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Virginia Cheeseman

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United Kingdom
High Wycombe
Virginia Cheeseman

Virginia Cheeseman I am the original 'Bug Lady', breeding and supplying many types of creepy crawly pets. I've been going for over 35 years. www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk (my USP?

My little home business has now been going for over 30 years, in the last couple of years I have found myself being called the ‘Spider Lady’ more often than not. Trends are continually changing and arachnids are far more popular than they have ever been before. I have a bug room at the side of our house that is dedicated to keeping a multitude of creatures. Since moving out of London in 2003, my

work is mainly postal but I do welcome visitors by appointment. It took me some time to actually reach the 21st century and see the potential of customers ordering online. I am now fully convinced, business has increased tremendously since setting up my first online store in 2009. In October 2012 my current online store went live, the photographs are larger and clearer, the information is more comprehensive and the online ordering is simpler and therefore easier to use. I am still readily accessible by email and telephone and I strive to maintain my position as the most friendly and reliable bug supplier! I do not lie!)

02/02/2025

Feeling a lot better today 🥳 Thinking ahead to Spring 🌷

My friend sent me the balloons photo yesterday to cheer me up and it did. I have added some photos of flowers in my garden last summer, not so long now.

I have managed to feed all my larger tarantulas this morning and discovered that another one had laid an egg sac. Phasing out is going to be a long process but I have added more tarantula special offers to the website today and I’m really pleased with the way things are going. January was a very busy month so here’s to February and my birthday tomorrow 🥂 (way older than I would like to be 😂, my mum would have been 100 this month and little Milo will be 1)

31/01/2025

What a week! It certainly didn’t get any better! (I’m feeling very sorry for myself)

We have all gone down with Norovirus (thanks to Milo starting nursery). I have been laid up since Tuesday night when it was my turn for the lurgy. My birthday weekend plans have been cancelled. I have managed to catch up with my emails this morning but please be patient with me!

As I am not in the best of moods I will try and explain without blowing a gasket (oh yes, daughter’s car blew up, completely kaput this time so she has my car again). I am not giving up my business but I am phasing out tarantulas, I cannot cope with the daily “I only want a female”. It’s not easy to tell, what do people expect me to do with the males? I could lie, like so many people are clearly doing or perhaps instead of stating that I don’t s*x tarantulas, I should put “all my tarantulas are female until proven otherwise”.

I think the phasing out stage is going to last awhile, just this week my Brazilian Dwarf Beauty (Kochiana brunnipes) laid an egg sac and I’m pretty sure my Giant Bronze (Phormictopus auratus) is about to 😄 Phasing out means not buying in, I have an amazing collection still to sell.

28/01/2025

Honestly, the last few days have not been great! ☹️

I missed the SEAS show due to issues with my mother in-law and then I realised that I will also miss the BTS show in May (I didn’t have the date in my diary and we have already booked a trip to Cyprus).

I am stressed out by lots of ‘life’s trials’ at the moment but this made me smile yesterday. I took my parcels to the post office as usual and saw that the lady behind the counter was sorting out stamps. I enter a lot of competitions as you may know and I use a lot of stamps on my entries. I hate the ugly barcoded stamps and most of the picture stamps are 1st class only so I was delighted to see 2nd class spider stamps 😄 I bought a display pack last year but I haven’t seen these stamps anywhere until yesterday. I immediately said to the lady “I want those”, she asked how many and I said “all of them”. She looked at me as if I was mad, she clearly has no idea what’s in my parcels 😂

I’m still cutting down on tarantulas (I think it’s going to take a while), I have a large collection and many are on special offer, if you are interested in any that are not on offer, just let me know and I will see what I can do.

26/01/2025

Hope everyone has a super day at the SEAS exhibition. Unfortunately I won’t be able to go 😢 Had everything ready but my elderly mum in-law’s flat has flooded overnight! 😢

19/01/2025

The tarantula sale is going very well but remember, when they are gone, they are gone 😊 I have set up a “collection only” page, with some really cheap prices and I have reduced many of the tarantulas on my website. These are a selection of the photos I have been asked for in the last few days. Please do take a look www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk (the squirrel 🐿️ has nothing to do with bugs, I took it from Facebook, it just seemed so apt as I love feeding the squirrels and our garden is now full of them 😂)

13/01/2025

I got the wrong weekend 🫣

I can come to the SEAS show after all !! 🥳🥳🥳

I won’t be staying for the weekend as usual but I will be there on the day and wandering around as a visitor. It’s an amazing show, a great venue and always so well organised. I’m looking forward to it, if you see me, do stop and say hello 😊

12/01/2025

My first week of minding Milo as mummy went back to work. He’s only with Nanna one day a week (actually 2 days this week). He is adorable and already loves animals (he really has no choice with me and his mum 😂) 💙

There will be lots of changes with my work this year as you probably know from my last post and website blog, I am beginning to phase out tarantulas.

