any type of herp

[Brandon.O]

I have retics, alligators & Burms AND do this for a living, but absolutely believe that a large percentage of folks who buy them do so as an impulse - especially for gators & Burms. Considering the number of donated/dumped animals we take in each year, the only species that rival Burms are green iguanas & red-eared sliders. Fortunately we don't get as many gators, but still have more dumped on us by people saying "it just got too big" than I'd like to see.

Thats what i was tryin to say but KLG put it SO much better lol

what she said !

[BallPythonBabe448]

Exactly. And I think if you corrected all of the punctuation, and capitalization errors, then it will help. It is VERY hard to read your post, it isn't so much the spelling, the only words you mistpelled were herp, maybe, and alligator. But I could still read those words, and it is more of the punctuation that you need help on. Just punctuate and Capitalize, and it will be better.

[Blink]

I have retics, alligators & Burms AND do this for a living, but absolutely believe that a large percentage of folks who buy them do so as an impulse - especially for gators & Burms. Considering the number of donated/dumped animals we take in each year, the only species that rival Burms are green iguanas & red-eared sliders. Fortunately we don't get as many gators, but still have more dumped on us by people saying "it just got too big" than I'd like to see.

K

Pardon me, but the sellers don't warn the buyer of what they're getting into?
Theres a pet store here called "Wild Cargo".
I came in to see if he had any female ball pythons or sale ...
He tries talking me into buying a Reticulated Python ...

This is how our conversation bascially went -
Seller: How about this Reticulated Python, only $60.
Me: Umm ... I don't want to be eaten.
Seller: What do you mean?
Me: Well, they get massive ...
Seller: This ones still a baby.

Sadly, but truely ... reptile dealers don't make a buck by warning their buyers how dangerous or large their animals get, 90 percent of the time.

So you can't blame this all on impluse buyers, seller have a good hand in this. :shock:

[Marla]

True, Blink. I hate how irresponsible vendors will try to talk unsuspecting customers into buying large boids, monitors, crocodilians, etc. Excuse me, ma'am, do you know that savannah monitor your son is asking for will get nearly as long as you are tall and may be grumpy? And sir, that beautiful little snake the sales rep just suggested to you as a good "starter" reptile will get to a dozen feet long or longer and require two people to handle. But for a number of stores and salespeople, it's all about making the sale, not making the responsible sale. At least I'm starting to see a lot fewer green iggys in the stores -- that may be a good sign.

[Kara]

I have retics, alligators & Burms AND do this for a living, but absolutely believe that a large percentage of folks who buy them do so as an impulse - especially for gators & Burms. Considering the number of donated/dumped animals we take in each year, the only species that rival Burms are green iguanas & red-eared sliders. Fortunately we don't get as many gators, but still have more dumped on us by people saying "it just got too big" than I'd like to see.

K

Pardon me, but the sellers don't warn the buyer of what they're getting into?
there's a pet store here called "Wild Cargo".
I came in to see if he had any female ball pythons or sale ...
He tries talking me into buying a Reticulated Python ...

This is how our conversation bascially went -
Seller: How about this Reticulated Python, only $60.
Me: Umm ... I don't want to be eaten.
Seller: What do you mean?
Me: Well, they get massive ...
Seller: This ones still a baby.

Sadly, but truely ... reptile dealers don't make a buck by warning their buyers how dangerous or large their animals get, 90 percent of the time.

So you can't blame this all on impluse buyers, seller have a good hand in this. :shock:

Actually "Blink" - you'd be surprised how many people DO screen. We certainly don't go handing out retics & burms to everyone who comes into our retail store wanting one. You'd be amazed how many people are turned off to cute little turtles once they see the $200+ setup required to keep the animal healthy.

Granted, not nearly enough sellers do this to put a dent in the problem, but ultimately the responsibility for thorough research PRIOR to getting an animal DOES rest on the BUYER. Nobody is holding a gun to their head and saying "hey you have to buy this giant snake."
.

K

[Marla]

Kara, I doubt Blink meant -- and I certainly didn't -- that you or many other specialty, boutique, or small-business pet stores or vendors are irresponsibly pushing sales to make a quick buck. Most of the problems, I think, are with large chain stores (typically with undertrained employees), though I could show you examples of both an excellent store and a store that should never carry live animals among the small businesses in my general area.

