"New" member intro

Hi, all! I've been a registered member since 2006 though I really only became active two weeks ago.

Right after I joined Fauna in 2006, we had an electrical house fire. We were displaced for 9 months and I lost my entire collection of herps (some didn't make it; others did but because we had to live in a hotel and then a rental apartment, I couldn't keep them and had to give them to a local reptile rescue). At the time, I was breeding corns and I also had a couple GTPs and two small boas - over 40 snakes in all, plus a Savannah monitor, breeding pair of beardies, two chameleons, two tanks of dart frogs and a tank of red-eyed green tree frogs. I found out the hard way that live animals, while legally considered property, are not covered for care nor loss under typical homeowner policies. So I was on my own with an emergency vet bill of $8k to treat the survivors.

It's been a couple years of dealing with corrupt contractors and dishonest insurance reps as well as intensive therapy for my son, who developed severe PTSD after the fire. I recently started to get "the itch" for herps again, which reminded me of the existence of this site. Diddling around on Fauna, I was amazed to find that I was still a registered member!

I'm (very slowly!) getting going in herps again but this time around I'm being a lot more selective about the animals I choose to keep and breed. I prefer to have a handful of high-quality animals rather than several less-expensive ones of unknown and/or questionable breeding. Also, my husband is somewhat freaked out by the fact that I am now "known" to animal control as an exotics breeder (apparently the firemen were frightened by all the snakes, so I'm on the radar). It'll be a slow process of several years starting back up but I hope to have a legitimate, respectable herp business eventually.

It's good to have rediscovered this community!

Long-winded Lynn

Greetings Lynn, and welcome (back)!!

Originally Posted by timebider

Also, my husband is somewhat freaked out by the fact that I am now "known" to animal control as an exotics breeder (apparently the firemen were frightened by all the snakes, so I'm on the radar). It'll be a slow process of several years starting back up but I hope to have a legitimate, respectable herp business eventually.
It's good to have rediscovered this community!
Long-winded Lynn

In light of the event, (which I'm truly sorry for), the visual on that is just funny--big, bad firemen run into fire, but get frightened by the reptiles!
You are up & about early--glad to see you holding true to your word. I take it you've been reading A LOT, huh? I've already sent off my emails to help with the cause. Hopefully there are enough of us to keep bills/legislation like this from passing!

Welcom back, I hope it is all you remember and more.

Thanks, John, Troi and Jerry!

Troi, I admit, I can't prevent a major eye-roll whenever I recall the AC woman explaining that they were called by the firefighters because those big, strapping men were scared of the snakes...that were all hiding in secured tanks...

I am thinking of showing up in person to deliver my letters. You never see the congresspeople, but it makes an impression on the staff when you feel strongly enough to go to the offices.