As requested I have uploaded several files which show some of our operations.
These files...
breeders-rm-1-2.jpg : a picture of one of our individual rooms which house our breeder's caging. These cages are 2' x 3' x 1 1/2'. They house either 3 females or 1 male. Their bedding is changed monthly. They are feed insects in the morning, and mixed greens with Nature Zone Bearded Dragon Bites in the afternoon. They are illuminated with UVB fluorescent lighting. The room is kept at between 85 and 94 F .
hatchlings-1.jpg: The hatchlings are kept in polyethylene tubs. They are misted with water every morning, followed by being fed live insects. In the afternoon they are fed a mixture of chopped greens and Nature Zone Baby Bearded Dragon Bites. Water is provides at all times
hold-back-rm-2-1.jpg : The hold backs are housed in larger polypropylene tubs. They are feed insects in the morning, and mixed greens with Nature Zone Bearded Dragon Bites in the afternoon.
cricket-rm-1.jpg: Because of the volume needs of our facility we breed our own crickets, superworms, and other feed insects. This allows us to have all sizes which our various sized individuals require.
I would have uploaded more, but the fauna classified limit is 4. Much of our operation is proprietary knowledge, but I shall add a operations gallery to our web site, which is currently undergoing updates.
I would like to address a couple of issues. First the ability of someone to malign another out of malice without fact or proof. Elizabeth Minton, by her own by-line (TIRED OF PEOPLES CRAP ) is a person who is a glass half full person. She sees wrong where ever she looks. A psychological maximum is that the first person to accuse some one of theft is a thief. The reason is that, that is the way they look at the world. Elizabeth will find difficulties where ever she is, because she will create it.
Her description of Animal Specialties and her dismissal are of her own fabrication. She was dismissed, during her first week of orientation because of failure to follow instruction and because her schedule did not fit with our full time work schedule. When we terminated her we chose to highlight the work schedule issue because we did not see any reason to increase her distress in loosing a job. While she worked with us she spent much of her time playing with the animals rather than performing her job. She spent excessive time during her work hours texting on her cell phone. When asked about this, she said she had to try and find a home for some kittens. At the end of her work period, with more than 8 minutes remaining, she was encountered wandering the facilities. She was asked what she was doing and she stated..."I am through with my work and waiting to clock out". Rather than find additional work she saw fit to simply wait out the clock. We do not wish to denigrate Ms. Minton. She was dismissed by phone on Saturday and told to pick up her check on Monday, the first workday. There was no delay in providing her termination check. She was paid with a company check with normal deductions. We use a secondary accounting firm (Intuit-- Quickbooks) to handle all of our company payroll details. We are not a private business, but a corporation with more than 12 employees. Ms Minton, who worked for less than 7 days has little understanding or knowledge of our operation. She was somebody who feed our hatchlings. Hopefully this young girl will develop and find that self value is best accomplished by hard work rather than trying to find blame with others. We wish her well.
To be clear Animal Specialties is a large commercial reptile breeding facility. We provide many reptile wholesalers throughout the United States with Bearded Dragons for resale. I posted one response from a satisfied retail customer simply because that is one of the few direct retail sales we have made through advertising on the internet.
As to the condition of our animals. It is in our own best interest to have our animals in the best of health. We breed Bearded Dragons to produce hatchlings, year round, for sale to established live reptile distributors throughout the United States. We sell direct to the public at only a few local California reptile shows. Our primary customers are distributors, which will not accept nor continue to buy animals which are not in good health.
As with any production facility we occasionally have individuals which have deformities or injuries incurred from cage mates. Some of our employees, out of compassion for the animals, adopt these animals as their personal pets. Just because an animal has a deformity does not mean that it can not become a lovable pet for some one. I personally challenge the suitability of some one to become a "vet" if they lack compassion for those not "perfect".
Just because an individual has an injury which has left it with out a toe or foot, does not mean that it can not be a good breeder. The loss of an appendage due to a misplaced bite does not affect its DNA. One of my first Bearded Dragons, "Gimpy", was a male that I was given by a friend. It had lost its left hind foot due to a bite when it was a juvenile. Whether it was an intentional bite or simply a misplaces bite directed towards a cricket, doesn't matter. The lizard was missing its' foot. The rear leg heeled and the lizard lived a normal life. Gimpy lived to be more than 11 years old and sired several litters!.
We have a large facility, more than 10 individual rooms, over 10,000 sq feet. All climate controlled with air conditioners for the summer and heaters for the winter. We go through 8,000 lbs of bedding a month, 100 cases of greens a week, 200,000 feeder insects a week. The animal'
s water is changed every day, they are fed twice a day. We have an infirmary where those with injuries, or other problems are housed and treated. Many of our employees have degrees in biology with an interest in herpetoculture.
Ms. Minton was hired because of her professed interest in becoming a "vet". But is soon became clear that she was not qualified for the position.
We normally do not get involved in discussing personality issues and usually refrain from responding to such attacks as Ms Minton undertook. It is only because of the requests of others to state our side that I have posted this message. I hope that it puts this issue to rest.
Thanks for the opportunity
Paul Benson
Animal Specialties
BEWARE- ANIMAL SPECAILTIES- chico california by Elizabeth Minton
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