Six services, each with the scope it covers
A price on this page applies to the scope printed under it. Five of the six carry a fee that is credited in full against a purchase made on the day; the sixth, the treat bar, is priced by weight.
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Food transition plan
fee $35
A sit-down with one of the staff to move an animal from one food to another without a fortnight of upset stomach. It covers the current diet, the reason for the change, a written day-by-day mixing schedule across 10 to 14 days, and a printed sheet to take home. The $35 is credited in full against any food bought on the day of the appointment. The appointment takes 40 minutes.
Suits an animal changing food for any reason, including a recipe being discontinued.
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Harness and collar fitting
fee $20
Measuring and fitting, on the animal, across the sizes the shop stocks. Most returns in this category are fit problems rather than product problems, so this exists to stop the return happening. It includes adjustment of a harness bought elsewhere. The $20 is credited in full against a harness or collar bought the same day. The appointment takes 25 minutes.
Suits a dog that backs out of its harness, and a first collar.
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Aquarium water testing
fee $15
A bench test of a water sample brought into the shop: pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, hardness and temperature, each read and written on a card with what the number means for the stock in that tank. Bring at least 250 ml in a clean container, collected the same day. Staff will say when a result needs a vet or an aquatic specialist rather than a product. The appointment takes 20 minutes.
Suits a tank still cycling, and an established one that has changed.
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Reptile habitat planning
fee $65
An hour spent working out what a specific species actually needs before anything is bought: enclosure size, heating and the thermal gradient, UVB type and replacement interval, substrate, humidity and the weekly feeding cost. It ends with a written parts list and a total, which the customer is free to take elsewhere. The fee is credited against a habitat bought here. The appointment takes 60 minutes.
Suits a household choosing a species, and an enclosure already set up wrongly.
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Puppy and kitten starter build
fee $40
For a household bringing home a young animal in the next fortnight. It walks through food, bowls, bedding, crate or carrier sizing, first toys, and what genuinely does not need buying yet. It ends with a written list split into “now” and “in three months”. The fee is credited against the list. The appointment takes 45 minutes.
Suits a household collecting a young animal in the next fortnight.
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Bulk treat bar refill
$6.80 per kg
The wall of gravity dispensers at the front of the shop. Fourteen loose biscuits and training treats are sold by weight into a paper bag or a container brought from home, with a 200 g minimum. Every bin carries its full ingredient list on the shelf edge. A refill takes about 15 minutes.
Suits training in volume, and anyone who would rather not buy a bagged product.
How contacting the shop works
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01
A question arrives
Sent through the contact form or by telephone during opening hours. It needs the animal, or the tank, and the service being considered, and nothing else.
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02
The shop replies
Thistle & Tail Pet Supply confirms which of the six services fits, or says plainly that none of them does. Messages sent during opening hours are usually answered the same day and always within two working days.
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03
A visit is arranged
Arranged directly, with a named member of staff attached to it and the fee confirmed first. Nothing on this website confirms an appointment.
When a service may not be the right one
A sick animal, a tank reading that points at something other than a product, or a species the shop does not keep parts for can all make a published service the wrong choice. Nobody on the floor is a veterinarian, and the shop is not a boarding kennel or a place that washes and trims coats; where one of those is what a customer needs, staff say so and name somewhere else. That is said before the appointment rather than during it, and the fee is never taken for an hour that was not worth spending.
A question about a food, a tank or a price
The contact form takes a question about a bag, a tank or a price and sends it to the shop. Book goes to the arrangements page; neither one confirms a time by itself.