LA Reptiles

I attend the Daytona show , is to reunite with some of these people. If your ever their, look me up, and I would be delighted to really introduce you to Tom Crutchfield , Hank Molt, Chris and Gene of course , and a whole host of other old timers . We do get together and we have a great time. That also includes Marshall Meyers, who is chief councel for PJAC. I met him when he was just starting his practice.

Well, It was certainly interesting to see people I thought were nice turn into sleazy slime because I want to help some poor guy out with his question. Since I have been threatened by one of the posters, Rosie, on this thread I am now inclined to reveal my entire rolodex of business contacts that I have accumulated since 1978. If you ever wanted to get into the reptile business, like Scales, or RK, or Jerry this may be your big chance. Stay tuned...............

"Stories about shipments of dc-10 planes specially rented to bring in 2,000 macaws, all sorts of monkeys, hundreds of reptiles, etc are just mind boggling." Mike B.

It`still done that way nothing`s changed except the destination. The buisness hasn`t changed. The animal game has always been dirty. Ernie Eison

Ernie,

Would you care to post any proof of your statements? Your post is utterly ridiculous as the animal game is not Dirty and is very well regulated and controlled now. Yes there are still some people that try and break the law but they will get caught sooner or later but that does not make the entire community "dirty".

let the webmaster know privately. I have a zero tolerance for these kinds of behaviour. Or let me know and I will put a stop to it. JERRY TRESSER

Bruce,

definitely inform Rich and Ken if someone has threatned you and post the information on here so everyone may see it. No matter how much a person disagrees there is no reason to make threats toward another.

Hello Mr. Tresser,

Well, I did indeed thought it was you! And you are indeed correct that my comment did not have a lot to do with this thread. However, I started this thread and when you made the comment that you was probably the only person on this site that could purchase from LA Reptile, you sounded like the "Mr. Tresser" that I remember speaking to 25 or 30 years ago! And I almost have to agree with the person that responded to your post with the comment about "Did you have to build your house with oversize doors so that your head would fit in?" In any case I don't want to attack you or really even continue with this conversation! At the time your actions simply confused me and ticked me off. I made a call to you and you brushed me off like a "mother-in-law", then less than two weeks later, you called me and was almost begging for my business. Go figure! But, let's please end this conversation on an upbeat thought! We all have bad "hours", "days", "weeks" and "months"! I have even had a number of bad "years"! I would even love the chance to chat with you if you care to do so on my dime! Take care.

Thank you.

David Rivers

so I am at a disadvantage about conversations I may have had with you 25 to 30 years ago. But apparently whatever I may have said influenced you enough not to forget my name nor the company. I generally never brush people off, I have always made it a policy to treat everyone with respect, and that was the way we ran our operation. If you were familiar with our business then I am sure you must have realized that the animal business was a hectic one. Especially for us. We had a very large operation and dealt with alot of people. If you felt that I slighted you in any way, then I must apologize because I dont make it a habit of providing an unnessary hardship to a potential customer or anyone else for that matter. Alot of things were happening during the turbulent 70s. I just may have been in one of those " dont bother me moods". Aside from having the reptile business, I was a NYC cop which also made me somewhat hyper. But even bringing this to my attention at this time, is fine with me and I apologize again for any inconvenience I may have caused.

Insofar as "building a house with oversized doors" are concerned. I make no excuse for building a business from nothing in 1964 to a large import operation like the one we had. When ever I post a thread that may relate to the "days of old" I happen to have alot to contribute. I was their at the beginning, I was directly involved in bringing in herps that had never been brought into the USA before for the pet trade, I was directly involved in the first International Reptile Dealers Assoc. , and I was directly involved in congressional hearings when impending legislation was looming around the corner in the 70s. If you are familiar with the business that we had, with the exception of yourself, I doubt you would hear any complaints about how we treated our customers.

I am very comfortable in my own shoes as to how we conducted our operation, and as I said I make no excuses if I attempt to provide some history as to how the business was "then", but their are some people on this site who seem to think that either I am making these things up or I have a swollen head as you seem to have implied, and that is where I have to draw the line.

