CHAMELEON CONDO ====Great====

To Whom It May Concern:

I just need to take rthe time to tell all my fellow herpers that those 16x16x30 screen cages that Cham Condo sells are the best. Within minutes I had a lightweight, sturdy and visually appealing enclosure for my R. ciliatus colony.

GREAT WORK CHAMELEON CONDO!!!!!!!!!

Travis Cossette
Gainesville, FL

I just did a cash/trade deal with Mike from Chameleon Condo. He's honest and up front about the animal description, and it's condition when I called him on the phone before coming over, and he's very pleasant to talk to and to do business with. I will not be hesistate to do business with Mike in the future.

John

Did you go and get that Sharp Strain male he was advertising. If not did you see it, and is it in fact a sharp. I would be interested in that snake myself...lol

I've also done business in the past with Mike. He is a stand up guy and I wouldn't hesitate to call for for whatever it is you need. He's definately a good guy in the business!

Here are just a couple interesting Fauna threads that shows a little more insight into Chameleon Condo:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...hameleon+condo

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...hameleon+condo

Chameleon Condo, or should I say the Chameleon Scalper isn't a good guy to do business with bottom line. There are a ton more stories about the slimy moves good old "honest" Mike Klein has pulled but I think these two threads sum it up just fine. He might be able to give you a good deal on a cage but remember that you don't have to water, feed or maintain any requirements of a cage. Be careful if you plan on getting any animals from this guy and be doubly sure to get everything in writing via email because he loves to push a deal though over the phone to insure there isn't a paper trail to come back and bite him in the rear. This guy has laid low in the animal business for a while because he has worn out his welcome by ripping people off amoung the Chameleon community. He has cheated, lied and manipulated to make a buck at the expense of the animals in his care and it shows. Mike Klein has never succesfully bred and hatched out 1 animal that has lived - and that must mean something. He is a middle man in the very best of light and only cares about profit. Be VERY careful when doing business with this guy because 9 times out of 10 you'll be the perverbial sucker helping to pay his morgage. Here is an example of an animal that was supposed to be 100% healthy and eating like a horse. This pic was taken right after I unpacked him. Well, anything but that healthy description held true and as far as his 7 day health gaurantee goes... well it took me well over a month with considerable pressure for him to cover the measly $80 vet bill (which was one heck of a deal) I incurred trying to make sure the sick animal he sold me lived. If the deal seems too good with Mike it probably is because he 's most likely got a sick animal he needs to unload to make his money back. There are SEVERAL people out there that can back up this description of the Chameleon Scalper - Rob Trenor, Dan from Scales, Toni and even Lane Gergely to name a few. I invite them to post their experiences. Buy at your own risk!!!!!!!

Matt Jillson

Mike 'The scalper' Klein and IBD Condo (aka Chamelon Condo)

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My name is Dan Gorfain (DGReptiles). Please do a 'search' on Chameleon Condo (on www.reptiforum.com as well). 'Honest' Mike Klein is definitely a very, very, bad guy and sells snakes with IBD. He sold me a trio of ''genetic, co-dom jungles' on 10/29/04 that were not what he claimed them to be. I have been breeding albino burmese pythons for 8 years now (just got into boas this year) and own the following collection: Breeding pair of albino burmese pythons & 12 of their '04 babies, '03 tiger retic., '03 albino retic., large silver retic., and four early '04 boas that have been in my breeding room (with burms and retics)for almost 7 months now. I only breed burms right now, and do not buy/resell. On, 10/29/04, I purchased three, female,"co-dom, jungle, aberrant boas" from Mike Klein, owner of Chameleon Condo. The boas were supposedly 'flawless' and in perfect condition. Upon arrival, they all exhibited mild to severe respiratory illness, which I immediately notified Mike of. They were not shipped with heat packs, and he said the respiratory problems were probably due to the fact that the temps were low that week. He told me to hang on to them and they should get better. The one with severe respiratory problems started 'swaying' its head back and forth and suddenly died a week later. The other two snakes were slowly getting better but still showed symptoms of illness. I had Nikos Gurfield, DVM, Dipl. ACVP Veterinary Pathologist, San Diego County Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory(858)694-2838 perform a necropsy on the dead boa. The report (which I can email, if anyone is interested) stated that the boa died from IBD, or Inclusion body disease. All of these 'female' '04 neonate aberrant boas were apparently housed in one container at Chameleon Condo (per Mike). I also had Elliott Jacobson (JacobsonE@mail.vetmed.ufl.edu) examine the deceased boa's liver and he concurred that IBD inclusions were present. The deceased 'female' boa turned out to be male, and when I had fecals run on the two remaining boas, Dr.Jenkins (Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital) drexotic@aol.com, they came up positive for 'high concentrations of strongyle worms'. When I notified Mike of the diagnosments (IBD and worms), he partially refunded me $150.00 for the snake that died from IBD. He also said he would, 'take care of my situation and notify the other buyers that bought babies that were housed with the IBD carrier'. When I questioned him on what 'taking care of my situation', meant, he did not respond. I also asked him who the breeder was (who I am aware of now), and he did not respond. After that, he has not returned my phone calls and/or emails. The good news is: I have a strict quarrantine routine and use seperate cleaning supplies and even a seperate sink for the breeder and quarrantine room and vigorously wash my hands several times with warm, soapy water and always handle the quarrantine animals last. From what I understand, burmese and retics seem especially suceptible and are not 'asymptomatic carriers' like boas. Apparently, most pythons die fairly quickly, and exhibit some sort of neurosis when infected with IBD. None of my snakes show any symptoms or signs of distress and have been kept seperate from the quarrantine area, which is on the other side of the house in a different room. Since this occured, I have stopped selling the baby albino burms and have been keeping them with the other four, early '04 boas (the only other boas I own) to see if they show any signs of distress or infection. Nothing in my breeder room has shown any sign of illness or infection. I also had the opportunity to have a necropsy done on an '04, premature, ligated, albino burm that I had been force-feeding since birth. The necropsy (done by previously mentioned Dr. Gurfield) came back negative for IBD: Cause of death was kidney failure (I can email report), which was obviously good news. It's a good thing I am OCD about quarrantine and use seperate cleaning supplies, or it could have turned out much different. Also, If anyone that is not a breeder and preferably doesn't own any other reptiles would like to provide a PERMANENT home for the remaining two siblings, I will give them to you at absolutely no charge. I will even pay shipping costs. They are really awesome-looking jungle-ish boas with nice peaches coming in, but they almost assuredly have IBD. I will absolutely never breed them though (as even liver biopsies are not 100%), and they are just a hazard to my collection. If you have any questions please let me know.

Dan Gorfain
858-273-6301
DGReptiles