Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found out my friend is the stupidest guy in the world.
Check this out
The Story :
I went to a friends house to visit. I had sold them one of my 2001 american aligator baby's. He said it would be for his son. I made sure his son was over 18 and that he knew what was involved in raising a aligator. i had him come over 4 times a week to feed , handle , get to know and get used to working with an aligator, and once a week , clean the cage of the aligator he wanted.

For 2 months he did good. Came over when he was suposed to. Bought the mice , Catfish , crawdads etc. I remember the first time he picked the aligator up the first time he was so timid. It was funny to watch. Be he got used to it. Being a son of a close friend i could work with him so he would know every aspect of everything. After a while he seemed ready and i told him if he still wanted it. he could take it home. His dad payed for it. It was a birthday present. I told him any animal i sell , i will take back , even buy back from anyone who finds out they dont not want it.

Well when i went over there this afternoon. I noticed there was no aligator. I asked where he was. I got a slow response of. "He died." I was thinking , Disease ? Fell off the shelf ? Steped on him ? Cat got him ? I asked him what happened. Did he find it dead one morning ? Did something happen to him ?

In response to this. I got " Well , He turned white " "Then he just quit moving ".

I said What ?!? What do you mean he turned white ?!?

He said "Well i was changing the water in the tank and when i put him back in he started thrashing around realy hard then just stoped" "And when i took him out he was all white from his toes half way up his body".
I already had a picture of this poor aligator in my head and knew what was coming next. And in my mind i thought "Holy Sh*t Your not going to tell me you boiled him How Fu*$%'n stupid are you ?".
I didnt even want to hear it come out of his mouth , But he went on to say , "i noticed the water was realy hot when i picked him up out of the cage. Then i remembered , I forgot to put some cold water in the tank after he dumped the hot water in."
I was geting sick to my stomache by then and i said "So you accidently put him in 200 degre water ? How in the hell do you do something like that ?" I was so mad , i just left.
I cant beleve someone could be so damn stupid. i mean , him learching out of his hands and droping to the floor wrong and dieing or something could be , i dont know , atleast beleveable that something like that could happen.
But Boil your Aligator alive in it's tank ?
It just goes to show you cant even trust friends to be smart enough to house a reptile . I just cant get over how stupid that was. Oh my god. It's so Sad.
Mason.

First off,. let me just say to you that I am truly sorry that you had to go through that and I send my deepest condolences. I love alligators the most in the reptile kingdom. They are so intelligent and often so tame and almost even friendly in their own way. That had to be really hard on you to bear. I know how this must weigh on your conscience. I myself always fear the idiot customer like that and do everything in my power to avoid ever selling anything to anyone that is less than capable of caring for a reptile. Four years ago I refused to sell a guy a trio of newborn (hatchlings) gators for 1,500 for these reasons: 1. I went to his place to see how they would be kept. On the phone he told me he kept iguanas and snakes, birds and ferrets. So I'm thinking,.. 'Ok, he sounds like he has some experience.',.. and I go to look at his place. The first thing that bothered me is that he lives right next to a high speed highway. Thoughts of the noise, of possible accidents, of gators getting out and ending up on the highway bothered me tremendously. But I went in anyway. One can build amazing things behind tall fences, you know? Anyway,... he takes me behind his house to a dirty old barn where several chicken wire cages are nailed to the side. In one cage was three very emaciated and dark and dirty iguanas. The only water was a very filthy plastic tub that was obviously only refilled ocassionally through the wire, never cleaned. Now this was in December and these tropical reptiles were being kept outside in a wire cage! I couldn't believe his lack of judgement and blatent ignorance. I was pissed and I told him in the nicest way I could that they were not being kept properly. He argued with me and said they had been fine like that for two years. I gave up and we continued on the tour. The other cages contained other emaciated birds and indigenous snakes (gophers and the like). I had already decided that he would NEVER get an animal from me, but I looked at where he was planning to house the gators anyway. It was inside the barn in an old horse stall! He had scraped dirt and old horse crap back in a shape meant to form a pond and had hose water in it. It stunk and was full of white foam containing God knows what from however many years of horses urinating there. At that point I told him that it would NEVER do and I would have no part of it. He began to wheedle and pleed and ask me how he should do it and etc. At this point I asked him why he wanted these animals if he didn't intend on learning about their requirements and taking proper care of them. His response: "I just want some big bad gators to show my friends." So I determined then and there that he was a lost cause. Not only was he unwilling to learn and do what was necessary for the best health and welfare of the animals, but his reasons for wanting them was all wrong. He has since tried to obtain them in other ways and I have tried my best to thwart him from getting them. Even though gators are a very tough and hardy reptile, his ownership would be a death sentence.
As for you and future customers,. may I suggest that you take the time to write up general info care sheets and give them out with each animal? One little sentence may have saved the life of that poor little guy. But again,.. my deepest and most sincere condolences.

