Who Can Be Trusted

I know a few dealers too, that breed some of their own as well as purchase animals from others, and occasionally even they get 'taken' by shady people. It's just a sad reality of life that there are dishonest business people out there. Always have been, always will be. Fortunately with the progress of modern technology there's a place like this BOI in which information can be gleaned about both good and bad dealers/breeders. As discouraging as it can seem sometimes, by doing a little homework here you can at least narrow down the likelyhood of running into a bad deal. And, as has already been exhibited, people are willing to share information about others they've had good business relations.

When you get yourself involved with living organisms there's always the fact that even under careful husbandry nature still can have a hand in 'survival of the fittest'. When we breed our snakes, aside from the few slugs or premies that come along, we nurture and pamper the rest that make it past their first shed. The reluctant feeders we persist in getting to feed (occaisionally to the point of force feeding) and one way or another get them 'kick started' into a hopefully long and happy life. I have no statistics specific for most snakes species, but in the wild I'd venture that the majority of babies in any clutch don't survive the first year. Those that are weak feeders either starve or get picked off by the next crow or coyote. If one or two individuals out of the litter actually make it to maturity and reproduce they're lucky. In captivity we tend to break the rules a bit. A weak animal that otherwise would have perished not only survives due to our intervention but can be allowed to reproduce and in some cases pass along weak genes. Where am I going with all this? Well, I'm just trying to say that even for the best breeders and most honest dealers stuff happens with the animals that's just out of anyone's control.

I know the majority of people here are already aware of this. I just wanted to express this for the benefit of any new people that may come along after their snake, that they had for a number of weeks, died without obvious signs of illness or injury. Some may figure it's automatically gotta be the breeder/dealer's fault. Depending on how the business warrants their product will determine whether the buyer has any recourse or not. Just be sure to read and understand the conditions of the sale and if you have any questions ask the dealer. If you get straight answers, that's a good sign. If you get a bunch of double-talk, be careful!

I was just listing people who bred boas in response to the initial inquiry. Here are some other great people who are not boa people.

SW Wisc Herps, Hawkeye herps, John Manser, Rob and Amy Zerkle, Don Hamper, turtle town, best exotics, Hopyard herps, chad fuchs and many many more that I can't think of due to my lack of sleep. Evan

i would like to add to the list of good guys here
jeff clark (rainbowboas)

kevin and charlotte barnett of ectothermics (locality boas pythons and a few other things)

steven and kelli hammack of H.I.S.S. (boas pythons ,colubrids and geckos)

mark kenedy of mark kenedy reptiles (boas and pythons)

gus renfro of rio bravo reptiles (locality specidic boas and i believe a few other odds and ends)

hillary webb (chondros and ball pythons)

don shores (colubrids)

john cherry (colubrids)

joe dembinski

thats all i can think of right now pertaining to snakes. i have a whole other list for geckos =o)

kelli and steven hammack of H.I.S.S (again)
k and n reptiles

intense herpetoculture, justyn and marcy

tribal propogation, laura and brian

monte meyer of power geckos

dana and loren pennebaker of sundial reptiles

tim tytle

robert lee

karen toms


these are people i have personally delt with and would recommend in a heartbeat

People who have always done me right.
Central Florida Reptiles
Len Krysko
Wall to Wall Reptiles
Dan Johnson
Doug Beckwith
All good people.

more names not mentioned yet..

casey and darla hulse- natures spirit reptiles boas and dragons
these people are awesome.

roger holtzmeyer in north carolina- also very nice and honest man

matt underwood

napa valley snakes-steven emerick

ecothermz - no california-justin higgs

allboas.com - gray

ritchie luna- ritchies reptiles

alan hall

its only six am here so im still thinking.lol
there are so many honest people that i adore and have dealt with in the past i have trouble listing them all.
i have to think of all the snakes ive had and put the pieces together.

john nguyen - boavoyage

of course greg riso..he is already mentioned in previous posts

sunbaked serpants- shawn gray

ken harbart

geesh i could go on forever..lol

Basically Boas(Mike and Steph)
Alex Hue
Kris Egan(Iowa)
Tom Chambers
Rich Ihle
Frank Martin
Justin Higgs
Ben seigel
Alex Smith
John martino
Stuart (pythons.net)

All great to buy from!!