Critter Jungle

The best. Hadn't been in few years.

1st trip back debit was down so I went next door to atm, to return to 10$ off my bill to cover my fee.

2nd trip back my girlfriend wanted a shirt that was made by a rescue but they didn't have the matching design and size. They took her information and got the exact t-shirt she wanted produced.

Wow thanks Critter Jungle and crew!

Went in for supplies to care for my daughter’s jumping spider, and staff were so kind and helpful! It was great to consult with them and hear their recommendations.

Bad experiences every time i’ve been here I’m not sure if it’s the time of the day we usually go at but the customer service is terrible. And i’m not someone to leave reviews, but I literally get anxious coming to this location because I know the employees do nothing to make the place welcoming, they just stare at you when you ask for help, and are busy talking amongst themselves. It feels more like you’re inconveniencing them, and disturbing their conversations. Let alone no greeting when you walk into the place, they just sit there and stare at you. Wish there was a closer location to me, unfortunately will have to settle for the awful experiences every time we come.

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Very good display and care of fish with decent selection.

The Staff is great, friendly and super helpful. They answered all my questions and plus some. Awesome people!

I have been various times and James has always been incredibly helpful. He has helped me get the supplies needed for both of my tree frogs set ups to make them bioactive. He is very knowledgeable in all things reptiles and amphibians. Thank you so much!

This store used to be excellent but this is not the case anymore. Last time I was there, the whole staff seemed to be behind the counter talking amongst themselves playing with a lizard and a rat. Four staff behind the counter and we all were waiting to be served. Once asked to step forward, the cashier actually continued to ignore me. Finally get my order paid for and have to request a receipt that details the items. This is the most expensive store in Ottawa for no apparent reason. You should note that they have raised all the prices without making sure they are changed in the store, so you will be surprised when you actually do go to pay for anything. I always feel like I am bothering the staff as they seem to have better things to do than help customers. The worst service. I will not be going back. That was your last chance Critter Jungle. I think other customers are beginning to see that the complete lack of customer service here is not being corrected by management. Oh well!

I like going there, the staff is always nice and knowlegeable I love the "grown in" fish tanks, lots of plants, the fish are healthy and when they are not, they are not for sale. Prices are a little higher than i'd like but it's normal, everything is more expensive these days.

The terrarium section is lovely and the animals have proper care
Can't comment on the other sections, I don't shop in those.

My go too reptile store!
Amazingly friendly and knowledgeable staff, great products, fair prices, truly cared for reptiles, rodents and fish. Most locally bred too! I get all my feeders for my snakes and lizards here. Best options
Also very wide variety of cat (my blue tongue likes the Rawz pate) and dog foods, toys, accessories, treats.

Professional services and friendly atmosphere. I love going here they have everything for my aquariums and terrarium and so much more. Looking forward to my next visit.

Great helpful staff good price s very knowledgeable staff for pets buddy's needs. Very clean store.x

Great helpful staff good price s very knowledgeable staff for pets buddy's needs. Very clean store.x

Good place to get a pet, ower seems very knowledgeable and is pleasant to speak with! Staff is friendly enough.

The best pet store in Ottawa, hands down. The staff are very helpful and knowledgeable. The animals are well cared for. The staff have replied promptly with in depth answers to any questions that I’ve emailed them with. I just bought my first snake from here and the staff took the time to help me pick out all of the supplies for a bioactive terrarium. When I adopted a puppy last year I also bought all the supplies from here. I have nothing bad to say about Critter Jungle.

Wonderful place to get fish! Super knowledgeable staff (Theo?) and he was able to advise me with the best options for my tank.

Great selection of healthy fish and plants.

10 stars.:)

I entered this location looking for a t pump for my Aquarium and although it wasn't in stock, the staff went into the back to see if they had one in the extra parts bin and they did! Totally went the extra mile! Thank you!

Amazing little shop! They treat their pets with respect and have a great "ma and pa" environment.

Everyone here is super knowledgeable on all animals. I feel good knowing I’m giving my money to a business that truly cares about the well being of animals (unlike petsmart and other large pet stores) Critter Jungle is amazing highly recommended.