Thank you for all your lovely messages 🥰

Just this morning I have added a “Collection only tarantulas” page to my website and the following information to my terms and FAQ page.

New for 2025 - I am now planning to work part time, I will therefore not always be available during my office hours or indeed every day (I will no longer work on Thursdays when I am looking after my baby grandson). If you leave me a phone message or email I will get back to you when I can. I am beginning to phase out tarantulas, species will simply sell out and not be replaced.

01/01/2025

Happy New Year Everyone 🍾🥂🍾🥂

Lots of changes taking place for me in 2025 😊

Do have a read of my blog on the website for details!

(I got a new iPhone 16 pro max for Christmas, expect lots more photos of my little friends 🥰)

25/11/2024

If you want something from my website, better take a look now. I don’t want any of my little friends getting stuck in the Christmas mail so Thursday week is my last posting day 😄🕷️🦂🦗🪳🪲

www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk

Black Friday Week / Tuesday 26th - Tuesday 3rd December
I will be giving a 10% discount on everything on my website!
All bugs and arachnids, equipment, plus everything already on special offer.
Simply enter the code BF11 when placing your order.
(I cannot add the discount once your order has been placed)

Heard a noise in our loft last week, bought humane traps for £24 from my friend Amazon and caught this gorgeous little mouse on the first night. Bob helped me release her into our wildlife garden. I spent £36 on 15 frozen mice from Pets at Home for my Corn snakes. It has been pointed out that I could save a fortune by just catching them. No😩 Definitely not happening!!

15/11/2024

Where to start? It has been a stressful week, car problems, parcel problems, life in general problems and then just as things were brightening up!

I had a call from a nice guy yesterday about someone copying my page. They had tried (unsuccessfully thankfully) to scam him. I’m not great with social media and didn’t really understand it but it has now been reported to Facebook by the guy on the phone and my daughter. She blew a gasket about it, especially as they have used so many of my photos. Please, please take care, I don’t use messenger so it won’t be me sending a message via Facebook. If in any doubt please email or call me. I would obviously want to know immediately if this person has targeted you! It certainly doesn’t look like they are in this country and there are some glaring mistakes.

Anyway some nicer things in my photos here.

06/11/2024

Pictures of a few tarantulas that I have photographed as part of this month’s special offer. It’s going well so far 💜
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New blog entry available to read on my website (you don’t have to)

I often put the first paragraph on Facebook but just to be different here is the last bit 😁

A few things my wonderful customers can do to help (I know you want to as I am still receiving the most wonderful Trust Pilot reviews almost daily – they really are lovely).

1) Ask for photos if you are interested in one particular spider (not half a dozen! It takes me ages)
2) Pay by bank transfer (no fees for me and so easy to change the order or address – unlike PayPal)
3) Check the website before sending an email (you can’t make an offer on a tarantula I don’t have and if it isn’t on the site then I don’t have it for sale).
4) Call and collect (if you are near enough this is helpful, I don’t have to post it and you don’t need to pay for postage)
5) If I don’t reply to your email please don’t take offence, just give me a call (it is so much quicker and easier to talk)

Thank you x

01/11/2024

Halloween is over for another year 👻☹️🎃

But it was fun 😄 We didn’t win the pub quiz last night but I did take along some of my favourite Halloween bugs. The Giant Spiny Assassin bugs are just the best 🧡🖤

I thought I had finally managed to retrieve all the little creatures from my Halloween photo shoot but just this morning I saw a mealworm beetle had fallen out 😂

Anyway onto gloomy November but I have a new offer this month!