All that said, you are absolutely right that the ultimate responsibility rests with the buyer -- caveat emptor is at the core of capitalism. The problem is not so much that the salespeople don't try to talk someone out of buying a purchase they've decided on, but that they will neglect to include essential information or even outright lie when trying to persuade a potential buyer. It's a dishonest business practice.

To give an analogy, let's say Susie goes to the doctor because she has seasonal allergies that are bothering her, and she believes the doctor can provide her with a prescription that will suit her needs from among the many recent allergy remedies she's seen advertised. It's one thing if Susie comes in and insists that she wants a prescription for "Allergone" and the doctor indulges her. It's quite another if the doctor prescribes "Allergone" for her because their pharmaceutical rep brings him cooler prizes than the rep from "Sneeznomo" and doesn't bother to check that she is taking a blood pressure med that is dangerous in combination with the allergy med. In that case, most of us would rightly place a significant portion of the blame on the doctor, even though Susie is perfectly capable of checking the web site or requesting documentation from either her doctor or pharmacist that clearly says not to combine those meds and should be an informed consumer.

[Kara]

Kara, I doubt Blink meant -- and I certainly didn't -- that you or many other specialty, boutique, or small-business pet stores or vendors are irresponsibly pushing sales to make a quick buck. Most of the problems, I think, are with large chain stores (typically with undertrained employees), though I could show you examples of both an excellent store and a store that should never carry live animals among the small businesses in my general area.

All that said, you are absolutely right that the ultimate responsibility rests with the buyer -- caveat emptor is at the core of capitalism. The problem is not so much that the salespeople don't try to talk someone out of buying a purchase they've decided on, but that they will neglect to include essential information or even outright lie when trying to persuade a potential buyer. It's a dishonest business practice..

Trust me - I don't disagree with what you're saying at all. My point is that it's so disheartening to see how many people jump headfirst into buying an animal w/o doing a lick of research. Then when they go to a misinformed/money-hungry vendor, well, it's just adding fuel to the fire. Guess I'm just kind of venting frustration here, since I know how hard a lot of people DO work to educate potential buyers, however, for every person that does know what they're getting into prior to getting a particular animal, there are 10 more who don't have a clue. I mean, you probably wouldn't go out & buy a chainsaw w/o a decent working knowledge of how to operate one - it just amazes me that people think other living things are A) harmless because they looked so cute & cool on Animal Planet, or B) disposable because you can buy them for $25. And then, the majority of the time vendors get blamed for a buyer's lack of knowledge, no matter how much or how little help they offered the customer in the first place. While vendors are largely responsible, I hate seeing people make them the scapegoat as an excuse for not doing homework prior to purchasing an animal.


The best solution is obviously a combination of better educated buyers & sellers both...hey, we're all allowed to dream, right?

GRRRR!

K

[Marla]

The best solution is obviously a combination of better educated buyers & sellers both...hey, we're all allowed to dream, right?

GRRRR!

Absolutely, if we can combine that with a conscience on the parts of both as well. I would love to see that be the rule in both hobby and industry.

In the meantime, you and Kevin keep setting an example for other vendors and educating your customers, and the little guys like me will keep trying to inform consumers we encounter in stores or online and reporting negligent or abusive vendors, and rescuers like Rusty will keep doing the best they can to save the animals that are neglected, abused, or abandoned. Fight the good fight and hope the net result is improvement. d:

[Blink]

I think massive snakes like burms and retics should require a permit to keep. Just like venomous animals are required for permits.
When getting the permit, it should warn them of keeping the snakes that size.

[Schlyne]

I think it would help educate the public a lot if they could acutally see adults in many species. I was never interested in keeping a burm anyway, but having seen a 13 foot long albino burm (which was goregous), there's definately no way I could provide space for one. (And btw, if you ever get a chance to see Jim Nesci's show, you should see it anyway..it's cool. That's where I saw the 13 foot long albino burm in person).

Most of the time people can read the stats (for those that read) and not realize really how big, or how heavy that animal is going to be.