I can substantiate everything I have stated here with articles that I have saved from the trade magazines that were around then. Although it may appear big headed of me to mention that I may have access to certain importers whereas other do not, its not done as a lie or to imply anything other than a fact. As a point of information the reason I have this accessability is because of the way I have treated those very same people with the respect that I would accept. These things are done out of courtesy and respect to me. I appreciate it, and I dont abuse the opportunities that it has given me. They know it, and I want you to understand that as well. Respectfully, JERRY

This isn`t the place for this but since I was asked .......Hi Rob , What kind of proof ? Stories about the wheeler dealers in the reptile world.Guys sticking it to each other that type of thing? Or stuff about animals all piled up dying or dead in dirty cages and this most of the time as the direct result of guys getting way more animals then they can handle.Are you saying you don`t see this anymore ?Or do you consider this clean and well regulated? C`mon.I`d like to see you prove otherwise. How about stories of seeing animals suffering at exporters facilities under horrible conditions in other countrys. This still go `s on all the time.TO much.I go to these places and see it first hand.You have to tell me Rob have you ever gone out into primary forest in South America and seen first hand how Macaw`s are collected. How they chop one of their wings or their tail off and let them spiral down a hundred feet to the ground?They do this to thousands of them and stick them on charter planes to ship them to the Netherlands.Just like they used to send them here in the good old days. Not to mention what some of the other animals have to go thru.This happens every summer in Suriname and Guyana. This is just a little of the crap I've seen down there and other places.It`s about as cruel as it gets ABOUT.Your saying thats not dirty? I never said the whole community was dirty thats you and you alone talking .I wouldn`t couldn`t make a complete blanket statment about it threres not one that can be made.I try to see the good in everyone and always hope that things get better.Like anything else there's good and bad but in the animal business the bad is the worst because the bad comes at the expense of living creatures and yes that part of the buisness is dirty always has been nobody can honestly say different. It`s not all nightmares at least on the Suriname side of things a few guys are trying to do it right down there and it might all get shut down anyhow some of the bigger guys if they can be called that tell me they think it might have 5yrs left but I think that story`s been going around for ten years so we`ll see.Bottom line is it will never be clean.Tell me how doe`s this compare to what you've seen in your travels maybe you can provide a little proof about how clean things are?I`d like your perspective.Things you`ve seen in other countrys and here. I truly believe that for the most part in the reptile game guys don`t start out as bad guys and at heart their not .They start because they do love the animals. Who would be dumb enough to go into reptiles to get rich ?But one thing leads to another they get in over their heads their depts get out of control they start robing Peter to pay Paul this that and the other thing and then it gets ugly.Some guys are just bad.This is all over the buisness.I have to disagree with you Rob I feel that your saying that the industry is now clean and well regulated is what `s utterly ridiculous.Very nieve. The reptile business is one where you can get punished for trying to do the right thing .By that I mean there are guys who take the time and HUGE expense to do what is necessary to properly house large numbers of animals and try to provide the best care for their animals these guys put their live stock first and for their efforts some of them end up so far down thier never going to get out from under it`s a crime that it ends up this way.It really is. And surly not a sign of a well regulated industry. Clean and well regulated to me means none of the above nonsense happens but as it stands it still now happens way to much. The reptile buisness is still very bootleg even when compared to other aspects of the animal world. Here there and everywhere. In my opinion. Im not preaching or being judmental or anything just giving my honest oppinion guys do what they feel they have to do it`s a tough racket.Some right some wrong. Ernie Eison

Great post Ernie.

BTW, I am not sure why people are so intent on getting animals from LA Reptiles. I was at a dealer's warehouse just a couple of days ago and, although his setups were suffecient, I would say about 75% of what he had looked like crap or was dead or dying. When asked who his supplier was, he said, "LA Reptile". Yeah, they're prices may be the best on the planet but you coudn't pay me to take the animals I saw at that warehouse.

Just my opinion.