West Islip pet shop BTJ's Jungle to close its doors early next year after nearly 60 years

After nearly 60 years in business, BTJ’s Jungle in West Islip, a staple for generations of Long Island pet owners, will close its doors early next year, longtime owners of the family business said on Wednesday.

BTJ’s — which stands for Bill, Tom and John’s — known for its giant shark hanging from the ceiling and its wide selection of reptiles, fish and small mammals, will close for good by Feb. 1, said John Niehoff, co-owner of the family-owned and operated shop.

"It’s going to be hard," said Niehoff, 74, whose parents opened the store in 1969. Niehoff, who co-owns the business with his older brothers, Bill and Tom, said a big part of the decision to close was the aging owners' health.

"My brothers are 77 and almost 80," he said. "We all have health issues and this, that and the other."

Niehoff said the store building,at 144 Sunrise Hwy., was sold to a neighboring Volkswagen dealership, though he hoped that someone might come in last minute to buy the remaining stock and other business assets.

Niehoff said he was confident the store would be able to sell its remaining collection of animals before it closes.

"It’s pretty sad that they’re closing down," said Erica Feldman, 28, a customer who grew up in Plainview. Feldman said visiting the shop — where she purchased her chinchilla Winnie in 2022 — was an experience unto itself.

Carried specialty items

"I remember walking in and there being an overwhelming number of animals and things for pets," said Feldman, who moved upstate earlier this year.

As a bonus, Feldman said she found out shortly after bringing Winnie home that the chinchilla was pregnant, making her pet purchase a "two for one deal" she still treasures.

"It’s a just a shame," said longtime customer Mike Gattus, 65, of Seaford. Gattus, who breeds turtles and has been a regular shopper at the store for over 30 years, said BTJ had specialty items in stock that larger chains didn’t carry.

"The owners were very nice, and the prices were reasonable," Gattus said. "They helped us out a lot, and I’ve grown to know them better and better. ... It’s very sad."

Reminiscing about the shop’s history, Niehoff described Annie, a pet monkey that was once a staple at the store, and Teddy, a pony that lived behind the shop’s original location, and the throngs of visitors who came as children, and later as parents, to see the store’s menagerie of critters.

The shop’s history also includes some painful moments, Niehoff said.

In 2004, tragedy struck when a fire broke out days before Christmas, killing hundreds of animals — many of which were being set aside as Christmas gifts — according to Newsday reporting at the time.

While Niehoff said he wishes he could pass on the business to someone else, he said it’s a challenging business with so much competition from online retailers like Chewy.com and big box stores like Petco and PetSmart.

"Amazon just killed all the small stores," Niehoff said. Even still, he said his store was able to survive as long as it had because of the large number of animals they sold, an advantage over online retailers.

"People could come here to see the animals and hold the animals," Niehoff said, adding that the interactions between customers and animals is what set their store apart from competitors.