>>... What I remember most is that he had this big cage at his shop full of boas and actually sold them by the foot LOL!!



I hope i'm not the only one on the forum old enough to remember this: Back in the day, "Quivira Specialties," in wichita, i think, sold almost all their north american snakes by the foot. Of course back then they were 50 cents per, or a dollar or two per foot. I think Ray Singleton sold turtles by the (carapace) inch, too. Or at least you could order babies, or slightly larger animals and pay a little more. I always had the impression those mail order herp shops had huge supplies, and would go out and say, "ok, the kid from kentucky wants a two-foot bull snake (grab one) and a three inch painted turtle..." Then I went to Thompson Wild Animal Farm (is that the right name? In clewiston? I think i recall the owner was later murdered?) expecting to see hundreds of different kinds of animals of all different sizes, and they had, like, a dozen aquariums with a few snakes or turtles in each. It was explained to me that they held the orders and filled them immediately with what collectors brought in. On the other hand, a buddy once visited ray singleton's (doug mong can tell better whether this story's likely true) and reported there was a LOT in stock, a barrel full of water moccasins, a barrel full of rattlesnakes, a cage with chimps, a cage with a panther...

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