Mark's Ark Inc

TL;DR: highly negligent to their animals (pics attached) Went in thinking it was going to be fun thing to drop by. I was dead wrong, this store is highly negligent to their animals. I understand that these cages are “temporary” but they arent even giving the bare minimum. A lot of animals cages/containers are far too small, most of the animals do not have adequate setups of their enclosures sometimes with some having multiple animals, it lacks enrichment as well, notably the snakes who dont have hides or even any semblance of what makes a good temporary cage. I saw lizards jumping to the top of the cage, trying to get to a crack. The floors, walls and lights were bright white. Little to no enrichment as well as dirty cages. I didnt look for long because i didnt wanna see it, but then i saw the snakes Some snakes seemingly were looking for ways out, multiple rubbing their faces along the sides of the glass doors and others looking at the top of their extremely small container. The face rubbing could also be that they are sheding but theres nothing to help them get that shed off. Then there was the smaller snakes wall. These are the worst in my opinion, these containers are meant as a VERY temporary container, like for a vet trip, not one they sit in until they get bought. Theres only bedding and a water bowls in these containers, only few have branches. Theres also the bright white light behind them as well. There were milk snakes as well as ball pythons in these transport , a majority of which cant even lay out their full length, even if theyre smaller. The iguana’s enclosure was WAAYYYY too small, the tank has only a water bowl with very little bedding/substrate (looks like wood chips). Again, no enrichment. The fish outside in front are ,again, crammed and lacking enrichment, they sit in a cement box with algae filled water outside. The fish inside are also crammed and lacking enrichment, in fact, many of the fake plants were tipped over, and the gravel and sand was moved around, exposing the bottom of the tanks. Betas are near the other fish but they dont even have light, theyre also in basically cups, no heater or water filter, akin to the ones at petco/petsmart. Their spiders are kept in small plastic containers in a fridge like display that emits a bright white light that shines directly into their VERY small cups with multiple cups stacked on top of eachother. A good amount of spiders took up about 1/2 to 2/3s of their containers per spider. The only thing in the majority of cages was a a water bowl, which many were empty or nearly empty. There were a few animals that also had food, but not many. The lighting in the containers were inconsistent, many getting bright white lights and a few having no light at all. The birds are in the back, im assuming because of the bird flu. Regardless, their cages were also small and cramped, from the glimpse i saw they looked super dirty. Im unsure how the birds would be put back on the floor however, because the store is cramped. There was much more but writing this makes my heart break. Please do not go here 🙏

The staff here are friendly. One of their employees has Excellent Customer Service skills. The redhead gentleman. His knowledge & helpfulness about the animals is exceptional. Their price on toys & food is competitive some even less than the big box stores. Will return here. They have the food I’ve been going 20 miles further to get for only $2 more (would spend that in gas to get to the farther away store). Found some unique foods, vitamins, dishes & toys hadn’t seen elsewhere. This place is exactly the same as I remembered when I came here with my Dad decades ago. My Dad came here to buy fish & fish tank toys. They do have a vast selection of fish & fish aquarium supplies. Their Fish seem healthier looking than their relatives at Petco & Petsmart. They also had a nice selection of reptiles & rodents as well (if that’s your thing). I find the other reviews about bad customer service somewhat hard to believe. You do get what you give. Having worked retail & phone customer service myself I know it can be a tough job. One nice & appreciative customer can make for a great rest of your workday. So I’m always nice to retail & customer service workers. One of their workers was a bit brusque. But it was close to closing so he probably just wanted me to leave so he could go home. The birds were chipper & chatty until they started sweeping before closing. The birds are in the back with the UV lights they need. Not sure why they’re in the back though. Could have them in a area where the cages are. But maybe it’s because of the noise level. About only things noticed that could use improvement are they should dust off the shelves & inventory. Was going to buy some food dishes but they were all very dusty. Consider changing or at least mopping the floor. The flooring tiles are possibly older than I & quite worn. If buying foods & vitamins make sure to check expiration dates. I noticed some are past date by a couple months to a few years (in Mark’s defense these are products probably hard to sell being niches that they keep in the very back of the store where most people probably don’t wander or easily overlook).

I will NEVER go back to Mark's Ark again. We purchased 3 new little frogs nearly 2 weeks ago. Within the first 4 days one had already died. He looked sick to begin with, he had a weird hunch back. We thought it was a bone disease limiting his movement. But unfortunately another 4 days later, another one of the new frogs started to act weird. Wouldn't crawl on the tank, would barely even leave the ground; which is extremely unusual for tree frogs. So we kept an eye on her, bought some xtra food, changed the water in the dish and cleaned out some old dry moss. They started to look a bit happier after eating and some clean water. But unfortunately we lost one last night and came home today to last one gone as well, both extremely bloated, which is a sign something was not right. Our other 2 frogs in the terrarium, we have had for a year and a half, we are extremely worried about now. We contacted the pet shop and they had nothing to say but "we can't cover any animal after 48 hours" which i understand policy. But you deny your animals are sick. After reading some Google reviews, multiple people have complained about seeing many dead and neglected animals on display. I'm disgusted.

smells, overpriced, outrageous husbandry, and unhygienic employees i agree with some other reviews on here: i don’t understand how this place has a 4.3 star average. my husband and i stopped in because we were in the area, and are looking to get poison dart frogs and a ball python. my husband asked an employee what dart frogs they had, and he was much less than helpful. he said “we have black and white ones”, which was not informative or helpful. upon looking around at all the animals, they were all in VERY poor condition. all of the reptiles were in enclosures that are much too small, and you could tell that they were WAY too hot: mouths hanging open, snakes living in their water bowls, and trying to push their way out the top. the birds were crammed into a back storage closet that was filthy and smelled horrid. the parakeets were all sick, and all the birds looked miserable. the fish were WAY crammed, and most tanks looked sick or diseased. EVERYTHING was horrendously overpriced ($50-$60 more than competitors) so none of these animals are going to sell, and it’s sad to say, but most of these animals will die before they know what it’s like to actually live. on top of all of that, in the very short time we were there, our throats and noses stung and burned from the horrible smell that hits you when you walk in. most of the employees were on their phones and had terrible hygiene. DO NOT give this place your money, they don’t deserve to stay in business.

The most amazing selection of exotic reptiles and fish in the whole Valley!!! Their life food is a little more expensive than their competitors. But it's a real joy going in to get food for all my critters