Reptile & Amphibian Forums

.. It doesn't affect boas, but it hits keepers hard!

Are you?
1) Picking a quarrel with your forum buddies over any small thing?
2) Finding fault in anything other people do?
3) Drawing a 'line in the sand' over silly things like ads and names?
4) Losing sleep and drinking too much?

You have the symptoms of Pre-Parturition Syndrome! Act now and get professional help (PROZAC).. but don't worry too much as soon as you have a double hand full of baby boas the world will again seem like an OK place..

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as i did when posting it!
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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com

"Quality is not an accident. Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

Nomenclature, taxonomy, honesty in sales, etc. can always drum up intense emmotions in people. But when it all boils down we in the herp community are just that, a community. And just like any community, or family, some will disagree, but we all come from a shared interest and love for the creatures we keep. So we need to keep that in perspective and respect ourselves. Lets face it, much of the rest of the world thinks we're three sandwiches shy a picnic because we keep snakes...but we know we're the coolest bunch of people around!!!

You know, I've seen common Boa constrictor imperator given a different variation of names in just about every publication I've ever seen. The bottom line is that over time I learned to sort through all the name jumbles and recognize most varieties to what they are. In the horticultural profession we call it learning synonomy...knowing that any one item can have a multitude of names.

Unfortunately, sales is sales, is sales, is sales. Whether tweeking the name of something to make it sound more unique and desirable is unethical or not is pretty moot...it's just the way the world works and has been that way since the first stone tool was traded for something else. Most buyers are aware of that, some aren't, but they learn. And the rest of us try to teach those less experienced how to avoid getting taken...if they'll accept the advice.

Peace!

Steve

Thanks Doc