Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi...we're new here, but we feel that this is important to bring up. Did anyone else attend the Louisiana Reptile Expo in Mandeville last weekend? We consider ourselves to be somewhat knowledgable novices, with a lot left to learn. Yet what we know is about 100 times more than what most of the vendors knew, even about herps that we had never owned. Is it really too much to expect someone who's selling monitors to be able tell us whether monitors are carnivores or omnivores, or how big one might grow to be? At any rate, we do research on the Web and buy care manuals for every new herp we obtain, so we did not allow the lack of knowledge to dissuade us. We bought a total of ten lizards, of four different species. The guy who sold us five iguanas did not allow us to handle or check the iguanas, or decide which ones we wanted!! Isn't a basic visual inspection of the reptile critical? We probably would have said no right then, but the guy already had our money. So five iguanas came out of the cage and into a cloth bag, and the first time we got to see them was in the car on the way home. 24 hours later, two were dead, and the other three remain on a strict regimen of force feeding and rehydration. We bought two Tiger Ameivas, and found one dead in his cage today. The Savannah and Nile monitors, and Chinese Water Dragon seem healthy so far, although we had to argue with the monitor vendor to get her to provide plastic bowls for transporting -- she tried to put them in a paper lunch sack for the trip back to New Orleans!!
We have never had a problem like this before...all of our previously purchased herps have thrived. Of course, this was our first experience with an expo...our prior purchases were from pet stores who send their herps to the vet prior to putting them out for sale. We do take all new acquisitions to a reptile vet, but we have never found it to be critical to do so in the first 24 hours. Should we stick to the pet stores from now on, or try to find breeders? While a very few vendors seemed to be making an effort to sell healthy animals, most seemed like wholesalers just trying to keep 'em alive until sale. A very sad representation of the herp world to the general public, who seemed to think the place was like going to the zoo anyway. Any thoughts, comments, or opinions appreciated.

I was there and purchased several lizards and tortises and am very pleased with all of my purchases. I don't know why you are blaming GILA Productions they did not sell you the animals. The only person to blame would be yourself. If the vendors wouldn't allow you to look at the animals prior to purchasing them a light should have gone on and you should have moved on. Just out of curiosity what vendors did you purchase from? The reason I ask is that there were several reputable dealers on site and most of them stand behind their animals. Do you still have reciepts? If so I would call the vendor directly they may be able to do something for you. I am very sorry your animals died and good luck next time. (They are having another show in November.)

I was there and I enjoyed it. I bought 30 baby female CH balls from Quality Pets and they are very good quality and he knows his stuff if I needed to ask. What I suggest is if you don't like the way the breeder/seller talks to you or if you just feel bad about the situation about buying the animal....don't do it....even if you don't even like the way their breath smells...I wouldn't. If I am ever unconfortable about a buying situation...I just move on. There are always other breeders who know what they are doing that will sell you quality animals and will personally talk to you about them. I wouldn't blame Gila Productions for it though...

The only thing I didn't like was the bird guy....he was so mean to the lady working on the sound board....(guessing his wife)....I had to stop watching after a few minutes of it because I didn't like the way he treated her...

Otherwise....breeder wise I thought it was good and can't wait until the November show....its nice to have a semi-large show in Louisiana!

We did purchase two baby monitors, a Sav and a Nile, from Quality Pets and are very pleased with them... the only complaint we had with those guys was that they tried to send the monitors home in a brown paper lunch sack. But, when we asked for plastic containers we received them, and the vendors did seem to know their animals. Not complaining about all of the vendors by any means, in fact Reptile Depot was great with our new water dragon. We just feel that there was a larger than average number of poor-quality dealers in attendance, and wish that there was some kind of screening process to weed out the bad and focus on the good. Sorry if it sounded like we were attacking all of the vendors...the rest of our animals are doing just great.

We just returned to the office today after an exhausting albeit fun week in Louisiana to find two (only 2!) concerns about the Mandeville show. The one about the iguanas and one from a woman who apparently spent more money than she planned. We cannot help if you spend too much money but we can try to help when you have problem with a vendor. Please be assured that all complaints are taken seriously. It does not mean any vendor with a complaint against him is banned from the shows as some may be isolated cases. When accepting vendors we do consider their history including any complaints and how they were or were not resolved.

When making a purchase, please be sure you know what the vendor's guarantee is. Do not make the purchase if you are not comfortable with information you have been given. Know who the vendor is. Over the past seven years that I have been producing reptile shows I have been asked to recall vendor names with descriptions like "he was an older man with a beard over to the right when you walk in". I am not kidding. This happens. You are buying a live animal. You need to know who you are getting it from.

Thank you to all the attendees. Huge THANK YOU to LGCHS.
Due to scheduling conflicts at the Castine Center, the fall show is October 16 & 17 rather than November.

Alex Russell
Gilaproductions
Gila Productions

Alex,

I stand behind you 100%. Great show - though some animals were clearly mistreated. My purchases were fantastic. How did the show work out for your company? Financially succesful enough to hold more future events? I hope so.

Thanks for the great opportunity and another special thanks for replying to this forum here - it shows dedication.

--Ian Herrera
-----
-Iman
1.1 Sugar Gliders (Gizmo and Nema)
1.0 Ball Pythons (Spot)
0.1 Guyanan BCC (TBA)
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow (TBA)

Loving to Learn
Learning to Help
Helping to Love

Stimulate debates, stifle arguments.
Please be nice always.



Imans House of Herps

Thank you. The treatment of animals will be addressed. As for the show being a financial success... Every new venue is a leap of faith and an investment in the future. Maybe next time I can play Santa to LGCHS's equipment wish list!

I don't blame Gila Productions for all the negative reports that I've heard since the show. I manage a Pet Shop in the area and I've had many MANY complaints about the show. I know of at least three instances of people buying Chameleons and getting extremely poor advice from the seller such as telling them that two differnt species can co-habitate in a ten gallon aquarium, in fact they brought them home in the same little plastic cup! Needless to say that one of them didn't last two days and the kid was heartbroken. I think the sellers should be more responsible for information and give care sheets etc.
I went there to buy reptiles for our shop but I saw so many dead animals with these importers and their utter lack of knowledge that I left without buying anything from them. These people give responsible reptile keepers a bad name.
The only thing I would blame Gila Productions for is a lack of screening their resellers. Ideally the sale of animals should be restricted to breeders only selling only captive bred stock. The breeders care about the animals they breed and are much more likely to give good care information. Let those other guys sell supplies.
I hope that Gila Productions keeps this in mind for their show in October. Back in early June there are few people who have a lot of captive bred baby reptiles but in October they should have no problem getting breeders.