Animal Care Assistant — Viperia Reptile Breeding Facility
Location: Hartford PE29 Job Type: Full-time, 40 hours per week Salary: Starting at £26436.80 plus overtime
About Viperia
Viperia is a UK-based exotic reptile retailer, PVC vivarium manufacturer, and live animal import business. Our breeding facility is at the heart of the operation — home to a wide range of reptile species that we care for, breed, and prepare for sale to keepers across the UK. We take animal welfare seriously and are looking for someone who shares that standard.
The Role
We're looking for a reliable, hands-on Animal Care Assistant to join our breeding facility team. You'll be responsible for the day-to-day husbandry of our reptile collection — feeding, cleaning, health checks, and general enclosure upkeep — as well as supporting breeding season tasks like egg incubation monitoring and hatchling care. This is a full-time, 40-hour-a-week role suited to someone with genuine reptile-keeping experience who takes pride in doing the basics properly, every single day.
What You'll Be Doing
- Daily feeding, watering, and husbandry checks across a range of reptile species
- Cleaning and maintaining enclosures, water features, and substrate to a high welfare standard
- Monitoring animal health and behaviour, and flagging any concerns promptly
- Assisting with breeding programmes: pairing, egg collection, incubation monitoring, and hatchling rearing
- Recording animal records accurately (weights, feeding logs, health notes, clutch data)
- Maintaining correct temperature, humidity, and lighting setups across enclosures
- Assisting with quarantine and biosecurity procedures for new or incoming stock
- Helping prepare animals for dispatch/sale, including basic handling and packing to livestock transport standards
- Keeping the facility clean, organised, and compliant with relevant animal welfare regulations
- General facility upkeep and supporting other team members as needed
What We're Looking For
- Genuine hands-on experience keeping or breeding reptiles (personal or professional)
- Comfortable and confident handling a range of reptile species
- Reliable, punctual, and comfortable with physical daily tasks (cleaning, lifting, being on your feet)
- Good attention to detail — animal welfare depends on consistency
- Willingness to work some weekends/bank holidays as part of a rota, given animals need care every day
- A calm, patient temperament and a genuine respect for animal welfare
- Basic record-keeping/computer literacy (logging feeds, health notes, etc.)
- Relevant qualifications (e.g. animal care, zoology) are a plus but not essential — practical experience matters most
Pay: £26,436.80-£30,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Employee discount
- Free parking
Application question(s):
- Describe your experience with reptiles below
Work Location: In person
