The Animal Connection

I have been going to this pet shop for the past 18 yes. Before the current owner was out of high school, lol. It is now and has always been a great place to buy supplies and get valuable info about your pets. I recently boarded my parakeets and they were cared for very well. I felt comfortable leaving them and didn’t worry about them while I was gone. Joe Taylor is the best bird guy around. He is very knowledgeable about birds and their care. So if you’re looking for a great place to board your birds the Animal Connection is definitely the spot.

Can’t say it enough. When we visit the city this is the store we go to. They have birds hand fed. Reptiles. Fish and fuzzy critters. Love this place

This place is so much more than a place to buy cat food. i have shopped here for more than 20 years and am totally thrilled with their knowledge, integrity, and authentic care for the beings we share the planet with. We have a cat, a dog, and 2 snakes at our home — and truly believe our long lived happy healthy pets have benefited greatly from the staff, especially the specialists, at TAC.
This specialized staff are the best — bar none. The bird specialist and reptile specialist are world class. i’ve often thought about adding a bird to our family but TAC’s bird expert made very clear that a bird is a commitment no less than a dog in terms of time and attention — so, by being honest, and caring about his feathered charges, losing a sale. Classy, yes?
The reptile expert is a small woman whose brain, i’m convinced, is packed with more poikilothermia than most vet schools. The corn snake we bought more than 12 years ago is now 5+ feet long and gorgeous, and our Kenyan Sand Boa is well over 20 years old, and going strong. My snakes’ frozen mice ALL come from TAC — a reliable, parasite-​free source. When i described what looked like cataracts on our old boa — the reptile-​ologist offered to take a look and possibly fix them — gratis.
If you have a care & feeding question odds are the staff at TAC will know the answer.

I have been coming here for more than 20 years. People that work there have been there for a long time. Each person has a specialty, they have a lizard expert and bird expert. I guess they know other pets but that’s what I have.
This is what a pet shop should be. Bring your children here before big business kills this one too.

Posted store hours should be kept. It the basic principle of running a good business. Came by at 10:20am and they were still closed. Workers were in the store, no note on the door. They are supposed to open at 10am. Combined with the area poor parking, not a way to start the morning. Hello Amazon!

My wife worked at this place a while back, she took care of the birds. She got Psittacosis an infectious disease caused by a bacterium from Parrots. I do not know if the store has the same owners but at that time they lied and destroyed the bird so it could not be tested. She then developed Pneumonia and was severely ill. There was no compensation and nothing she could do, so enjoy your shopping

Got my lil black teady bear hamster here, she’s AWESOME.
They were super nice and helpful. I was able to play with the sweet chinchilla, Chapo, while I was walking around. He’s so gentle and cute, I encourage everyone to at least look at him. Really wanted to take him home, but couldn’t this time.
They have every kind of animal, what they would need to be healthy and happy, with old school service and lots of information.
Great mom and pop shop, never go away!

I got my hamster Louie here. The staff was so helpful, answered all my questions and gave me recommendations for what I needed.

We had such a wonderful experience buying a budgie for our family! The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. The bird expert spent a good deal of time talking with us and taking the time to understand our situation and our needs. He was very, very helpful getting us setup.
Our new budgie is a darling. She was hand raised by their staff and couldn’t be more charming. We have two kids and two adults in the house, and she will step up on everybody’s hand. She never bites, and loves being the center of activity. We couldn’t be more happy with our new little family member, and are very grateful to the folks at Animal Connection who raised such a sweet bird.
Every time we go in to pick up toys or food everyone we talk to is super friendly and wants to help. I find myself stopping by whenever I am in the neighborhood now, even if I don’t need anything, because I like it there so much!

I bought my cockatiel from here in 1996, and I’m so glad the Animal Connection is still thriving! I still go here for bird seed for him that is hard to find. I recently purchased a hand-​fed parakeet here for my grandma. The birds here look very happy and healthy. You can tell they take great care of their birds. We were on the waiting list for a few months and today was finally the day the pick our new friend up. It’s been a while since I took home a young bird and Joe was really helpful in giving me tips to make sure this little guy keeps going strong. He helped me pick out a heat lamp, bird seeds, and other equipment that I might need. He even gave me a discount on some of my items! Thanks for all your help! Look no further for a place to buy your pet bird; there aren’t many non-​chain places like this any more!

