Wilton Pet Centre is also known as The Tortoise Centre and is situated in Basildon. There is plenty of free street parking.
Wilton Pet Centre is a bit of a strange one, as it is known as The Tortoise Centre they obviously have a focus on tortoises, but also sell a range of reptiles and exotics but most of the footprint of the shop is dedicated to birds.
We went to look at the tortoises and there were plenty of them to see. Most impressive is the large Salcuta tortoise that has free roam in the shop and is really beautiful to see, he is for sale if you are looking for a large tortoise. There are lots of tortoise vivariums with some adorably tiny and cute babies, the majority are Hermanns, including the western Hermanns (also known as the dwarf Hermanns).
The other exotics included the expected turtles, snakes and lizards, along with spiders and scorpions and some £1 stick insects. The enclosures all look clean and the animals appear well looked after. There is a decent range of reptile supplies, including live food, and some rather lovely cork pieces.
There is a decent small animal section, although many of the cages available really are small. Far too small for any small animal. They even had a cage that reminded me of cages from when I was younger and when I took it off the shelf to have a look, the layer of dust confirmed that it probably is about that old. None of the cages met the minimum recommended size for a syrian hamster.
They had a nice range of accessories for your small pet, and of course, some small pets to fill the small cages. There were only rabbits when we visited but there is plenty of space for hamsters and other small pets.
Despite seemingly having a focus on reptiles, by far the biggest section is dedicated to all things bird. There is a large room full of cages, some aviary type flight cages, and some smaller cages. It was interesting to see pigeons, not something that I normally see in a pet shop, and a pair of doves. There were some impressive canaries and about every colour of budgie you can imagine, along with some beautiful finches.
And should you need a cage for your new feathered friend, you will struggle to find somewhere with more cages for you to choose from. Although I was disappointed to see quite a few round cages, while these used to be popular it is well recognised, and has been for years now, that birds do not feel safe in a round cage, they like corners to feel secure so I'm not sure why they still have so many round cages. The photos of the cages below don't show all the cages available, there really are loads.
And as if that wasn't enough, there is a small room with hand-reared birds too. There were a few birds inside the room, but the macaw was hard to ignore, not least because every time I turned away to look at the other birds it would say 'hello' and demand my attention (which I was happy to give).
Overall, Wilton's is an impressive shop with an awful lot of stock. The cat and dog sections are very small, but for other types of pets, this is a great place to go. Although I wouldn't buy a small animal cage there (as none are suitable). I did ask about some tortoise equipment but found the staff while appearing friendly, weren't especially helpful.
I am a bit torn about whether to talk about the reputation that this shop has, especially when it comes to their tortoises. As it is hearsay, I have decided not to talk about it here, but I'm sure that if you Google them you will find out more. I'll leave you with a photo of their lovely Salcuta tortoise.
Shop: ***
Staff: ***
Supplies: *****
Animal range: ****
Cleanliness: ***
Website: https://wiltonpets.co.uk/
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