About Us
There comes a time in your life when you meet a bloke and you're convinced he's lost his marbles. The man behind Pails For Scales Pet Mega Store! To the non reptile blooded human, picking up a snake that has the potential to end your days in one bite, may seem a little risky, if not crazy. But Roy Pails is one of the most down to Earth fellas you can meet and he's the first to tell you that in the world, a human is in hospital every minute due to dog attacks... so who's the crazy one? I guess he has a point. It's not long after meeting Roy that you soon discover he is truly passionate about reptiles. As one of Australia's largest breeders, his knowledge of reptiles seems endless yet as any snakey will tell you, there's always something new to learn about these fascinating creatures.
THE STORY SO FAR...
Roy Pails moved to Australia when he was just 9 years old. He migrated to the great land from England. It wasn't too long (a month or tso) before he'd caught his first reptile... a 'beaut' Blotched Blue Tongue! Whilst out collecting Bluetongues as a 12 year old, Roy came across his first snake and just couldn't help but pick it up. Before getting bitten, this spotty young Roy let it go... but the bug had set in fast. He now was now a fully-blown snakey. There was something about the piercing eyes and amazing scales of his first snake catch that had really struck home. After that, Roy returned to the Werribee area of Melbourne, which before being swallowed by sprawling suburbia, was a haven for reptiles. This time Roy was prepared. He'd taken along a few jars in case he should stumble across another reptile, he wanted a closer look. That day he caught 2 common tigers and 2 little whip snakes... they just had to go home with him.
That was the birth of his collection! From that day on, Roy caught more and more... and more.. and more snakes, setting up pits in his parents garden to house the reptile collection. Now 18, Roy met Brian Barnett, who was keeping reptiles from the Northern part of Australia in heated cages. The sight of pythons and other 'exotic' species excited Roy. That was it... he headed straight home and made a start on his first heated cage! From there, Roy bought many reptiles and it wasn't long before his father's pool room was no longer used for gaming. Cages where everywhere and his Dad wasn't too keen on the idea of no longer being able to play pool with his mates. So much did Roy's collection grow... his Dad had extend the house and built a snake room! (Good job he had good parents). His love for animals didn't stop at reptiles either, Roy is a very kind hearted bloke and this showed from an early age. Orphaned animals of all kinds could find a home with Roy (and still do!).
The family then moved to Ballarat and his father built a double garage just to house Roy's growing collection. Soon after Roy bought 2.5 hectares of un-touched bushland in an area close to Ballarat. He started to develop this land, building a wild life park, housing and showing a vast array of Australian wildlife. Roy being Roy, took in every animal he could into the park and it soon over took his life, acting almost as a full time career. It soon took over and became too much for Roy to handle.... so there's a big lesson to be learned there: Don't open a wildlife park unless you have a truck load of money!
Roy now has one of the largest collection of reptiles and is widely known as one of the country's largest breeders. His passion and knowledge for reptiles is quite astonishing. The quality of reptiles sold by Pails For Scales is excellent and you'll struggle to find a better place to buy reptiles.