Mom & pop type place, loved the set up. Was a little cramped for me & puppy love… But I did get a good deal on a bone for the love

I come here to get my green cheek conure’s nail trimmed. The lady who helped me was really friendly and helpful. Daisy had a nice experience. She wasn’t screaming or trying to fly away. I trust them with handling my baby. Would totally recommend this place to other bird lovers alike.

This place is as good as it gets. all the people that work there are very helpful. been coming here since i was a baby. as far as i can remember. good selection of birds!

I went there yesterday to get a swing and more cuttlebone for my budgie. pricing was good, and they had a good variety of things. they ran out of smaller concrete perches, but told me theyd have more coming in on friday. in the bird room i stood there for a long time looking at the big parrot. he/​she kept saying hello and i felt very welcomed. it didnt bother me that the workers didnt say hi when i entered & also didnt come to see if i needed any help, bc THE PARROT. his cage looked a bit small though bc his tail feathers kept rubbing against the bars :/
4 stars bc of that, and also there was a dead bug in the corn feed.

Poor service for a neighborhood pet store. We walked in just to pick up some treats for our dog and the 2 employees were arguing. One of them made eye contact but no welcome greetings came with it.

The Animal Connection has a very special place in my heart. It has brought love into my life since I was young, when I got my first pet from there — a guinea pig. The wonderful store helped me then to pick one out and the little guy became a treasured part of my life. That was 15 years ago. Fast forward to the present and going into that store still turns me into a young boy. The staff has stayed wonderful, helpful, and friendly over the years as has the store as a whole. I most recently had my heart stolen by the little hand fed budgies and a few months ago took one home. The new budgie is now another treasured part of my life thanks again to this wonderful pet store (he is chatting on my shoulder as I write this). I have nothing to say but positive things about this loving place. They have a great selection of smaller creatures, reptiles, birds and all the necessary day to day items to take care of your pets.
This is the best pet store I have been to in San Francisco. Go in and check it out, you will be glad you did!

I live about an hour away from Animal Connection but that doesn’t stop me from making purchases remotely. It is well worth it for their expertise.
This locally owned pet store is special for so many reasons. They have hand fed baby budgies and take care of them for you until they are able to go home with you.
In April, I visited the store and talked to Joe (he takes care of the bird department). He is friendly and extremely knowledgeable about birds and placed me on the waiting list for the hand fed baby budgies.
In May, he gave me a call and I wasn’t able to make a trip up to take a look at the baby budgies so he sent me photos of 6 baby budgies with detailed descriptions. He made it easy for me to decide and I simply texted him back and he put the budgie on hold for me. I also called him the next day to ask him about another baby budgie too.
He is very helpful and pleasant to work with. He makes choosing a baby budgie a very convenient experience even from afar and I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone who is interested in hand fed birds to visit or call the store.
Their website is also very helpful:
I have also attached a few photos of the baby budgies he took time to take and send to me.

We love the animal connection — making special trips from the peninsula. The deep expertise on all our animals from snake to lizard to cats to puppy and their supplies all in one place is just what we need. The staff is devoted, deeply intelligent and highly informed.

I’ve been visiting many pet shops and bird specialty shops in order to buy a happy, healthy Green Cheek Conure. This place was at the top of my list to visit thanks to all the positive reviews.
The first big pain of this place is that it’s very difficult to find parking. This isn’t really the shop’s fault, I just want to warn other possible customers. Be prepared to park several blocks away, but I strongly recommend taking public transportation if at all possible.
The shop itself is one of the biggest non-​chain shops I’ve visited in my search. It’s huge and filled with just about everything you could possibly want. And yes, there are a ton of birds. So many birds, that even though they actually had a pretty big room for them, there were a few layers of cages. Cages stacked on top of cages, and cages in front of cages so it wasn’t necessarily easy to see the birds in the back.
The staff was very helpful. I was given attention almost immediately, and both employees I talked to were very knowledgeable. There were many regular customers in the shop, and I could overhear the employees asking how their pets were doing. All good signs. A conure was taken out for me to see. He/​she didn’t seem very tame, but did seem very healthy and curious at least. Animals are animals, and it was just a baby so I’m not going to judge the shop at all for that one.
The reason I’m giving this place 4 starts instead of 5 is because as others have noticed, it’s not the cleanest. One of the employees wasn’t wearing shoes, which seemed strange. And the conures could really use a couple of toys, or at least something to chew on.
Overall, a good shop that just needs a good scrubbing and some fun stuff for the birds to play with.

