SmallBiz: They Do Like Spiders & Snakes

Mike Hauge stood behind the counter at his East 14th Street store, testing light bulbs for a patron who needed them to warm his pet spiders.

Meanwhile, in the store's vivarium, a young Albino Jungle King Snake was slithering off the calories of a recent meal of baby mice.

It's just another day at , which has been in San Leandro for 17 years after relocating here following a little more than a decade in Oakland.

"I've always had live animals," said Mike Hauge, who runs the business with his wife Pandora. "There's a lot of people who like to see that stuff, and there's not a lot of stores that have it."

These days, the store offers a selection of fish in addition to snakes and lizards. While they may not be everyone's idea of a pet, Hauge said they can help teach a child responsibility.

How does a mom and pop store compete in a world of chains, chains, chains?

"Service, service, service," Hauge said.

This includes having a staff who can answer a question and initiatives such as a vaccination clinic that runs roughly every other Sunday, with the next few coming on May 6, May 20 and June 3.

Among many other products, the store also sells chicken feed.

After bagging up some chicken mash for a San Leandro citizen who shall remain nameless (the city still has a "raise a hen, go to the pen" ) Mike Hauge reflected on the range of critters that people take as pets.

"Some people raise tarantulas," he said, adding, "personally, I don't care for them."

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