Swell Reptiles Reviews 

AVOID!!! Ordered 4 bags of substrate and a water bowl and paid extra for next day delivery. Had to chase the delivery and it arrived 4 days later and only part of it arrived and was damaged beyond use, this was weeks ago now and I’ve been chasing none stop to get my money back (around £70) and they have given me a refund of £27. Even after I have returned the items I did receive that made such a mess of my house and the couriers van from being inappropriately packaged. I am insulted by their customer service and that they think this is at all acceptable.

Used to be a great company but something has gone seriously wrong recently.

Recently bought two swell paludariums and both came without any instructions how to install the drainage connections included of which there are some 20 parts
Despite emailing more the. 5 times and having no response and calling (holding for an hour) and speaking to an agent that promised they would be emailed over to me immediately I am still unable to set up my order paludariums as still have NO INSTRUCTIONS
Really shocked at the bad after sales service I have received
Now wished I’d paid more and bought the EXO TERRA paludariums

Ordered a 15gk bag of sand witch was deliver split with nearly half missing (not swell at fault but courier) I emailed them and Hannah and holly both sorted this out very quick.

A new bag is being dispatched FOC. Can't knock the customer service 10/10.

Been dealing with them for the last month i returned a item which was a carry on to start with they have my vivarium but are not refunding me i have all receipts emails they have robbed me £109 plus delivery that hana is a nice of work now they are not getting back to me away to take this to citizens advice avoide swell reptiles at all costs they are bandits

I bought a 60cm x 45cm x 90cm Habistat terrarium from Swell Reptiles. It arrived swiftly, was easy to assemble and looks great with the black sides.
Swell Reptiles we excellent to deal with and provided very good customer support, I have added them to my list of trusted retailers.

I’ve been a customer of swell reptiles for years, always been a loyal customer but I’ve noticed recently that their customer service and deliveries have been shocking. But this last order has now officially made me look else where to buy my reptile products from now. Waited over a week for my order with constantly chasing it and getting no answers so I went out and brought the stuff somewhere else and I informed swell of this and they said I would have a refund once I finally received the order. So I did exactly what they told me to do, told them I wanted to return it and get a refund and now they are telling me they can only get it collected on their terms. No care for their mess ups. I’m officially done with this company. No customer care or any understanding

Next day delivery paid and item not even dispatched despite paying for extra next day delivery fee. Call you twice today and item not even dispatched. Stay away guys .

I'd like to preface this by saying that none of the product reviews on the Swell site are reliable, because THEY DO NOT POST ANY THREE STAR OR BELOW REVIEWS THAT ARE SUBMITTED. Almost everything I have bought from them for my newest setup has been either faulty or nothing like they were described, to the kind of frequency where I wonder if their products are actually the brands they are listed as or counterfeits. So far the "Arcadia" UVB light fitting is faulty, the heat lamp fitting is incompatible with most bulbs despite saying the opposite, and the vivarium itself is already beginning to warp. All of my refund requests have been completely ignored.

Since the past year or so they also always ship out live food way slower than it says on the site, sometimes it takes over a week to ship out at all and most of the insects are dead upon arrival. They keep sending me the wrong size dubia roaches, the ones I receive are marked as the correct size but the roaches are usually larger than even the largest size listed, far too big for my gecko. The most recent time I requested a refund through their site, I even provided an image of the roaches next to a measuring tape as proof. Radio silence for over a month, then they just closed my request and gave me an automated message to email them instead.

This site is barely even pretending to be legitimate, you would be better off buying supplies literally anywhere else.

Update 30/7/2026: So far my refund requests for the faulty or not as described tank components are still being completely ignored, no correspondence at all well over a month later. The customer service is practically nonexistent.

Order worth a £1000 arrived damaged and with items missing. Have called and spent an hour on hold before giving up. I’ve sent multiple emails but not heard back and had no response to any of the contact forms I’ve filled out online. “Premium” vivarium came scuffed and with multiple chips as well as screws missing to attach the door handles. A UV light that I spent £89 on was also missing from the package. It’s impossible to get a reply from anyone so I’m having to go through my financial institution to retrieve my money.

