Snakes 'N' Adders

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Snakes 'N' Adders We are a Independent Specialist Reptile Centre based in the Intake area of Sheffield Snakes’N’Adders, as policy does not believe in half measures.
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Snakes’N’Adders aims to provide customers with the tools to correctly care for and breed reptiles, amphibians and arachnids. This is accomplished by a combination of market leading prices on an incredibly diverse range of dry goods from the industries largest suppliers. As accomplished herpetoculturists in our own right we can offer the advice and back up service needed by novice, experienced and advanced keepers alike. The sheer range of species carried means we far outperform other shops in the area for an option on what pet is best suited to you. You will be provided with all the equipment, foods, literature and consumables without hesitation with the aim of providing the best quality of life for the pet of your choice. Snakes’N’Adders is run by reptile aficionado Charles 'Chaz Thompson' and assisted by Pixie and Becky. we look forward to helping you however we can.

28/09/2026

RSPCA backs reptile sector policy tackling harmful genetic traits

Animal welfare charity supports reptile sector’s Deleterious Genes Policy

The RSPCA and the Reptile and Exotic Pet Trade Association (REPTA) are joining forces to raise awareness of welfare concerns associated with harmful genetic traits in reptiles, following the RSPCA’s endorsement of REPTA’s Deleterious Genes Policy (DGP).

The policy was developed by REPTA, drawing on its specialist knowledge and extensive experience within the reptile sector and in consultation with the reptile community, which includes specialist keepers, breeders and retailers. The policy provides a framework for identifying and addressing genetic traits associated with significant health and welfare problems.

The RSPCA’s endorsement of the policy reflects the charity’s ongoing work to address the welfare consequences of extreme conformation and selective breeding across companion animals, including reptiles. It also brings together the RSPCA’s animal welfare expertise with REPTA’s sector-led approach to tackling harmful genetic traits.

The DGP was developed in response to concerns raised within the reptile community about a number of selectively bred genetic traits, known as morphs, which are associated with significant and predictable welfare problems.

The policy draws on the accumulated experience of reptile specialists, with extensive practical knowledge of the animals concerned, alongside the available evidence within the reptile community, to determine the specific genetic traits that have a meaningful impact on an animal’s health or welfare.

Where a trait is included within the DGP, REPTA member businesses are asked not to deliberately breed, purchase or sell animals carrying that trait. Rescued animals can still be rehomed, with appropriate support and guidance provided to the adopter who would need to commit to not breeding or selling their animal.

One example included within the DGP is the Spider morph in royal pythons. Spider Royal Pythons can experience an inner-ear abnormality resulting in vestibular dysfunction, commonly known as the ‘spider wobble’. This can affect their balance and coordination and consequently their ability to move normally, navigate their environment and feed.

Another example is the Silk Back bearded dragon, a selectively bred trait that means bearded dragons hatch without their normal scales and suffer from extremely fragile skin which becomes injured and infected easily. They can’t manage their temperature or light exposure, so it’s common for them to become dehydrated or for their skin to be burnt.

The policy remains under review as knowledge and experience continue to develop, allowing new information to be considered as it becomes available.

Dr Jim Collins, Chairman of REPTA, said: “Responsible reptile keeping means being prepared to look critically at our own practices. Many selectively bred reptiles are healthy animals, but where the evidence and accumulated experience of our community show that a particular genetic trait causes significant and unavoidable welfare problems, we believe the responsible thing is to act.”

Charles Thompson, General Secretary of REPTA, added: “The DGP was developed from within the reptile sector to recognise welfare concerns and put measures in place to address them. It represents the sector identifying an issue within our own community and taking practical steps to address it.

“Having the RSPCA independently consider that work and formally endorse it is enormously valuable. Their standing and reach will help bring much greater attention to an initiative developed within a specialist community.“

Evie Button, Senior Scientific and Policy Officer for Exotics at the RSPCA, said: “Genetic health issues resulting from selective breeding are a serious welfare concern across the landscape of companion animals, and we welcome this proactive step by REPTA to address harmful genetic traits in reptiles.

“While the RSPCA continues to advise prospective owners that reptiles and other exotic species have complex needs that can be difficult to meet in a home environment, improving animal welfare requires action from across the animal-keeping community. Endorsing this policy is part of the RSPCA’s approach to raising standards and addressing specific welfare concerns affecting reptiles.