Very knowledgeable staff that actually care about their jobs and your problems. One of the few companies where it seems like the staff are actually a family (from what I've seen). Better than any big company pet store, actual quality pet food, actual animal experience.

Today I waited for over 20 minutes in the livestock room for assistance. I arrived at 12: 35 and left just before 1: 00. Not once did any employee acknowledge me let alone even ask if I was purchasing livestock. The employees present were not being effieicnt in helping one customer and moving on to the next, they instead engaged in prolonged idle chit chat. Employees in the livestock room should make an effort to politely end an interaction after getting the customer their requested livestock and not encourage and engage in a prolonged conversation. There are other customers waiting.

I really try to support local but if I can be offered assistance within a reasonable time frame at a big box store guess where I'll go instead.

I think 3 stars is a generous review for the amount of time, money and energy wasted on this cold blooded corporation. Lack of compassion and customer service are just the beginning of my frustrations. The simple fact that you cannot contact the store by phone because no one will answer and the answering machine is always full, what im being told with that is.
You don't care about your customers and cant be bothered to follow up with them. Not a good business model but contgrats on all your lengthy success staying open so long. Not to familiar with other stores like this but ill get acquainted pretty fast cause im not going back here.
And if my review doesn't make you second guess giving them your business just scroll down the review list, it gets worse than any comments I made.
Not happy Critter Jungle!

Friendly, knowledgeable staff and the BEST selection of ethically sourced fish and aquatic plants. Would highly recommend!

Exotic pet owners, or any pet owner, do not go here if you want to be treated like a valued customer, or need quality pet products. They do not know their products at all, or do not care to bother to learn or to pay attention to details that can make a big difference when it comes to your pet. I wouldn't trust any of the advice they give on exotic pets either.

Example, any other Pet store you would enter and someone would greet you, and ask if you needed any help. Then I can ask for whatever I need, like feeder mice rats, its a quick second for an employee to steer me in the right direction, and often they will go get the product themselves which is super nice and great service. But not here! Be prepared to rangle an employee away from sitting on the floor, and basically do their job for them with the employee watching, supervising. I also enjoy being recognized and served at cash when I am waiting to check out, especially when there are 2 cashiers already there having a conversation amongst themselves. But you'll be lucky if that's the case, apparently.

In the past here I have attempted to order a product (cage lid) they said would be no problem, and haven't heard back at all. So this terrible service is not a one off instance. It's also VERY overpriced, maybe the most expensive pet store in Ottawa. Probably because they try lean into the fact they have exotic pets, but that shouldn't affect the pricing at all. Pet stores on bank Street are less expensive then this place, and tend to the same demographic.

If you want to have quality pet products for a reasonable price and a good shopping experience with knowledgeable and capable staff, it's not here.

Great place my dog loves it there he finds what he is looking for even if it was not Togo go in there for what we may have bought.two paws up from chewy.

Had such a great experience buying a hamster for my son! The staff were happy to dig through the bedding to find every hamster for him to pick from. They had lots of helpful tips about hamster care. Everyone is clearly happy to be working here and really cares about animals.

Owner is super kind, passionate and knowledgeable about the products that are best for your pets. This store is one of the few places they can buy supplies for more exotic animals.

Great little pet store! Excellent staff. Amazing selection of fish and plants! Would highly recommend for the planted tank enthusiast.

Friendly staff, wide range of products for every pet, and fair prices. We picked up a Ruffwear harness for our puppy and the employee who helped us was fantastic. She was great with our energetic pup and helped us choose the right size/adjusted it properly. I highly recommend checking them out!

This was my first time in this store. A young man who worked there asked if I needed assistance and was very helpful as I searched for a dog chew toy.

Great staff members very knowledgeable and there is everything you think you need and then some.

This has been my go-to place for a variety of pet supplies for many years. Friendly and very knowledgeable staff. Quality supplies at reasonable prices.

What is it with pet stores who display NONE OF THE SPECIES THEY HAVE on their website and all of them calling themselves PET STORES? !? ! YOU'RE A PET ACCESSORY STORE. OR PET CARE STORE. Stop wasting people's time for God's sake.