I really really like the staff a lot. They have helped a lot with new bird owner advise and putting things together. I really want this shop to shine. I think they have a great deal to offer the bird community as a whole. Also really great customer service.
I really really hate the filth of the shop. The shop is disgusting. Its a disservice to the people who work there and the animals who live there. There is no reason what so ever they cant get a constant cleaning crew. Between regular nightly cleanings and staff cleaning up durning the day it could be a nice shop.

I gave you 3 stars… For the passed incident that I had when I try to buy a parakeet/​budgies and somebody in there gave me an unpleasant time. I mean I’m a bird owner… Should i not know better… I think I know how to take care of birds. I’m not disrespecting nobody when I say I know how to care for birds. I have experience. Yes. If any problems. There’s the vet… The lady who attended me. Is the one who runs the reptiles?. And not the birds. Wait a minute. ?. She was nice at the beginning but her attitude suddenly changes she becomes irritable and unreasonable. You don’t really need to raise your voice, when I am two feet away from you… You don’t know how much experience I have of caring, of birds and owning them,. So please don’t assume I don’t know nothing about birds. She told me. We do not have any more boxes for the birds to be taken. I suggest going to the corner store and get one box for the bird I was buying, she refused to do so. Sell the bird too. Her attitude… that experience was distasteful. I had done it before. Buying a bird and finding a box to take the bird with me home,. No problem. I say to myself. Find a box to take the bird with me,. Is not like I don’t know what I’m doing,… you think. I’ll find the nastier boxes for the bird. :/​.Wow … That’s your neighborhood. Trust me. They have clean boxes… Well that was that, the unpleasant experience…
Don’t get me wrong. But why don’t you ask me first. Telling me the same things I already know., and you ignore the fact that I am right there with you telling I know that. Instead of getting into an agreement with her, my patience with her runs out, I just decided to go somewhere else and get a better service.
excellent food supplies for your birds. friendly people in there, they always welcome you the costumers. they have a good business that always helps…
unpleasant experience just ones… hopefully no more

10 am — 5:00 pm on a Monday!!? What kind of hours are that?! I’m not saying stay open until 9:00 pm like Petco & Petsmart but for Christ’s sake some people get off work at 5:30 & 6:00. It’s bad enough you’re open from 10:00 — 5:00 on Saturday and 12 pm — 5:00 on Sunday! You’re not a tattoo parlor you’re a pet store!!! Retarded hours for lazy people. Plus your store stinks like a barn. Clean up the bird shit, feathers, & dust once in awhile. Hideous…

Had a magical experience learning about roaches, reptiles and talking birds in here. I had initially written to see if I might be allowed to photograph a Parrot for a school project, and the owner Jen went out of her way to accommodate me and introduce me to the staff Kelly and Joe, who both displayed an absorbing amount of knowledge about their specialist areas. Had some really cool conversations regarding the ethics of euthanizing roaches and the mythology of bird song.
It’s very apparent that the staff at The Animal Connection take their job as animal carers incredibly seriously, and I wouldn’t think twice to recommend this store to prospective pet owners or even just friends looking to learn about some awesome animals. Special place. Thank you!

I’ve been coming here since I was a kid for Hamsters and gold fish. This time Joe and his little buddy Disco helped me pick out a cage and toys for my Cockatiel Cisco. They were so helpful and Joe seems to know everything about birds. This pet shop is one of the best.

Came in to look at some animals. Kelly the reptile expert asked me if i had any pets… so warm and friendly even when she’s working and cleaning the cages. Talked about the difference between petco and local neighborhood pet store. Jennifer very knowledgeable. She recommended certain pets for kidz and what to look out for.
I’m sure i will be back! Thank you for being in the sunset!