John W. Lucas (BAD GUY!!)

Hello Everyone,

I have thought long & hard about posting this message. I really would NOT like to ruin someone's livelihood or try to stop them from something they love to do. We're not looking to trash talk or steal business, that's a joke! All we want to do is warn people! Unethical people or BAD GUYS should not be selling anything online. Chameleons still have a reputation of dying, which is not true, if you find the right breeder.

CHAMELEON PARADISE AKA John Lucas is a liar! He sold us 5 "Virgin" Blue Bar Ambilobe Chameleons sometime in 2005. 4 of them died within 3 weeks! The other one laid her eggs & then died shortly. The eggs were crawling with little white worms (parasites) & soon perished. They all had "The Shakes" & bone disease. When we told him about it via email, the only response we got was "dumb ass". He did not try to make amends in any way, shape or form. Instead we got insults. Very nice after spending over a thousand dollars! Now that he is selling Andapa's again, I have to speak out for all breeders in this business. He gives all Chameleons a bad reputation! We are trying to make this pet mainstream & find them impossible to kill if they are healthy! We have even tried to give him advice & called US dumb asses! BEWARE, BEWARE!!

Thank goodness we had them quarantined! We've ordered many Chameleons from many top breeders & give all of the following a big A+: The Chameleon Company, Kammerflage Kreations, Pam's Chams, Chameleon Corral, Pat's Precious Chams, & LLL Reptile. We have also bought from private breeders with Screameleon bloodlines. All of these Chams are thriving, laying eggs, & enjoying life! I have a hard time bad mouthing anybody, but my conscience just could not rest!! I’m sure he's going to hit us up with threats & more insults. That seems to be his style! We have our records & receipts in order, we'll be waiting...

Sincerely yours,
John R. Smith Jr.

Can you post any emails [with the headers] and his contact info? someone should make him aware of this thread. How did you pay? Did you try to do a chargeback once you realized these were bad animals?

white worms? on the eggs? I bet any money they were phorid fly larvae. Bad, eggs especially, will attract the filthy little buggers. They look kinda like large fruit flies - sorta like the hydei flies. Their maggots are a lot bigger, and just love chameleon eggs that are not in sealed containers. I've heard stories of people opening up a seemingly perfect looking egg to find it FILLED with maggots.

I can't speak about John's animals or service, but I've never heard of females laying wormy eggs.

I can not speak anything about John's animals, service, or buisness but I have seen female Chameleons lay eggs that were covered with worms. Of course these females were infested with parasites themselves and the parasites transferred to the eggs when being laid. I am not saying this is the case in this situation but rather what I have personally seen in my years of Chameleon care and breeding.

John,
Whether the eggs were good or bad when laid, the maggots came from somewhere else other than the female laying them. I also think that you know that, and am only mentioning it, as Eric did, for the benefit of the new hobbyist. It almost goes without saying that the laying of good eggs by a female chameleon is reliant on her husbandry, genetics, and diet in the several months leading up to ovulation, but there are many variables there, and it is next to impossible to isolate one as the causative deficiency. I thank you for the plug, but with regard to all the other issues, and I have no reason to doubt your experiences, but there's always more meat-on-the-bone if you include email exchanges, etc. Hope all other things chameleon are going well.

I did a deal with John a while back and all went smoothly. Very quick and accurate email replies, shipped out the chameleon right away and gave me a good price. An over all good experience. While she never bred for me, she was very healthy and she is still going strong to this day. I would not hesitate to do business with him again.

-Adam Weglarz.
Snail Tail Inc.

Mr. Smith,
Were these WC or CB Chams? I notice that on his web site Mr Lucas offers "a full 2 week (14 day) 100% health and satisfaction guarantee on all our captive bred chameleons".
If these were WC all you got was a 48 hour live arrival guarantee. Likely because WCs are often in poor shape from the get go after the stress and often poor care they have experienced getting from the wild to you.
Could you post email exchanges to help clear up some of the questions regarding this transaction? They really help and without them it boils down to an unfounded accusation.
Not doubting your word or meaning to offend but in order to help future people checking this guy out on the BOI it would be prudent for you to provide some proof of your accusations.
John E Dove

He sold us 5 "Virgin" Blue Bar Ambilobe Chameleons sometime in 2005. 4 of them died within 3 weeks! The other one laid her eggs & then died shortly. The eggs were crawling with little white worms (parasites) & soon perished. They all had "The Shakes" & bone disease.

Ok, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but am confused about a couple things. If you bought virgin females, then the eggs that were laid by the female that died shortly thereafter were, in fact, infertile. The statement that they "perished" may be slightly misleading since they weren't viable to begin with.
If in fact, you actually bred the last remaining female to one of your own males, (and I can't imagine why you would do that given the deaths of the first 4 females and the statement that they all had MBD!) and she then laid fertilized eggs that perished, the statement, "Thank goodness we had them quarantined!" may also be misleading.

It seems to me if I received chams with obvious signs of MBD, I would take photos and contact the seller IMMEDIATELY. Did you do so? Or did you wait until after they died weeks later to make contact?

We have our records & receipts in order, we'll be waiting...

As already requested, it would be helpful to post those receipts, records, even photos to this thread, especially since the purchase was "sometime in 2005" and you waited until the 9th month of 2006 to even post your dissatisfaction.

I am not questioning your expertise, your experience, the outcome of this particular transaction or the cause of parasitic eggs or possible MBD. Just looking for clarification. I've also never purchased from you or from John Lucas.

Hello All,

Yes Adam, I did a bunch of deals with John & they all went smoothly (all purchased via credit card). His Ambilobe Blue Bar bunch "Picasso" virgin females were in absolutely terrible condition and I had no idea!

At the time, I was a new hobbyist. I thought 'the shakes' were due to shipping & would go away AND the MBD was a characteristic of the Picasso Line, it was slight. Silly me! The one female showed dark gravid coloring & laid a clutch of eggs that perished in two weeks (worms, maggots, and then mold). Eric, the eggs must have been infertile or uncalcified. I thought she came bred. My only male was Hawaiian Punch from Jim at Chameleon Company (doing fine, he is fat & healthy), has Sired many clutches, but not that one! I like to wait at least for 10mos old, regardless of size.

I try to buy the best CB & WC Chameleons from breeders with integrity & honesty that want to build credibility with fellow hobbyists. I let him know what happened & how I felt and got no reply from him. Then out of nowhere, I magically, got insults via email thru 'untraceable unknown senders'. I knew whom they were from; it showed me the character I was dealing with. Everything I bought from him in 2005 died in 3wks to a month or whatever. Very disappointing...

We have complete receipts & photos, everything intact. Private to us. I am just telling other hobbyists to be aware; Check references & do your homework. People like him, taught me patience. I was very trusting & got burned. My personal experience was not a good one. How is this an unfounded accusation?? Are we still allowed to speak our minds nowadays??

Laura B. You sound like a sharp tool to me!! In addition, I do not want to start a 'bicker'-fest & I know for a FACT! that he's had problems with other entities, which gives me much confidence to utilize my freedom of speech! And the great thing is, I can do it anytime I want. Power of the Consumer! In 2005, 2006 & beyond!

I wish John Lucas all the best. Enough said, it's over. I forgive him. Peace to all.


-John R. Smith JR

My husband and I purchased an unrelated pair of Ambilobes from Chameleon paradize a little over a year ago. They are beautiful chameleons. The transaction went smooth . I just emailed about a breeding question and he replied back immediately. Sandy England