Wanting more herps. Went to a Repticon here in dallas/ennis today...
 

My man & I left with nothing. I refused to purchase any animals because I saw that Repticon allows non-CB (wildcaught?) & that just seems so damn risky to me. Even if I bought a CB I'd still be terrified it caught some sort of illness just from being out & about at the show. Paranoid? Yeah, I am. I did really enjoy the show though. I must have gone to the S&S Exotics table three times because they had such awesome lil critters & the salesman there was so nice.

Anyways, I don't know what to get next. I just restarted my collection after a 3 year break. I currently only have 2 bearded dragons (normals) & a male boa constrictor (hypo jungle het albino). I'm thinking a female hypo boa, pastel ball python, 2 citrus bearded dragons, white trees frogs, &... ???

Now here's my dilemma. There's not many shows/expos this year & the only near by exotic pet shop has jerky employees that I refuse to give business to. So I'll have to order online. I've never had an animal shipped to me... it is a huge risk to their health? I'm worried the stress would kill them. But then again, I'm paranoid. I'm not really worried about getting scammed because I'll do my homework first. It's just the health hazard that's making me uneasy.

Tell me what experiences y'all have had with having reptiles shipped? Good or bad.

If your looking for more reptiles, you could try Craigslist. There are always breeders posting in the Dallas area, if you would prefer to stay local that is. As for shipping, I have had very little problems with it, aside from a few delays there's really nothing to it. That's both shipped to an shipping out, as long as you follow the general guidelines of course.

Lorelai,

There are many of us who live in Texas. One reason to go to expos is to meet and greet, and get to know some of the Texas folk who you might later purchase from. There are several reptile groups around and they can give you ideas on who to contact for local purchases.

That being said, if you check out reps here on the BOI (I think S&S might be there) you can see which vendors have a history of safe shipping and healthy critters and which sell sickly animals.

If your local store employees are unsatisfactory, perhaps you could talk with the shop owner. Part of having a good environment in life is stepping up and doing something about bad environments.

You'll find good and bad shipping practices represented in the BOI. It's great that you're willing to do your research. Good shippers will safely get you a healthy animal. They'll check the weather en route, use heat/cold packs as needed, and take all precautions to make sure the animal is only in the box overnight. They'll give you a tracking number, and expect to hear from you when the animal gets there. Yes, it's stressful, but the stress can be minimized.
As far as shows, you'll find vendors at every show that bring in wild caught animals, even if they claim otherwise. Just use common sense. Really, is anyone breeding cane toads? Conversely, nobody is out catching crested geckos or pied snakes. Again, spend a lot of time looking and asking questions, and you'll get a pretty good feel for how folks operate. Glad you're jumping back in! Best of luck!

Noelle

Dallas is a big city. I am sure you have local herb club. They usually have month show/sales for the breeders. If not you could drive to another city in TX to pick up. Most breeders will work with you. Good luck on you search.