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I've seen it first hand at local venomous expos. Baby gaboon vipers for $35, baby puff adders for $25 and people who barely have any business owning a corn snake, muchless something potentially deadly, walking out of the building with them without so much as a word from the vendor except 'Thanks for your money!'.
I happened to mention to one vendor once that I did a little snake rehab, he showed me a sick Naja nigricollis and despite my insistance that I had no experience with elapids he assured me I would be fine and could rehab it and he'd sell it to me real cheap. Needless to say I didn't go home with it, but still - if I had been ignorant and arrogant, I may have. And could have ended up blind or dead for my stupidity.
Are there vendors who mislead people (or just leave out certain truths) to make a buck? There certainly are. Is it buyer beware? It damnwell sure is. Many stores sell things that could be potentially harmful if put in the hands of someone dumb - they don't spend all their time screening customers and talking things over with them to make sure they're adequately prepared to purchase such a thing.
Really though, in the end, if the venomous community doesn't police itself, someone else will - and the result most likely won't be to any of our liking. I enjoy the fact that I have the right to purchase a mamba, if I should want one and would prefer that all our rights are not taken away by a few greedy people and a few ignorant people unwittingly working as a team. Thankfully it is not even close to the majority, but it is a concern all venomous dealers should think about.
Adam Dawson
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