“We welcome the vital work REPTA has undertaken to identify genetic traits in reptiles that are associated with significant health and welfare concerns, and their efforts to address these through sector-led action. Our strategy The Shape of Suffering, highlights the welfare consequences of extreme conformation and the importance of working collaboratively to improve animal welfare. By endorsing the DGP, we hope to help raise awareness of these welfare concerns and encourage further action to protect animal welfare.”

More information on the Deleterious Gene Policy can be found on REPTA’s website.

The RSPCA’s report The Shape of Suffering can be read on the RSPCA’s website.

More information about the RSPCA’s work to improve the welfare of reptiles and other exotic pets can be found on the RSPCA’s website

Well it's D day tomorrow where in theory I hand back the keys and consign Snakes N Adders to the history books. Huge pro...
24/09/2026

Well it's D day tomorrow where in theory I hand back the keys and consign Snakes N Adders to the history books. Huge props to my dad Paul Woodhouse for absolutely smashing the decorating.

It's as good as it's going to get for an old shop.

Next chapter.

Forgive the silence there has been much to contend with getting it to this state as you may well imagine.

Big love and keep on keepin' on ###x

**PLEASE READ IN FULL**So, as you all know I have been trying to think about what I should do with this page and was als...
12/09/2026

**PLEASE READ IN FULL**

So, as you all know I have been trying to think about what I should do with this page and was also grateful for the suggestions some of you shared.

Whatever it is that I decide to do on this page has to be almost passive because I am moving to a fulltime role and cannot commit to filling the week with content.

Over the years, tens of thousands of people have followed this page because of a shared interest in reptiles, amphibians and the wider world of herpetoculture. That audience has real value, and now that the shop no longer needs it commercially, I want to use it to give something back.

So, I have been currently exploring the idea of transforming the page into the S’N’A Rehoming Hub, or S’N’A National Rehoming Hub. What does this mean? Well in a nutshell, six well established rehoming centres will be given junior administration rights to the page. They will be allocated a day a week with which to share to a large nationwide audience animals currently residing in their care. Each centre will be from a geographically distinct region, and this means that the page becomes a central repository for rehoming.

Some centres may offer courier/delivery services others may wish for people to collect in person, that is all down to them and it not for me to comment about what works and what doesn’t for their organisation.

There is a precedent to this. Snakes ‘N’ Adders in the past donated all social media output to the NCRW on Wednesdays and was dubbed ‘Rehome Wednesdays’ over roughly 9 months of showing animals the page managed to rehome 60 animals. Now if there was the output of five other centres this number could swell to truly meaningful numbers.

For me the motivation is simple, I don’t want the legacy of the Snakes ‘N’ Adders name to wither on the vine and I believe it has enough reach to be able to metamorphosize into something else, a page where after 26 years of commercial activity in the sector, becomes a place to offer homes to animals that find themselves for what ever reason in need of one. I think this is a meaningful way of giving back.

I have sent some exploratory emails to rescue/rehoming centres and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. There will be things to work out and ratify but I’m pretty satisfied this would/could/should work and would hopefully be of great benefit to the sector.

With all due respect and deference to the centres, social media output can be haphazard at best on occasion so there would be rules to the way the page works. This is to keep content reliable and consistent across the hub. On each respective day there would be opportunity for 10 posts per day from 10am – 8pm posted on the hour. We would set the minimum output at 5 posts per day (probably centred around peak hours). Depending upon their current inventory of needy animals though, I would expect the output to be near maximum. The postings would be expected to follow a uniform set of sections with salient information about the animal, rehoming circumstances, the expectations of the centre regarding forever homes and indications regarding applicable fees and delivery/courier services if available. Rehoming centres would be expected to become accustomed to scheduling posts (after all there are six days a week in which to do it in the lead up to their day on the hub). This means that the page will produce consistent output.

Rehoming centres are always in need of revenue stream in which to operate, so to that end, one post per day for the featured rehoming centre can focus on fund raising, awareness and fetes or open days they may be undertaking.

The centre is free to use photos or videos for each post, and they can post as many as they want on each post. They may choose just one photo; others may choose to go ham with many. It is up to them.

I would retain one day a week for my own output, including REPTA projects and workload and maybe videos that I produce should I get time. I would probably pick a quieter day such as Mondays leaving the all-important Friday, Saturday and Sunday to the centres.

I would also retain the senior administration rights to the page with a view to being able to take action should rehoming centres fail to post. There will be no shortage of centres wanting to use this utility so if a day is left untendered for any length of time, then it will be passed onto another centre. This introduces some accountability and reinforces consistency.

