THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 16, 1994 TAG: 9408160044
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: SHERRIE BOYER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
AT THE TANK of fish with orange bubbles below their eyes, I waited for Allio to remind me, for the zillionth time, that we should buy chewing gum more often. After all, these funny orange fish looked like they had wads of gum expanding their cheeks.
But Allio was not thinking gum. She was thinking fish. Her vast vocabulary reduced itself to shrieks: ``Look. Momma, over here. Look. Look. Come quickly.''
We stopped at tank after tank of strange fish, all for the buying at Animal Jungle, a pet store in Virginia Beach. We saw little sturgeons, a fish we decided looked more like an alligator; 6-inch-long Japanese koi fish, the kind you see in big goldfish ponds; Leopard and Zebra eels that really looked like Africa underwater; live shrimp in a rainbow of colors; and tiny iridescent sharks that didn't just swim but rather hunted through the water like a pack on a blood trail.
We were so fascinated by this massive display in rows of tanks that we didn't even think to look elsewhere until Tom spotted the rest of the store over the last row of tanks.
The girls cooed to a baby monkey and new ferrets sleeping in cages and then begged to hold gerbils, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs and bunnies. Fortunately, the store had a very nice sign, taking us off the hook, that prohibited handling the critters.
Then a friendly employee wandered past, scooped up a bunny and let all three stroke its ears. Allio admired a customer holding two white mice in a cage, noting that everyone else in the world has pets.
Not that we haven't; it's just been a bad year. Our 13-year-old cat died this spring, the hermit crab croaked a few months later, all 60 silkworms perished (after eating leaves from the wrong tree we think), and the ants in the ant farm died last week.
So we are waiting, about a year we think, before adding any new pets, and both girls knew we wouldn't buy anything live at the pet store. But they could still dream.
Maddie admired the baby iguanas (and they were cute), but not their food, grated carrots and lettuce. ``I hate their breakfast,'' she said stoutly, then added, ``Maybe they like yicky things.''
Allio admired the geckos, but a gecko can outrun almost anything, so taking one out of its cage to hug isn't a good idea.
We admired pythons, conehead lizards, and sailfin dragons that look like tiny Jurassic dinosaurs.
In the bird room, where the hand-fed birds hop about with clipped wings, hoping for a stroke or a finger to grasp, the girls watched parrots jabber and try to peck open the sliding door.
Sam and I discovered the saltwater fish tanks in the rear of the store, endless rows of even brighter fish, but by now it was nearly supper time and Sam's excitement had dwindled to pleas for ``something to eat.'' Somehow I didn't think the dried cow hooves and pig ears qualified, though Sam certainly tried to nab one as we passed the dog food display.
Though we visited Animal Jungle, many area pet stores have vast fish, reptile, mammal or bird areas that will fascinate children. Many stock pet supplies as well.
``We get a lot of our customers by word-of-mouth visitors,'' explained Edgar Go, a manager at Animal Jungle, when I asked about visitors who aren't shoppers. ``We believe in nurturing an interest, and we're hopeful that will lead to owning an animal.''
The pet store also offers free group tours for preschools and day cares, by appointment only, for up to 20 people. Call 495-2085 for details.
Animal Jungle has two locations; we visited 756 Timberlake Shopping Center on Holland Road. To get there from the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway, take the Princess Anne/Independence exit. After Mount Trashmore, stay in the left lanes because the road splits. The store is in the first shopping center on the right. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
by CNB