on their way to somewhere else. If you can collect there is no postage to pay and hopefully a 10% discount on everything will make it an appealing proposition. It is much easier for me as there is less packing and no worries about postal delays or bad weather. I am generally around in the mornings and will always try to fit in with your timetable, evening collections are fine as there is usually someone here.
I have had a couple of 'Basil Fawlty' moments this week. What more can I do to tell people that I don't, can't, won't sex spiders? This fact is plastered all over my site and yet still I am 'told' to send a female. Only yesterday I had a guy demand a refund on his order as I couldn't guarantee a female (also in my terms, which everyone has to tick that they have read, when placing an order). It drives me insane, I also heard from another guy this week that the guaranteed female Mexican Red Knee that he had bought from a pet shop had just matured into a male - exactly! It isn't easy to tell, mistakes happen and people lie! I don't lie and it sometimes loses me sales, ideally we would all prefer females! Rant over, can you hear the steam coming out of my ears?
Anyway, Happy Halloween to you all x
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