Animal Instincts Aquarium & Pet Center

My favorite pet store. They carry healthy dog foods and I get all of my aquarium supplies and fish from here. Staff is knowledgeable and friendly. Have gone here for years and will continue to do so

Currently have a love hate relationship with this pet store. Good selection of reptiles, fish etc, and the foods and equipment to support them. Knowledgeable staff, and everyone’s friendly.
For fish specifically, they have a good selection, enough that I was impressed the first time I walked around there. However, they are extremely inconsistent with orders and having specific species in stock. I went there 3 times on dates that staff told me a species (green tetras) would be in sock (ie after deliveries), and three times there was none in the store. Once again, about a week ago I went there looking for assassin snails and Otto cats, neither of which they had in stock. Employees told me to come back in a week, they’d definitely have both for sale again. Called today, & they don’t have assassin snails or ottos in stock. Told me to try again in a week.
Guess there’s a lesson to be learned there somewhere. But for first appearances, the store is quite nice.

Ugh where do I begin? I called from an hour away asking if thru had hairless rats, thru said they did. So I asked many more questions then told them I was an hour away and would be there in one hour. I got there and asked for the litter or rats I was told about. The woman sent me in the reptile room, I was very confused and tried to get someone to help me (she has disappeared) when I finally found her she said that she didn’t have any hairless. Only dead feeders, I explained I had called and she insisted I called the wrong store and was wrong. I felt like an idiot and left. On my drive home I thought to look at my call log. When I did I saw I had called that store. I called back and she said oooppps! I do have a litter they are upstairs! I said seriously? It was funny to her. Very irritating. Moving on. Corals/​fish. Most dead or dying. I’ve spoken with the owner and confirmed that they order fish they have no way if feeding (special diets). If thru don’t sell they just die. Great right? Also I ordered fish twice, no call, thank God I didn’t pay up front. I feel the business is dishonest and after speaking to many people I am not the only one.

Great instruction
Extremely kid-​accommodating
Traveling/​on-​site birthday parties and school functions
The motto here is «Preservation through education.»
While I have no experience with the shop itself, I was at a birthday party for my children’s friend that featured Animal Instincts. The amount of useful information, both about living in the wild and pet-​friendliness for each species, was astounding and entertaining. The chinchilla facts alone were practically their own show.
Bob was an expert presenter and full of information — our party opted for more animals presented and less information related to each, yet we still got a wealth of knowledge, and interaction with about ten intriguing animals spanning from mammals to reptiles to insects. We saw under half of the animals available to us, and he could have accommodated a full hour on any handful of animals desired by the clients. It was remarkable. Even better, the majority of the animals in the traveling coterie seemed to come from rescue circumstances — a great story. Pricing was $ 150 for an hour’s exhibition, including mileage expense to most of southeast New England.
They’re in the process of starting an animal learning club for kids, which sounded intriguing. The shop is also taking on enough exotic animal rescues lately to potentially qualify for sanctuary status. I think they deserve our vote of confidence, and even though I’m not near Fall River, I’d gladly give an operation like this a shot next time I’m shopping for a pet or supplies. Highly recommended.

Animal instincts is a well stocked quality establishment with a friendly and nice staff. I’ve been frequenting pet shops since 1987 when as a kid I got very into pets. Specifically dogs, reptiles and fish. I have kept birds, cats and other small animals in the past as well.
What I particularly like about AI is the fact they have a very large inventory of animals. Lots of unique fish and reptiles and at the bottom price wise in comparison to other local shops. I keep fish tanks of 220 and 90 gallons and many of my long term residents are from here. I love that AI is interested in offering a large variety of well kept animals and not looking to only offer the budget, low cost staple animals you see in box stores and other lower quality shops. One negative is I have seen on more than one occasion disease breakout in some tanks. So look carefully at the tanks before buying. However, this is not the norm, as there is a price to getting lots of new fish in every week and disease is one of those risks. Any knowledgeable keeper knows that and prepares for it.
Years ago they had dogs for a short time and have now chosen not to carry them. I applaud and appreciate that change, as otherwise I would not support this business.
I have met and spoke with the owner Bob and found him to be very customer oriented as he has offered to special order for me and has actually followed through. Which I can’t say the same about some other places. He has a few girls who work checkout and in the shop and they are very nice.
Although I am not a fan of the city and have no reason to ever go to Fall River I frequently make the drive from Newport just to see what new fish they have got in.
I highly recommend Animal Instincts.