Incredibly helpful staff. Very knowledgeable and were not pushy at all. They gave me facts on everything I needed to know about my new bun bun. Will Definitely be back again and again!

I love Critter Jungle. Wide variety for all pet needs (I can get everything for my cat, fish and gecko), great customer service and I love supporting a small/local business.

Brought my dog in for grooming for the first time and we are so happy.the service was friendly and straight forward.and my dog is actually so happy with her cut she is showing off.i strongly recommend the groomer here.

Extremely helpful service, the owner and all of the staff are knowledgeable and kind. Great selection of high quality pet food and products. They always have what I am looking for.

When I moved into the neighborhood about 2 years ago I was pleased to find out CJ carried our cats litter, but I never really needed the staff for anything as we always went in knowing what we needed for our well established kitties. A week ago we brought home a 14 week old rescue puppy and needed to get a fair amount, and the staff member we dealt with was great. He listened to what we needed, and gave great advice about what they had for options in those items. He apologized when he suggested we purchase something I hadn't mentioned but he thought was very important for pet safety; I thought it was great that he spoke up about it, but also that he was concerned about coming across as upselling. I wish I'd grabbed his name so I could shout him out specifically!
Their cat and dog selections is smaller than you might expect, don't go expecting 20 different dog ball options, but it's very well curated, and it is smaller because such a chunk of the store is dedicated to fish, reptiles and birds, which I think is great, as those folks are often stuck going to box stores, or having a tiny little corner of stuff.
It was great to experience the other side of this awesome local establishment: We already knew that they carried high quality pet supplies, but it was clear the staff really knew their products as well.

I have been going to critter jungle for the last few years to get supplies for my reptiles and small pets. The selection is great, and the staff is amazing. They always have a wealth of information and if they don't know the answer to your question they will find it for you. I recently moved out of the area and will still drive around 40 minutes to stock up on any food or supplies I need.

Over the last few weeks I had reached out to John about doing a bioactive tank for my Crested Gecko and he gave me a wealth of information and guidance on how to get it done properly. After expressing that I was still nervous to do it myself he offered for me to bring my tank into the store and they would set it up for me. So I did, and an awesome dude named James Ellis built me a sweet setup, staying well within my budget, and answering my million questions the entire time.

I have always enjoyed going to Critter Jungle, and have a lot of respect for how they treat their customers and how they care for their animals. After this weekend though, I was blown away by the level of customer service they provided me and will continue recommending them to anyone and everyone.

I've been shopping here for what seems like 25yrs.and am grateful these guys made it through all the bigbox days.
Great service. Great staff. Great selection. I'll spend my money here supporting local over Amazon as long as CJ's doors are open.

Maybe the Carling store is better, but the one in Orleans is bad - rude/disinterested staff who seem to think they're doing you a favour by taking your money. I started coming here because it's supposedly a family-run, local business. I've tried for a couple of years to ignore the attitudes, but no more. Even the "mature" staff are rude - setting the example which the others follow. I try to support local when I can, but when your prices are higher than the big stores, you should at least try and compensate with good service.

I rarely leave reviews but when it comes to pets, fish are just as much as a pet as any other specie. You can teach tricks and can bond with your fish, aquatic snails ect.

This goes to say as this may come to a suprise but I was heavily bonded with my 16 cardinal tetras, each had a name and each one had a personality of it's own - they were beautiful and helped me get thru this pandemic.

Last week, is when everything went downhill. I bough 4 cardinal tetras to add to my 20 gallon fish tank because with that much space it seemed fit to give my 16 fishies a few more friends to school around with. Needless to say I had issues with another a tank (10 gallon) due to the purchase of 2 neon tetras I bought from Critter Jungle (they had ich) - I managed to treat it and saved my 8 neons along the two new friends. I should've known not to buy the 2 neons because next day to their tank the cadinal tetras in stock had ich and they were treating them. They were selling the neons regardless telling me they were fine, but as I placed them in the 10 gallon tank and watched them swim around, they had not many but a few spots. That's issue number one.