The page itself is not involved in the rehoming process, and automated messages would be updated to reflect this, the page is merely a vehicle for the centres to use to their advantage. The page and myself are not involved or responsible in anyway for how a centre operates, how quickly they respond or if you are refused a home.

Whilst yes, it would be simply brilliant to be able to help every centre it would be an organisational nightmare. This is why I have chosen the model I have; the centres must have a meaningful number of animals currently held and in need of homes to ensure that fresh content can be consistently produced. Other options are too messy and may lead to inconsistent outcomes. Fundamentally I am going to be busy and cannot be managing this page for any great length of time and need the centres to step up and deliver.

The page is monetised and as a result, the collective efforts of the centres will be rewarded in turn with the monthly income of the page as a donation. It won’t be a vast amount as it never is but will be some where between £40-£100. This means two months output over the course of the year will be donated to each charity this, to me seems equitable. It’s not my output so I don’t deserve to keep the money.

This is going to take time to organise, and I implore you to hang around and support what hopefully will be a great service to the hobby moving forwards. Intend to try and have this in place in the last quarter of the year.

Chaz

PS - Image is just an idea

So here we are,Snakes ‘N’ Adders is no more. It’s been a ride, that’s for sure. I started working for Snakes ‘N’ Adders ...
06/09/2026

So here we are,

Snakes ‘N’ Adders is no more.

It’s been a ride, that’s for sure. I started working for Snakes ‘N’ Adders in the year 2000 as their weekend staff to earn some money whilst at university. I was studying Industrial Design Innovation at Sheffield Hallam University and was mid-way through my second year when Matt Todd decided he was selling the business and wanted to relocate to Thailand.

I started trading as the owner of Snakes ‘N’ Adders on the 5th July 2003, meaning I have had the privilege of being self-employed for 23 years, 2 months and 1 day. I say privilege. It’s not always felt like a privilege; there have been monumentally hard times during that time. As an impetuous 22-year-old I had a few really good attempts at killing the shop off and repeated this feat a couple more times in the next few years until I found my feet. Even when I found my feet it didn’t suddenly mean that things were easy, far from it. I have survived interventions from my wife and mother pleading with me to give up the shop and move on as, at the time, it simply wasn’t providing for us properly. I couldn’t do it; I had to fight on. It felt like it was my baby and my way of life and I wasn’t ready to give up.

It wasn’t until after a move to Sheffield, that once again nearly finished us off (new city, no reputation in that city, and effectively starting over from scratch), that I decided one day for no reason whatsoever to start making videos on YouTube. This changed the trajectory of the shop overnight and really began to make positive impacts pretty quickly after that. I finally had some money, real money, money that wasn’t just going out as quickly as it came in. Once I had cut away some dead wood the shop really began to flourish. I welcomed new staff and we were away. Whilst the human cost during Covid was profound, the reptile trade burgeoned during this period and I made sure to save as much money as possible to create something my dad had lectured me on repeatedly before his passing, a slush fund.

To reiterate, it was at least 15 years before this shop started performing properly and, whilst not all of it was my fault, and no doubt there were nefarious actors in the wings, I often did little to help or remedy this situation. I suppose I am telling you this as now I have reached the end of the journey and have admitted to myself, after much soul-searching, that the time has come for me to hang up my feeding tongs and probes, so it feels right to just put it out there.

Outwardly, and certainly within the last 7-8 years, Snakes ‘N’ Adders has been a success. We have hugely expanded our social media reach and enjoyed great numbers regarding views, hits, likes and comments. But it wasn’t always so. I am a realist and not one for wearing rose-tinted glasses. To get to that point was incredibly difficult and when I talk to shop owners that are struggling, I can empathise fully with their situation because I lived it. Moreover, I made my wife and children live it with me even when they questioned what the f**k I was doing. It often meant going without, particularly holidays, my last one being in 2019 for one week to Menorca. That’s 7 years without a proper break.

If you are going to do this job, it will consume you.

Completely.

It will be the earth, moon and stars and everything (EVERYTHING) will revolve around the business. You will give up Christmas, birthdays, bank holidays. You can kiss goodbye to weekends in perpetuity. No matter how hard you try, s**t will always flow upstream. You will always have to deal with the problems. It just is what it is.

These businesses do make money; they also cost a f**king fortune to run. The true costs are eye-watering. This means that the disposable income for employees is handicapped and you cannot afford a corporate business manager or pay them for the hours of labour required to keep things running smoothly. You instead rely on people with an inherent passion for the job that are adept at caring for your most vital stock, the animals. The rest of the business stuff you often have to absorb yourself, even when it is the last thing that you want to do.

