I see many people here talking about becoming or working toward becoming a breeder. I think is great if you enjoy doing that, and by no means I am trying to critizise anyone here. But I have to ask, as a breeder, what are you doing or plan to do to ensure your reptiles go to the appropiate people and do not end up abandoned, abused, or over crowding areas becuase they have been released in the wild? Do some of you keep track or plan to keep track of where your animals are and how are they doing? I have seen for cats and dogs for sale, contracts that make the person purchasing return the animal to the breeder in case they can no longer have it, or could be sued by breach of contrac. Is that something you are considering? A few weeks ago it was an eye opener for me to see the arising problem with snakes being released in the Everglades. I also witness one of the worst years of euthanasia for cats becuase the population of stray cats what so our of Control, Animal Shelters from even outsied states could not keep up with the increased number of them sent to this shelters. I know that there are some respectable breeders here, and out there, but for all of you who are planning, or are starting to become breeders, is this something you considered? I hope you are for the sake of those gorgeous, inocent babies that you will sell in the future!
I will happily take back any animal I sell. But that does not mean I will buy back any animal I sell. So yeah, if someone wants to *give* back that $2000 Albino Ball then by all means I will take it back. Yet if they decide a month or two down the road that money could have been better spent elsewhere and want their money back it aint going to happen. I have a 48 hour refund policy on my animals. I have no idea what conditions people keep their animals in. I can not risk giving a refund on an animal that may have been exposed to disease, parasites, poor husbandry, etc for weeks on end. Every person I sell to I talk to if I do not already know them. If I feel they are not capable of properly taking care of the animal I will not sell it to them in the first place. I also do not sell to minors. I also make it clear to any person that buys from me, or folks that dont for that matter, that I am more than happy to answer questions. That is a responsibility that all breeders should take.
Only if the parent is directly involved will I sell to minors. Meaning the sale is done with the parent and in the parents name. There are many times a minor will get an animal without parents knowledge or consent. Then when the parent finds out they are miffed and want to return the animal. Also due to my terms of service, which is not legally binding with a minor. Then you have to consider that I ship a snake to a minor, he has it for a few days before the parent finds out. Then they want to return it for a refund. If they do not properly ship that snake back it is certain to die in transit.
yea i understand that, i thought you were coming from the angle that minors cant properly care for BPs.... i understand now :mrgreen:
I feel there is a big difference when a purchase is made from a breeder than from a pet store. I would wager that the burm problem in the glades is due more to purchases from local pet stores. Florida has been a "dumping ground" for many exotic species for more than a century. Although the pythons are a problem, I doubt they could ever cause the environmental damage the malelucca, (or army corps of engineers) has. Oscars have been such a problem that we had to import peacock bass to control them. Brazilian Pepper has also inundated the glades. Populations of iguanas, monkeys, cuban anoles, cuban treefrogs exist, just to name a few, but they seem to lack the media or government attention that the "dangerous" species have. Don't forget the Nile Monitors. Some species have also been introduced purposefully to try and prevent the decline of native species, with varying success. The Florida panther population has been declining for years. Pumas were introduced to prevent extinction. Now the varient survivors are nolonger pure Florida panthers. Consider this, "native" and " exotic" are terms relative to human perception. What will be "native" or "exotic" in 10,000 or 100,000 years? To answer your question, we screen our customers. We only ship same day service to the US and Canada. Minors are delt with as Shrap has mentioned, but I will say that there are several out there who have more husbandry savy than some adults we have spoken with. Our situation gives us the luxury of controlling, as best we can, who receives our babies as our livelyhoods don't depend on selling animals. We do not have a "first right of refusal" clause in our terms but would take an animal back if someone could not care for it. Craig
