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About Me



I am the original 'Bug Lady', breeding and supplying many types of creepy crawly pets. My little home business has now been going for over 40 years, in the last few years I have found myself being called the ‘Spider Lady’ more often than not. Trends are continually changing and arachnids are far more popular than they have ever been before. I have a bug room at the side of our house that is dedicated to keeping a multitude of creatures. Since moving out of London in 2003, my work is mainly postal, so many things have changed over the years. My first online store was set up in 2009 and in October 2012 my current online store went live, the photographs are larger and clearer, the information is more comprehensive and the online ordering is simpler and therefore easier to use. Even I find it hard to believe that I once sent out paper catalogues and waited for customers to post me their orders and cheques. I am still readily accessible by email and telephone and I strive to maintain my position as the most friendly and reliable bug supplier!

In years gone by I have bred Lepidoptera for schools and private individuals, I manufactured a range of net cages and visited primary schools with my mini-beast show. I now concentrate on breeding and supplying live bugs within the UK and Europe. I appeared on television quite frequently in the past (the Big Breakfast and various children's TV shows), these days I am generally behind the scenes, supplying the bugs to be filmed. I provide many schools, universities, butterfly farms, zoos and private individuals with an ever increasing, number of invertebrate animals. I am mainly a livestock supplier but I do sell a few pieces of associated equipment e.g. heat mats, plastic containers, thermometers and hygrometers. All my parcels are sent by Royal Mail's fastest methods of delivery, which is calculated on weight. I therefore only sell 'lighter' items of equipment. As you can tell from just a couple of paragraphs the bug business is ever changing and l do my best to adapt, trading for over 40 years isn't bad going! I do not import any animals, consequently the vast majority of my creatures are captive bred.

 

Thank you for your continued support, Virginia Cheeseman FRES

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A surreal week indeed!

A surreal week indeed! I sent off my last orders on Monday and the remainder of my bugs will be leaving me on Friday. So many people are congratulating me on my retirement but I prefer the good luck messages. I didn’t think I would ever retire but it all became too much, not just for me but my family too. Our home was taken over by my work. The bug room was my domain but the rest of the house had gradually filled up with ‘stuff’, plastic boxes, cardboard boxes, tanks etc. and I never ever had any time. Whatever task I was doing, I was always thinking of the next job on the list. People keep asking what I am going to do with my time now. In the short term I will be clearing everything out, especially the loft which is full to the brim. I’m a bit of a hoarder so that really doesn’t help 😄 Lack of time was indeed the main factor for finishing my business but there was also the constant “I only want a female tarantula” 😤, leaving Europe was a big blow, Covid, the animal welfare licensin...

My biggest announcement ever!

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Getting there!

Getting there! My plans for retirement are going pretty well, I cannot believe all the wonderful messages that I have received over the last few weeks, many of them have had me in tears. It is very emotional to give up my little friends after a lifetime of keeping them and my human friends too but the time is right so I will keep plodding on until everything has gone. I won’t be changing my phone number and I hope to keep my email address, therefore, those who want to, can stay in touch. I had planned for a big sale on September 1st but orders are still going strong so an all-out clearance sale doesn’t sound such a great idea. I have decided instead to reduce items individually but I do keep changing my mind J It is really difficult to retire over a period of time, I couldn’t make the decision and then stop, like most people are able to. I can’t set a date in the future because I simply don’t know when sales will dry up. The idea of an open day sadly became unworkable, I just don’t hav...