You are not the major shareholder in your business, the government is. The VAT man and your tax submissions are the main beneficiaries of the business and you just have to accept that, as painful as it is.

For every wonderful, conscientious and loyal customer there is also a prick. Yin and yang in effect. I am going to miss many of my customers deeply; there are others, however, that gave me grey hairs and drove me f**king mad. You also find, the longer you get into this, that those youthful reserves of patience begin to wear thin like an old rug that has been walked on for years. Eventually you don’t even pretend to have any truck with people and just lay it out there, warts and all. You have to watch for this happening as it isn’t good, and it doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s perfectly human to snap but try to recognise it when you see it coming and step back or away if possible.

If you are in this game, try to be kind to yourself, try to look after you. As much as you may have family, it is you that bears the weight, the pressure and the stress and it can feel very isolating. I urge you, with deepest conviction, to build ties with other businesses. The community of shop owners is a disparate bunch of weirdos but you are all walking the same path together and often the only time you truly feel heard is when you are talking to someone facing the exact same bulls**t as you. Latch on to that; that support network is vital. I can tell you, without my friends that are shop owners, it would have been nearly impossible to have kept me and the shop, in turn, from going belly up. They bolster you, encourage you, berate you when needed. It is vital. Work with them, swap stuff with them, do deals with them, split big collection purchases with them. Anything that makes life easier and more bite-sized.

If you ask a shop owner if they love their shop, more often than not they will say ‘no’, if not a stronger ‘f**k no’. But if you ask them if they are ready to give up or do something else, they will also reply no. It is the world we chose, some sado-masochistic way of life. We revel in how hard it is; the glimmer of good times or good weeks are the vapours we choose to live on. It is a way of life, it isn’t for everybody. This is why many shops fail early doors. Sure, there are financial challenges, but simply, it isn’t what people expect. It takes a certain type of grit to see it through and live this life.

For all of those carrying on whilst I finally bid farewell to retail, I salute you, and I see your effort. Not that you will see that from the merry band of t**s online ready to shoot you down or ruin your name. They simply do not understand. It’s easy with a back bedroom of vivariums to try to be some sh***un shop owner, professing every misstep shop owners make. Be safe in the knowledge that they would be the first to quit at any sign of choppy waters. Keep on, head down, one foot in front of the other until you get to where you need to be.

Soon enough I will be moving into a full-time role with REPTA, working to defend the very people and businesses that have supported me and ensuring their way of life and the way they feed their family is as protected as possible. By extension this also means the protection of the reptile hobby as a whole. It became time for me to move on, on my own terms. Snakes ‘N’ Adders did not fail. I have chosen to take this step and help the board at REPTA continue in their vital work. The shop no doubt could have continued in perpetuity but, with me moving into advocacy, I could not afford for a business indelibly linked to myself to fall into the wrong hands or have its reputation tarnished. I hope this makes sense.

Reptile keeping is so important to all of us; it is who we are. We identify with them and identify as their carers. We are adept, knowledgeable and endlessly capable of ensuring a great quality of life for our animals. As shops, breeders and hobbyist keepers, it is so important we do no harm and do not bring our passion into disrepute. There will always be the anti-pet-keeping, ideologically driven nutters wanting to destroy our way of life; don’t hand them that option on a plate.

Do no harm.

Big love, keep on keepin’ on and thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Chaz

06/09/2026

Right, the last animals have been collected. The shop has been quiet for most of the day. I am closing early and I'm off to my uncles in Wirral to chill out for a few days and try to unwind.

Chaz

Think the best card title has been stolen by Edward Church. Brilliant. Cand Perkins here you go.
06/09/2026

Think the best card title has been stolen by Edward Church.

Brilliant. Cand Perkins here you go.

The Gill boys representing!!!! Lovely lads and an absolute credit to mum and dad. The force is strong with these two.......
05/09/2026

The Gill boys representing!!!! Lovely lads and an absolute credit to mum and dad.

The force is strong with these two.....

Who else has got a t shirt or hoodie. Show us those selfies!!!

05/09/2026

Well we have hit 34.5k followers. Didn't hit that 35k properly.

This page won't go anywhere. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with it, but it seems a shame to leave it dead and silent.

I will have a think about how to best use it.

Big love.

05/09/2026

It has quietened off a lot today so i will be closing early. Back open tomorrow 11-4pm

Cheers guys

2011 - aug 2011
05/09/2026

2011 - aug 2011

Address

39/41 Mansfield Road
Sheffield
S122AG

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