Michael Schwartz, michaels2408

This is an info post, but I feel strongly about ethical and legal keeping of venomous reptiles, so I want to share my experience with this potential buyer.

I received a PM in response to my ad for Trimeresurus insularis from Michael Schwartz, michaels2408, yesterday. He told me he lives in Georgia but has family local to me. I asked to see his exotic venomous permit, as Georgia requires one to keep any non-indigenous venomous reptile.
He responded that getting a permit is out, as the DNR is too difficult to deal with. He's kept indigenous venomous. He said "and the search continues", which suggests to me that he is going to keep searching for an exotic viper to buy ILLEGALLY. At any rate, he was aware that he needed a permit to purchase the snake he was inquiring about from me. I urged him to apply for the permit and to do things legally, but I wanted to warn other venomous vendors that this individual does not have the necessary permits. I would hate to see someone get in trouble for selling to him.

He's looking for either an Atheris squamigera, or Trimeresurus. He IS legally allowed to keep species that are indigenous to Georgia.

Again, I am not saying at this point that he IS a bad guy, but the interaction raised some red flags for me and I am concerned that he will try to continue to buy animals he is not allowed to have.

I have attached screenshots of the PMs. There is no sensitive information in them, such as addresses, phone numbers, etc.

Thank you for posting this on the BOI, Kimberly. This person certainly is an unethical buyer, thank you for sticking to your guns and insisting on legal paperwork. It's people like this who are a black mark on the entire community. You could always report this to the Georgia Conservation Law Division of the Department of Natural Resources. I'm sure the wardens would love to visit given it's a slow time of year for them. The Georgia DNR have been nothing but reasonable for me (granted, I don't own hots, but I work closely with all aspects of DNR), and I suspect he never even attempted to get a permit.