Secondly, and it's what led me to write this review in hopes to warn other people before buying from this store is the fact that last week I bought 4 cardinal tetras this is two months after i bought the original 2 neons for my 10 gallon tank. These 4 tetras I couldn't see because of the Ontario lockdown till I got home and put them in the tank, these were bought from curbside so the people in charge of the fish department were in charge of picking the fish. To my suprise they had ich - these were the four tetras that went in my 20 gallon tank with my 16 other fish. I couldn't treat them the same day because I had no method of transportation and had no money in the bank (I'm on ODSP) so the next day comes and I manage to get Ick guard which in the package itself states that ICH is a parasite. The fish were fine, but the next comes and all my cardinals had ich and were all covered - they were alive and I had high hopes that they would survive as I couldn't bare to have the suffer.

Sadly, the next day - all 20 tetras didn't make it and I'm still struggling to cope with it.

I called the store hoping that maybe I could get something back or at least an apology but didn't get either - in fact they wanted me to wait till the fish specialist would arrive which is 5 days from today. The person on the phone (the manager) tried to tell me that it's basically my fault by gaslighting me - when in fact ich is a parasite that indeed can be treated and indeed can be made worse by stress within the fish.

Every information/source as I've even called veterinarians expert within exotic pets (fish) which have told me the same; ICH is indeed a parasite. The fish will get itchy and rub their bodies all over the tank - therefore spreading the parasite all over the tank. This can be treated but if left too late the fish will die. The parasitic trophont lives completely within the host fish, causing tissue damage and leading to the host's death.

The disease is highly contagious and spreads rapidly from one fish to another. It can be particu- larly severe when fish are crowded. While many protozoans reproduce by simple division, a single “Ich” organism can multiply into hundreds of new parasites. ICH is a parasite and was first found by the French parasitologist Fouquet in 1876. You can find more information by either calling your local veterinarian or do research.

The manager tried to make it sound like ICH is like the common flu in fish when that's not the case at all.

I'm hurt from the death of my fish, the least one could do is accept they made a mistake and apologize instead of trying to pass the blame to someone else - do better. Lying about something you have no knowledge on top of everything else in not okay.

From the perspective of ethical sale and care of animals, Critter Jungle is the standard to compare all other pet stores too.and this is by far the most important measure of a pet store in my opinion; however, they would rank at the top in all other categories (knowledgeable staff, quality of products, and so on). Their core section (cat/dog) is on the small side so it may not have what you're looking for if you want a specific brand, but they stock high quality food, and unique items you can't find in other stores. Maybe call ahead if you're looking for a specific brand of food. The specialty section (reptiles/fish/bird/small animal) is where they really stand out. Stunning displays for healthy, well-taken care of reptiles and amphibians. Rare and ethically sourced herps, cork bark you can buy by the gram, isopods, Repashy foods, and so many more items that can not be found in the larger, more well-known retailers like PetSmart.

I love this store and it's really a gem in Ottawa, one of my favourite finds when I first moved here.

I can identify with the negative reviews about this store. I have walked through this store in the past just looking around, specifically at the kittens they usually have for sale. I have never bought anything from this store and I don't think that I ever would! Anytime I have been in this store I have noticed like some of these negative reviews have indicated that many of the staff are indeed not friendly, and specifically the short dark haired woman I have found to have an unpleasant attitude. This is typical of the rudeness of this city!

Phoned in my request, they gave me friendly and clear instructions on their curbside pickup, and in particular they offered what I needed and not what they thought I might need. Pickup was good, out of there in a minute. A very good experience and will use them as a source again in the future. The phone interaction was also good - they were busy but could help me out with a lot of patience!

This place is wonderful, from a fishkeeper and reptile owners point of view. Staff and ownner are super friendly and knowledgeable and even though they've clearly been super busy with phonecalls during this lockdown, the staff still took the time to help us out. Every time we visit we have a wonderful time.id recommend this place to anyone who is into fishkeeping or would like to buy a healthy reptile!

Shopping local for Christmas. This company has been around for 33 years in Ottawa. Lots of supplies and treats for our pets and wildlife.