>>I found out my friend is the stupidest guy in the world.
>>Check this out
>> The Story :
>>I went to a friends house to visit. I had sold them one of my 2001 american aligator baby's. He said it would be for his son. I made sure his son was over 18 and that he knew what was involved in raising a aligator. i had him come over 4 times a week to feed , handle , get to know and get used to working with an aligator, and once a week , clean the cage of the aligator he wanted.
>>
>>For 2 months he did good. Came over when he was suposed to. Bought the mice , Catfish , crawdads etc. I remember the first time he picked the aligator up the first time he was so timid. It was funny to watch. Be he got used to it. Being a son of a close friend i could work with him so he would know every aspect of everything. After a while he seemed ready and i told him if he still wanted it. he could take it home. His dad payed for it. It was a birthday present. I told him any animal i sell , i will take back , even buy back from anyone who finds out they dont not want it.
>>
>>Well when i went over there this afternoon. I noticed there was no aligator. I asked where he was. I got a slow response of. "He died." I was thinking , Disease ? Fell off the shelf ? Steped on him ? Cat got him ? I asked him what happened. Did he find it dead one morning ? Did something happen to him ?
>>
>>In response to this. I got " Well , He turned white " "Then he just quit moving ".
>>
>>I said What ?!? What do you mean he turned white ?!?
>>
>>He said "Well i was changing the water in the tank and when i put him back in he started thrashing around realy hard then just stoped" "And when i took him out he was all white from his toes half way up his body".
>>I already had a picture of this poor aligator in my head and knew what was coming next. And in my mind i thought "Holy Sh*t Your not going to tell me you boiled him How Fu*$%'n stupid are you ?".
>>I didnt even want to hear it come out of his mouth , But he went on to say , "i noticed the water was realy hot when i picked him up out of the cage. Then i remembered , I forgot to put some cold water in the tank after he dumped the hot water in."
>>I was geting sick to my stomache by then and i said "So you accidently put him in 200 degre water ? How in the hell do you do something like that ?" I was so mad , i just left.
>>I cant beleve someone could be so damn stupid. i mean , him learching out of his hands and droping to the floor wrong and dieing or something could be , i dont know , atleast beleveable that something like that could happen.
>>But Boil your Aligator alive in it's tank ?
>>It just goes to show you cant even trust friends to be smart enough to house a reptile . I just cant get over how stupid that was. Oh my god. It's so Sad.
>>Mason.
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The fastest way to achieve great wealth is by living more poorly for much longer.

you should be commended for your control, me.... well a night in the clink was on the cards. SAD SAD SAD...

:
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Be yourself! It doesn't matter what other people think!
~*Rachel*~

...that you sold an inexperienced person that animal. Age is not a factor! It's bad enough that pet shops sell them to anyone who has the money, but an experienced(?) herper should not be selling alligators(of all things) to people who have never kept them before no matter how much coaching you offer! Do you think that people really take into consideration how large these animals become? Many people who buy alligators are doing so just to brag to their friends about what a cool and intimidating pet they have.I'm not trying to start anything or bash you, but I think the blame lies with you. I hope this was a valuable lesson for you.

