Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Another thread got me thinking about this... what do YOU consider to be a "bad idea" in this hobby?

**Disclaimer - I realize this sounds like an absolute, but let's do our best to remember that there are exceptions to every rule**

**Disclaimer 2 - NO CALLING ANYONE OUT!!!!**

Here are a few from me to get this started (this is NOT a complete list).

- Selling a sexual pair of siblings to a customer who clearly intends to breed them to each other. (Referencing disclaimer 1 - a morph project that's in its infancy would be an obvious exception)

- Selling an animal with obvious health problems and/or external parasites (mites, ticks) without the buyers knowledge

- Not sending an animal back to the sender when it has mites along with a nice note!

- Not quarantining a new arrival - especially when placing them with another animal to breed (again, obvious exceptions when there is a VERY trusting relationship)

- Powerfeeding (wild boas do not reach 6' and 10 lbs in 2 years)

- Buying an animal before the cage is ready

- Buying an animal before doing research!

Those are just a few. Add to 'em!

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

- People who show up on forums ONLY to "share their litter" (read: market their litter).
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

Great thread idea....... You hit on most of mine but I have some more

1- Buying a snake without the ability to care for it PROPERLY - you see a post in a forum talking about their new baby retic they bought for 60 $.... then you see another post in the same forum where they are complaining about not being able to afford their bills or saying that a 250$ cage is too expensive. I've seen this more times than you can imagine..... Retics are the most expensive snake to house and care for....

2- Proliferation of bad information - You see this all the time in some of the younger forums... Junior herpers are always quick to diagnose peoples problems with little or no information. Then they have some remedy based on web gossip...

Your snake is behaving oddly so you have IBD....
you need to soak your snake in warm water because it didnt poo in a week...
you have to feed your snakes in a separate enclosure , etc etc etc

3- There are a few recurring thread topics that just aggrivate me

>What kind of morph do I have?
>Is this a BCC or BCI?
>What kind of snake should I get?
>What kind of snake should I breed?

4- Classified add pet peeves

> Holdbacks for sale! (If they were truly holdbacks... they wouldnt be for sale)
> Making up nifty names for boas to give the impression they are some sort of morph when they are just really a normal
> Describing a snake for sale as Fat and healthy
>Describing a snake as puppydog tame.... this usually means the snake is really aggressive....LOL
> calling something reverse tail stripe when it has a slightly elongated tail band....
> WHen people only sell pairs as if they support the idea of breeding 2 siblings.... Maybe I just need a female......

Breeding practice pet peeves..

>crossing 2 different subspecies and mixing the names to make it sound like it's a nifty new morph ex. Suriname x Argentine = Surintine
Maybe I should breed everything I have together to make some Pucitos Suriyanazilians
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Marc Duhon
Lafayette, Louisiana
SURINAMBOAS.COM
kaiyudsai@SURINAMBOAS.COM

This is too funny...
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Richard Ceniceros

I know what you mean about the naming 2 different species lol the name you came up w was GREAT lmao

I like this topic JB!!!!

1. People who refuse to buy thermostats for there animals!"Yes I have run into a couple of them"

2. People that don't put prices on there animals at shows! "If you don't put a price on it I won't be buying it!"

3. People that cross subspecies just for the heck of it..

4. Earn your stripes! You know what I mean!!!!

5. I hate when people at a show pick my brain about boas and then buy cheap crap off the wholesalers... Drives me nuts,but just part of it!

6. People that say it's not about the money!!! It may not be totally about the money, but it's definitely a big part of the boom over the last 10 years! As for me, Heck yeah I'm in this for the money just happen to love what I do too... My reward for giving up my foot to a steel mill...

7. People who are scared of getting bit, but think a snake will make a great pet for them.. If you want to keep snakes you need to be prepared to get bit, it will happen... It ain't that bad!!!

8. People that only pickup the phone when it envolves $$$$! Bunch of them out there! I have answered the phone at 4am when a buddy was having a litter...Just love to talk Boas!!!

9. People that don't include at least there name when inquiring about an animal...

10. People that take pictures of animals for sale in dirty cages. I mean it's common sense people!!!

11. People that want more pictures of an animal when you already have three-four good representations in an ad... Not that I don't mind doing it. But if I tell you the pix in the ad are recent meaning within a month. Then there shouldn't be an arguement... If an ad of mine only has a single pic of an animal I have no issues!!!

12. People who think they're Rock Stars just because they breed snakes! Trust me when asking everyday people on the street if the know you they don't!!!! Slash & Alice Cooper are the only two snake keeping RockStars I know.. I'm sure there are others though..

That's all for now JB!

Thanks,

Al Brown/Brown's Boas
www.BrownsBoas.biz

Will you hold the snake for me - no deposit?