Vivarium ordered and arrived damaged.Support is taking there time to get back to me to return and refund me. Judging by other reviews this is not uncommon for them. Very difficult to get through to their phone lines it seems.

Awful delivery, awful company. This is my first and maybe only review. That’s how bad it is. Just don’t bother buying from this website unless you’re okay with waiting a month for your order to arrive after paying for next day delivery.

The frozen rats and mice were left on the door step in sweltering heat and the 1000 crickets that was supposed to be med were so tiny I had to drown them to get rid of them

Never again. Ordered a tank on Tuesday 19th and paid the extra for next day delivery. They waited until Friday 22nd to organise a courier, despatched it on Tuesday 26th, and it's due on Friday 29th. 10 days for next day delivery? 'Order by 4pm for next day delivery' should be changed to 'pay for express and get economy at no extra cost, be ignored by staff and spend 90 minutes on hold because we turn our phones off'.

Turns out I'm not the only one impacted by their appalling service lately.

You sent a faulty, used item when I ordered a new item, not second hand. It annoyed us but thought okay we'll still use it, except it doesnt work. We told you we needed it before the weekend, so you said (thursday) if we go and drop it off at a dpd place, you'll send a new one out that day, for next day delivery, did it arrive? Of course not! So we tried phoning friday afternoon, no answer, been on hold for over an hour this morning, no answer, no answer to emails etc. Dont make us go out of our way to return it quickly so we can get one the next day, and then not stick to your end of the bargain!

Ordered a large Vivarium and it turned up damaged. Numerous emails sent and online form filled out, evidence provided as requested and nothing back at all. Will update as I hear anything back if I do. Better off finding a different provider in my opinion.

I’ve been a customer with Swell Reptiles for years and years now. They were always great, everything was always in stock, great prices, good communication and I’ve stayed with them.

However, increasingly over my past few orders I have noticed products are never in stock, issues with how items are delivered such as tube lights just rattling in a box with little packing to protect, customer service has become non existent.

I feel something in management has changed in the last few years and Swell Reptiles is just being run into the ground. It’s a huge shame as they have always been my reliable go to for everything I buy for my beardy, but what’s the point if there’s never any stock, if the delivery is rubbish and when you want to get in touch for any reason it’s impossible?

I think I will now find somewhere else to buy as I need a stable and reliable supplier and this is no longer Swell Reptiles.

Whatever changed over the past several years, they should definitely change back, whoever is running this company is clearly doing a terrible job and they are going to lose their customer base. Is it worth it?

They are a disgrace of a company, they don't reply to you and try and palm you off if you need refunds, I have 2 tracking codes saying they had been delivered by the post office they are trying to say one didn't arrive, when clearly it did, they never hardly reply to you, I will never use them again, I'm still waiting for my to be e sorted. I'm thinking about t taking legal action, DO NOT ORDER OFF THIS SITE!!!

Broken cabinet arrived, took weeks of emailing to get any response. I finally got a response and arranged collection. Now they have gone quiet on me and I'm without a cabinet or my refund. Avoid this company.

Placed an order late February. Received without issue.
Two items faulty so arranged to return. Took until mid March before response received and return approved. Sent items back via DPD. Fast forward to May and still no updates or refund despite e-mailing and asking for updates on returns page.
Now having to initiate charge back via credit card company. Awful and completely useless customer service.

DO NOT BUY FROM SWELL REPTILES! If you have to return anything you could be waiting months!

I ordered over £40 worth of frozen mice. The delivery came the following day the courier left it in the garden in the sun for 3hrs until I noticed. 80% where defrosted and had to go into the bin. I raised the issue with swells as they state on there site the special delivery's carnt be left unattended, which it was had a reply the following day saying as the courier delivered it to the address nothing can be done.