Not too shabby for a Hyacinth macaw.

Alejandro’s owners are Rick Preuss and his wife Debbie, owners of Preuss Pets, 1127 N. Cedar St., in Lansing. Alejandro was purchased as a “welcoming gift” to the current store, after the move last year from their 9,000-square foot Haslett store to the current 25,000-square foot location in Old Town Lansing.

Preuss’ love for animals isn’t a newfound passion. As a child of pet store-owner parents, Preuss has been exposed to various animal behaviors.

“I can remember when I was in sixth grade, and we had a pet store in Cambridge Springs, Pa.,” Preuss said. “I was sleeping above the pet store, and we had a howler monkey making noises below. There also were the sounds of toucans.”

Immediately after walking through the doors of Preuss Pets, you can hear screeches and howls usually heard under a rainforest canopy, not an urban jungle.

Big birds, small birds, noisy birds and quiet birds call Preuss Pets their home, and create an exotic atmosphere. Many of the rare birds carry price tags ranging from $2,000 to $3,000.

“We put up signs with the prices, but then they chew them off,” Preuss said.

Michigan’s largest family-owned pet store features a river through the middle of the store, as well as a brightly-painted bus, which acts as a shelter for guinea pigs and other small mammals.

Painted various shades of greens, yellows, and oranges, the bus is the store’s modern monument and has earned the nickname of “kid magnet.”

“My wife and I were on our way back from St. Johns, and we had been keeping an eye open for a bus,” Preuss said. “About 200 feet past a used car lot, I put on the brakes and said ‘Dear, I think I just saw the bus.’”

The old school bus was purchased for $500, then dismantled and towed into the store, where it was painted. The bus also features a fume hood which takes care of certain smells that the small mammals generate.

“Eventually when you house hundreds of animals in a small area, you get odors,” Preuss said.

The store is practically Noah’s Ark for animals. With kittens, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians, it’s nearly impossible not to find an animal to fit your needs.

Preuss Pets even “propagates” coral, which is fancy talk for breeding the marine animals.

The store doesn’t employ people who like animals – they employ people who love them. Sean Murphy is a prime example of one of these animal-obsessed personalities. Growing up in St. Ignace, Mich., the 25-year-old was surrounded by wildlife, including a bear in his own backyard.

“Raising dogs and a bear, I always had a huge draw to nature,” Murphy said.

Murphy’s father received a permit from the Department of Natural Resources to keep the bear caged in their backyard for the purpose of acclimating their dogs for bear-hunting purposes.

Today, Murphy’s favorite animal is Apollo, a savannah monitor who resides in Preuss’ reptile department. The Savannah Monitor is a cousin of the Komodo dragon and is known for the high bacteria count of its saliva.

“They’re known to be pretty vicious,” Murphy said. “But after a while, he can be like a puppy dog.”

While Apollo is the subject of plenty of Murphy’s kisses, one time the scaly creature returned the favor – but with a bit more bite.

“He tried eating my face once,” Murphy said. “The monitors eat birds and bird eggs, and beforehand, I had a bird rubbing on my face. He grasped onto my jaw and I had to pry him off, right after I just got done telling these little kids how safe he is.”

Apollo isn’t the only creature at the store who has confused his prey with the human sort.

Ginger and Fred are the store’s resident tortoises, often wandering the store even during store hours. Ginger often eats tiny mice and sometimes confuses the toes of sandal-wearers with her lunch.

The pet store purposely avoids some venomous species but do carry a few potentially dangerous creatures, like lionfish and the giant centipede. Fortunately, however, Preuss’ employees are well trained when it comes to avoiding any unsafe situations.

“Lionfish aren’t going to attack you,” Preuss said. “You just have to be aware of them.”

Other folks, however, are drawn to these dangerous creatures.

Preuss Pets regular Kris Sunderg often wanders the aisles of the saltwater department, looking for the latest fish and supplies for his saltwater aquarium.

“It’s the huge saltwater selection that draws me here, and they carry a lot,” he said. “But the fish are too small here for my type.”

Sunderg handfeeds his lionfish krill on a skewer, similar to a krill shish kebab.

After Sunderg asks Preuss Pets employee Bridget Williams if they have any more lionfish, she responds by telling them the fish are “quarantined.”

“Well, what’s wrong with them?” Sunderg spouted.

Williams, an MSU alumna, tells Sunderg that the fish aren’t sick but just quarantined for at least a week in order to insure they’re healthy and happy.

Preuss Pets is one of very few pet stores that quarantines all of its animals before releasing them for sale, Preuss said.

Animals are quarantined for lengths of one week to one month.

“We’re probably one of maybe five or 10 of 1000 stores that quarantine fish,” Preuss said. “They’re shipped in from Florida ponds and different places around the world.”

If Preuss’ employees do find a sick animal, they don’t hesitate to take action.

“We have microscopes so that if any fish go down, we ship off fins or look at gill tissues to see what’s wrong or if there’s a parasite,” Preuss said.

Williams takes advantage of Preuss’ healthy animals for her own aquarium – or four.

Williams’ started with one aquarium five years ago and admits today that she’s gone a little overboard with addictively buying fish and coral.

“I try not to think about how much money I’ve spent,” she said.