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Anybody ever do business with Rob Pennisi? (New Jersy) I want to buy some hets from him, Anyone know of any reason not too?

OK, you are being careful. That's smart. Can you assume that NO response to your post assures that this seller is honest? Nope. No news, is NOT always good news. And with hets you won't know for a few years (let's say 3-6, depending upon the sex of the hets you buy). By then a dishonest seller is long gone or has assumed another identity.

If the price is too good to be true, then run. One thing we can all assume is that low prices are a red flag, unless you know this person or know someone who will vouch for them (example, I've known breeders to sell way below market due a family crisis. Then low prices MIGHT be warranted).

If he won't tell you who bred them, and offer the breeder's name and phone number, at a minimum, then run. Why WOULDN'T he do this? To keep a source secret? Highly unlikely. If he bred them then he had better have photos of the homozygous parents to show--his photos, not those of balls bred by another breeder.

Also ask for assurances that these are indeed hets. Have him sign a paper to that effect with his name, current valid address, and current valid phone number on the SAME sheet of paper, not attached. If he won't do that, then run. This still doesn't ensure that you will have hets; it just offers you some recourse in three to six years, if you can find him.

If he doesn't have a web site, that might indicate the transient nature of his enterprise. Most solid sellers have web sites, although even some of those are suspect. What does a web site of a solid seller look like? Not a "free" Yahoo web site--but one like the one I used to have--qualityreps.com. A dot com indicates he is at least semi-serious about his reptile business.

Now I am NOT saying that this seller is dishonest. I am offering a generic way to proceed in cases like this. This is a mere philisophical look at your quastion. Sorry I don't have facts for you.

And, of course, sometimes you are rewarded with homozygous balls later in such deals. My advice is that you buy from an established breeder with a good reputation. They are usually someone you can trust. Yes, you MIGHT pay higher prices, but at least you have SOME assurances in the transaction.

And do check the BOI. I don't have the URL handy, but type in Board of Inquiry or Fauna Classifieds. I recently did that for another ball seller who reputation I was checking. I have NO reponse to my inquiry. But I now have a sense that I can trust this person, based on hints from his e-mails. I may be wrong, and I am subject to the same "luck" as you. And being an old Army investigator helps in this regard.

Enough from an old man.

Shannon Hiatt
Quality Reptiles, Texas