This was not some error in animal husbandry. This was not a care issue , or a size issue , or neglect , it was utter stupidity.
I follow up on every animal that ever leaves my hands. i still contact people that got a snake 5 years ago. just to see how it's doing , having any problums , questions. . I do have a care sheat that i downloaded and made coppy's of. And everyone get's one. I never thought to add Dont boil your gator ! i didnt see this as Not common sense. And there was no way in hell anyone could have seen this comin. In a experanced person or not. Even experianced people are stupid. Experiance doesnt mean anything in Columbus ohio.
Mason...

We're not talking about a snake here. Not that it matters. That person shouldn't own any animals. The reason for the snakes demise is beside the point. The fact that you give a caresheet with the animal doesn't make it logical to sell it to just anyone either. And what does following up on your animals have to do with alligators being sold to people who shouldn't own them? If you call to follow up five years later while their pet alligator is digesting the owner, do you think they'll answer the phone? I'm not even going to address the "Columbus, Ohio" statement. That just shows the mentality you're coming from and it's an insulting comment. You say "even experienced people are stupid"? My point exactly. You shoulndn't have sold him that alligator...period!

Maybe YOU are missing the point. You don't even know the guy he sold it to. From the looks of how he coached the kid, the kid had some experience before he owned the gator. We all start somewhere no matter what animal it is.

I don't need to know the guy. You people are awefully naive and misguided if you aren't seeing the potential disasters of putting an alligator into the hands of just anyone. And don't try to tell me that this guy has ANY experience! There isn't one person on these forums who cares for their animals who would have done what that guy did.

To say that in the least. You dont know me. How in the hell can you say i dont care about my animals? I'v owned reptiles since my father bought me my first python when i was 6 years old. I'v owned reptiles almost all my life. I'v never had to take one to a vet because of IR or something that could have been prevented. And i'v never had one die. So just because , Anyone as far as i see , Agree with your comment on something you dont know anything about anyway. Other than a post i put up. You dont need to go off half cocked insulting people you know nothing about. And if i didnt care about my animals , i wouldnt hand out care sheats , try to coach someone that i can keep track of on a weekly basis. Everyone has to start somewhere. Because i couldnt forsee there stupidity , makes me in the wrong ? Not in the least. I try my damdest to make sure they go to a good home and the ones taking them are knowlageable enough to care for it. And it's not fair to me that because i cant tell the future , of someone that , to me seemed like he would make a good home , Didnt.
Mason...

Find me a city without at least a few idiots, cupcake.

- Columbus resident

Blaming the seller in this case is ridiculous. He coached, taught and did everything possible to help. This was also a friend, which means something. Only an idiot would put an animal into that hot of water without realizing it. No seller can be held responsible for total stupidity on the part of the buyer. And sometimes, in spite of the best teaching and information, things happen because people are stupid.

Let's see. Inexperienced herpers shouldn't buy alligators...I won't disagree with that....if they're buying from some pet store that has no clue what they're doing. We also say inexperienced herpers shouldn't buy burms, retics, rocks or anything that takes time and effort to set up and keep. Well, then, inexperienced herpers shouldn't buy any kind of herp according to that standard.

It's kind of like the person who can't find a job because they have no experience. Someone has to finally give them that experience. Since the father had experience, and the kid bought from someone who knows what he's doing, I see no problem in making the sale. But...I know you think it's all crap so I won't waste any more of your time. The only crap I've read on this thread is yours anyway so I won't waste any more of my time either.

Again, too many holes in the story. If the father has so much experience (seven years worth!), then why does his son need to go to the seller for coaching and caresheets? I can't wait to hear this one, lol. That must be some father-son relationship they got going there. The more you guys post, the more you contradict yourselves. For the love of God, quit while you still have a speck of dignity left. Stop the fibbing, children. The rest of your post was painful enough to read...no need to address that pile.