This is my favourite pet store in Ottawa. We bought our bearded dragon here 4 weeks ago and she's so healthy and happy. Wonderful staff, and selection of products and merchandise. James is super knowledgeable about reptiles and amphibians, he's helped us at every step along the way. All the staff care about your pets deeply, and all the tanks are handmade / crafted and all the animals look healthy. I highly recommend going to this petstore, they surpass my expectations.

Very large and well stocked Pet store for a large variety of pets.
Very good supply of items (seed, toys, gravel) for different varieties of birds, which is not as common with other pet stores which tend to be smaller in size.
Staff very friendly and helpful.
Highly recommended.

People there are cool, and it has a 2slgbtqia+ flag on their window so they're pretty rad, also they had what I was looking for when petsmart didn't.

Very informative, helpful, and very satisfied with the service. They show how much they care for the animals.

I wanted in particular to thank James in the reptile department who went above and beyond in helping me to set up my uromastyx terrarium with proper lighting. Lighting is difficult for me and with my first lizard I wanted it to be perfect. He assisted me by answering my many questions and doing an exchange for me when the first bulb wasn't working properly. James obviously loves his job and is extremely educated in reptile care. Thanks again, team, and I'll be a loyal customer from here on out!

REALLY cool store! Lots of exciting products and staff that are so knowledgeable! Also, fish, so many interesting and exiting fish.

I have been to this store many times over many years. I have never had a bad experience and always find the staff happy to help, with lot's of great information. I love the variety of pet food and products offered. Even though I have never had a complaint or an issue, I feel that I would be listened to and taken care of as best as possible.
This is a wonderful place to go for friendly advice, pet food and pet supplies.
I would also like to say that they did a fabulous job during these difficult COVID times. Thank you for being there ;0)

EDIT (2020-11-19) :
Their new policy, allowing bulbs to be exchanged within 30 days, is now meeting the expectations set by other stores. My bulb was exchanged with no further issues and I was generously provided a $25 gift card. I am satisfied with the resolution and Critter Jungle will continue to have my business for essential reptile supplies (good prices on staples, it is the specialty items that I find to be priced highly especially compared to online options).

ORIGINAL REVIEW (2 stars) :
I was sold a defective bulb and refused any refund or exchange. They claimed this was due to their inability to maintain good relationships with their suppliers. Overpriced compared to other stores in town, with poor customer service. Avoid.

Go for the aquatics section mainly. Great for nano fish and shrimp. Amazing customer service, always happy to help and give advice.

I absolutely love this place & am there every week for my cat if not more now that I am fostering kittens. So much food: baby milk, litter, dry foods, wet foods, safe toys, etc. I should buy stock in this company! But they have the best products like GO, FROMM, BFF, ROYAL CANIN, KMR & my animals, plus my mom's dog of 14 yrs are kept happy & healthy because of that fact! The staff are always friendly & give great informed advice or check on it for you. They have events & share in community efforts to aide animals everywhere.

Came here cause reviews said they had a huge selection of birds.

Wasn't a single bird in the store, and very little in the way of bird supplies.

I have never written a bad review on an establishment but felt the need here. Have been in store twice. First time on Saturday with my 8 pound dog and a women came out of back room and asked me why I don’t carry bags to pick up after my dog. I looked up the isle and an obviously very large dog had had an accident I told her it would not have been my dog and she started yelling is there another dog in here. Today I went to return primal cat food they were reluctant to take it back and when I said I feed the dog primal to my dog without issue they said they feed there dog the cat primal. I was just at my own pet store and they dismissed that idea and told me to contact primal as they are a great brand and would exchange it

Great and knowledgeable staff. Very friendly. Quality products. Always an absolute pleasure to shop there.

I love this store! Such q great place for reptiles, the only complaint I have is every time I've gone in the older woman at the cash was pretty rude with us, not to pleased with that but the rest of the staff were amazing, friendly and very helpful

Always so knowledgable and friendly. Definitely will keep going back. Got a gorgeous Betta fish a few months ago and he is happy, healthy, and thriving.

Critter jungle will go out of their way for your pets needs great customer service very good experiences here