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I’m inching towards a tarantula stock take but not quite there yet! So, this month’s offer, to cut down on my stock before the festive break, is the ever popular “Make Me An Offer On Tarantulas”

I may not always be able to fully match your offer but it is worth asking! (really depends how much I have paid for them and how much time I have put in). Just drop me an email, tell me which tarantula/tarantulas you would like and how much you would like to pay. Remember once the reduction appears on the website you will need to order quickly or someone else may bag the bargain! (the price may only be reduced for a day or two so please don't ask unless you are ready to buy)
If you would like a photo of the actual spider (any size) just email - [email protected]

31/10/2024

Happy Halloween Everybody 😁

The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day 🧡🖤🎃🕷️🦂

We had a lovely Halloween party yesterday with our gorgeous grandsons and this evening we will be at our local weekly pub quiz. Yes, I will be suitably dressed 🧙👻

28/10/2024

Scorpions everywhere 😄 And just in time for Halloween 🦂 (I know the Whip scorpion is not a true scorpion but it’s in the name 😊).

Talking of spooky things 👻 I had a text about scorpions yesterday and I had just got round to sending a reply. I was halfway through writing the text, when the guy rang me! How weird he should contact me at that exact time 🥺

I love Halloween 🧡💜🖤

26/10/2024

What a busy week I’ve had, I posted orders on Tuesday and Wednesday and honestly sent more orders out than I can ever remember sending before 😁 Then I went away for a couple of days to the wedding of a close family friend so don’t feel too sorry for me 😂 It has been a great week.

It’s actually been a super month for sales, I really want to cut down on my bugs before the festive season. The 10% discount will be ending on Thursday so get your orders in quickly!

18/10/2024

Trustpilot 🥰 I just can’t believe how many 5 star reviews I receive. Below are 2 especially amazing reviews that I received this week! Thank you so much to these lovely ladies, both brought tears to my eyes.

Becca:
I ordered for my family various bugs from this lovely lady and I cannot fault her. I have ordered from many invert sites up until now so i do have some experience with receiving inverts in the post. On Wednesday I sent a text asking information about postage and questions on the bugs and had an answer back within 30 min. The lady is really down to Earth and you can sense how passionate she is with the great knowledge she knows. The website has lots of info which if buying a new bug is very useful and then I could ask questions If needed. I ordered Wednesday night for postage to be next day. The bugs arrived warm, happy, alive and kicking. I couldn’t ask for better service and also would like to point out from now on this will be the store I come to first when wanting bugs in the future. I just wish I had known this store before now and will def be ordering again from here. I am a nervous person anyway so I don't like communicating very much but honestly from being nervous to send a single text to now after the amazing service I've received I am so happy and hope to order very soon again. Saying Thank you isn't a touch on how happy we are with all your service and help 🙂 we really appreciate everything you have done. A massive thank you.

Ariana:
I cannot say enough good things about Virginia Cheeseman, both in terms of customer service and responsible animal husbandry. The shipping process was expertly handled on her end (unfortunately I can't say the same for Royal Mail, but we all have to endure that) and all of the invertebrates not only arrived in good health, but were in containers that met their basic needs until I could rehouse them into more permanent homes. I have been gushing to everyone about the trio of Dominican purple tarantula spiderlings I received; they have been extraordinarily calm and well behaved and are already stunning. I also can't say enough nice things about her captive bred millipedes; most places only have wild caught and I find that unethical and irresponsible.
I have already been a repeat customer and will continue to be as long as her store is open. Especially with the wonderfully generous specials that often appear on the website. I also really appreciate how much husbandry information is presented on the website with each animal listing. Its obvious she cares very much and this manifests in the best possible way. I think every invertebrate shop in the UK could learn a thing or two from Virginia Cheeseman.

Here are a few of the tarantulas that I have photographed for customers this week and I’m pleased to say that most are now sold 😄

16/10/2024

I can’t believe that I will be sending off my beautiful adult Dominican Purple tarantula this morning 😢 but I really do need to cut down on my tarantulas and I’m sure she is going to a good home 😊

I am continuing with the 10% discount code until the end of the month, hopefully by then I will have cut down my spider collection to a more manageable number. I really need to do a proper stocktake and with my mathematical skills, the less I have to count the better 😂

www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk

14/10/2024

Autumn is here, cold and wet but Halloween is just around the corner and I love it 🧡🖤🧡🖤

I went to a craft fair at the weekend and bought “this” 😂 It will be perfect for my Halloween post, with a few of my bugs added to it 😁

Address

21 Willow Close
High Wycombe
HP109LH

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4pm
Tuesday	8am - 4pm
Wednesday	9am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 4pm

Telephone

+447971838724

Website

http://www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk/

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Videos

Lost in the moment 🤗 Giant African Fire-head Millipede (Spirostreptus servatius) - hoping for the patter of many tiny feet soon 😄 #funbugs #giantmillipede #petbugs