Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not a breeder so I'm just genuinely curious what you guys do about insurance. And I'm just throwing out a hypothetical situation... I hope I'm not giving some creep an idea.

What types of insurance (if any) do you guys invest in? I would think if you're dealing in expensive snakes you'd want to protect the investment in case of theft or illness or whatever...

But I was wondering if you guys look into protecting yourselves in any way from getting sued by someone who buys a snake from you that turns out to be less than tame or they treat incorrectly and they get bitten. I remember seeing a picture of someone who had received a nasty bite to the face from a rainbow boa (I think)... The potential of such a situation would probably freak me out if I was a breeder doing direct sales either over the internet or at expos... even knowing most boas are pretty tame.

Anyone care to share any thoughts?

Kevin

There are terms of sale to resolve any would be problem after purchase. However, I do not believe there is some sort of insurance that can be placed on an animal. As a living thing this is very hard to do, and if it existed I am sure there would be a lot of fraud. People claim valuables as stollen to get money, if there was insurance for a prize show dog, the owner may say it died to claim insurance (while it was really with a friend).

I know that my home owners insurance will not cover my snakes in case of theft or fire. I have not looked for any type of liability insurance, not even sure if it is available out there, but I think Reptiles Magazine did do an article on the subject recently. I would think that most courts would understand that if you are going to buy a snake you are going to get bit, but the seller should be carefull as to who they sell to. I do not knowingly sell to children and if I am going to sell a large dangerous snake (Big Boa or Python) I will speak to the person over the phone to at least check to see if it sounds like a grown up buying it. Lucily I very rearly sell adult animals that could cause harm. Good Question though!
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com