Payment plan means I pay when I feel like it and no communication required!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Seeing a pile o' snakes in one tub/cage at a show - want a boy or a girl? How can you even begin to know if a specific one is doing well, eating regularly etc?
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Tub O snakes that's a good one Dave N/P
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Boas By Klevitz

I Support USark.org

That one has always bugged me. Each and every one of my babies has received a unique identification number and been housed in it's own tub from shortly after birth (before first feed or shed). Each one also has it's own record card with all it's personal data, yeah it does take some work but IMO it's worthwhile!!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

--- Contact info; Not sure if its just me but I have a very hard time purchasing a snake without contacting the seller first. I have never been comfortable just adding it to my "shopping cart" and waiting.

--- Pictures of a snake in a dirty cage; I second that one! selling it or not.

--- As a vendor going to a show with a snake that is sick, infested, or is even questionably unhealthy. Have some courtesy for others please.

--- Oh, if you find a snake on Craigs list, I would think twice. or quarantine for a very long time.

--- Housing multible snakes together; must we cover this again.

--- last but not least, If something is wrong with your reptile it can be solved in 3 simple words, CALL A VET. Misinformation from someone who means well isn't always a safe bet.

Just my opinion folks.
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Brian Grosart
Forever Constrictors ©
foreverconstrictors@hotmail.com

1. Posting an online ad and not bothering to spell check. (Having poor spelling skills is NOT an excuse - spell check is built into most word processing programs and most browsers also have it as an add-on.) Not spell checking (or even grammar checking) is simple laziness. If your ad is full of spelling errors I'm not buying from you. If you are too lazy to double check your ad, I'll have a difficult time believing you are serious about taking care of your animals. It takes two seconds.

2. Posting an online ad and not responding to email. Come on! The internet gives people a sense of anonymity and some buyers don't want to have a long drawn out discussion about their animals. They simply want to know where to send their money and work out the shipping details. I have friends, family members, and even customers that have some sort of social anxiety to an extent and most of them don't want to talk on the phone or they don't have the time. I completely understand trying to weed out the "window-shoppers" and "pic-hunters", but you also have to be somewhat accommodating to your potential customers.

3. Having a 3% markup for PayPal payments (or whatever the markup is). This is against PayPal T.O.S. and you are once again alienating a segment of your potential customers. (Be thankful that PayPal hasn't found out and shut down your account.)

4. Not answering all of the questions in an email a potential customer sends you. I know some people get a lot of email and I understand that it can be time consuming to answer all of the emails in a timely manner, but if you won't take the time to answer all of a person's questions how will that person believe that you will honestly be there "after the sale"?

5. Posting an ad with a super tiny picture. If I can't see the animal in the ad, I'm not even considering buying it.

6. Posting an ad without a picture. I won't bother with a seller that states, "I can't upload pictures to XYZ.com", "I can't resize the pictures." etc. If you can upload them to your email client to send them to me, you can easily upload them to whichever site you are advertising on. There are plenty of photo editing programs out there that are free and make it incredibly easy to resize or upload your pictures. My biggest reason for not bothering with these sellers is that I want the animal you are posting for sale to be seen by the public. If you are willing to let EVERYONE see the animal it makes me feel better that not only is the animal exactly what you are describing (if it is a visual morph or being sold as a certain sub-species, etc.) but also that the animal has not been stolen.

I know, I tend to ramble and rant. If you made it this far - Thanks!
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Stay United!

I'm still not sure if it's weird that my best friend is a two year old boa named Ronin. He's quiet, non-judgemental and listens... what more could you want?

If you don't know anything about genetics and how they work, do not try to tell me how it works, or EVEN WORSE, try to sell me something when you don't understand it yourself....

I will use this example, a few years ago, a man tried to sell me an albino female that is HET FOR SUNGLOW.....?????

I tried explaining how hypomelanistic works to him, he nodded, and sold it to someone else under the same description, who is probably hoping to produce sunglows from it someday. Poor soul....

Genetics things that annoy me:
1. Saying that a het must look normal.
2. Using "hypo" when meaning "salmon"
3. These and other mistakes in the genetics chapter in Russo's The Complete Boa Constrictor.

Paul Hollander

I totally agree with you on people not knowing what they are selling
I just seen an ad that the guy is selling 09 albino khal/sharp
strain when I clicked on ad it says 1.1 albino that the albino male is khal het sharp and female is sharp het khal I was just stunned and im sure there will be some one that comes along and buys them as what they are being avertised as

...how about elitist know it alls?
...people who jump to conclusions with NO proof.
...the haves and the have nots who beleive that were people work has any bearing on their ability to properly care for their animals?
...arrogant breeders.