Bad Guy Jeff Porto of Shedskin Reptiles

[Big Borg Reptiles]

Real businesses and real reputations are at stake here.

Exactly this. The BOI isn't a game where you post random things about people and potentially ruin their livelihood. Whether you realize it or not, the claims you are making are incredibly serious. This isn't a site where people come to feel sorry for each other, it's a site that people use to determine whether they want to do real, grownup business with each other.

All I've seen you do so far is try to ruin people's lives with absolutely no evidence of the claims you're making. If you're having mental problems maybe you shouldn't be posting on a forum that is permanent. You do know that posts are never deleted, right?

 

[Chris Kennard]

I am having serious mental health problems right now, since posting on the avangel reptiles thread, and after not sleeping for going on 4 days now, I can not be bothered with what people think of me, or deal with negative comments from rude people. I will post pictures when I can go on this website without hyperventilating.

If you see these animals and still think I'm lying then I'll talk with you personally, but I have gotten extremely rude messages from anonymous people in the form of karma points, and I'm really just not happy with how victims are being treated here with harassment from anonymous people. I have PTSD, largely from an abusive relationship, but at the same time I had to deal with all kinds of bullies on social media, so I am extremely sensitive to rude comments on the Internet. I posted here with faith in the community and trust for the members of this website, so I would appreciate it greatly if you could all hold off on your negativity until I post the pictures- and for my own health I will be ignoring the replies to this thread until I can gather the pictures and post them when I feel I am able.

Wow! Mental health problems, no sleep for four days, hyperventilating, PTSD...? And you "despise drama"? Do you have a cat that despises catnip?

 

[Chris Kennard]

I have done lots of business with Jeff Porto at Shedskin in the West Valley Mall in Tracy CA, and I was almost always disappointed.

The first thing that upset me was the first leopard gecko I got from him. She was old and skinny and had mbd, but she was only my second gecko, so I wasn't as informed as I am now and couldn't tell she wasn't in proper breeding condition.

He had this female in a tank with at least 4 other females, and a giant male "black pearl" and they were all breeding in there constantly. The tank itself also bothered me. It was a wooden vision tank with a light bulb in it and sand substrate. I think the bulb was their primary heat source.

Anyway, as the months passed, I traded geckos with him frequently, often giving him a healthy animal in exchange for an unhealthy one, just so I could rehabilitate them. Eventually I grew tired of rehabilitating every animal I got from him and started asking for refunds. He danced around my request several ridiculous me out the money and the gecko.

I have also relied upon him for other services, including euthanizing a gecko and incubating eggs for me while I was away. He failed at both tasks, leaving my diseased and starving gecko suffering for weeks because he didn't euthanize her like he said he would, but tried to "jumpstart" her so he could sell her.

When I left eggs for him to incubate, almost all of them molded over despite being fertile, and the one baby that did hatch was thrown into a 5 gallon exo terra with 5 other larger baby geckos. The baby I hatched would have been fine if he had called me when it hatched, or if it had gotten any food or water for the first couple weeks of life. It died a few days after I took it home. What a waste of a gorgeous reverse stripe mack eclipse.

The most upsetting part of every experience I've had with the guy is his absolute refusal to take any advice from anyone. He still uses sand for his leopard geckos, he won't admit his mistakes, and almost every gecko I've sold or traded him is now dead. Mostly because he overbred them or housed multiple males together. One male I even specified was aggressive and almost killed one of my other geckos. He put it in a tank with two other males.

Because of his 'can do no wrong' attitude, I have witnessed a carpet python escape it's tank in his store, even after I warned him it was getting out. I have also received a nasty set of parasites from animals I got from him. I had to downsize or euthanize nearly half of my leopard gecko collection because of the disease his animals gave mine. It could have been prevented if I followed better quarantine procedures, but he didn't seem to care about the animals at all.

Also, when my uncle gave Jeff his yearling savannah monitor, he put it in a 30 gallon tank. My uncle only gave him up because he couldn't afford to upgrade his 60 gal, and the poor guy gets shoved into a 30 gal.

I have witnessed him on multiple occasions belittling customers by talking about them behind their backs, giving them false advice because they won't know any better, and overcharging them tremendously.

His "40 years of experience with reptiles" doesn't mean much when your animals are dropping like flies. He is just what you'd expect of a man running a mall pet store.

I was actually contemplating picking this ridiculous post riddled with contradictions in itself. Too much work. But perhaps you could just explain how you obtained your second gecko from this guy and months later were giving him "all of" those eggs. Where did the healthy female(s) come from?

 

[Lucille]

I have witnessed him on multiple occasions belittling customers by talking about them behind their backs

I didn't really post this as a discussion because I honesty don't feel like talking to him.

And here you are, belittling him behind his back

I'll bet a nickel that the OP is on other forums trash talking this site and those who have pointed out the inconsistencies in her posts.
This is not to say that the several BOI threads she has initiated may in fact have something to say. But with the lack of proof and the drama, there is no way to give her claims any weight so far, IMHO.

 

[Chris Kennard]

And here you are, belittling him behind his back

I'll bet a nickel that the OP is on other forums trash talking this site and those who have pointed out the inconsistencies in her posts.
This is not to say that the several BOI threads she has initiated may in fact have something to say. But with the lack of proof and the drama, there is no way to give her claims any weight so far, IMHO.

If everyone here takes your bet, will you take me for a ride in your new convertible sports car?

 

[Big Borg Reptiles]

But Chris she wouldn't do that, she hates drama. She'd probably start hyperventilating just thinking about posting on other sites about her traumatic experiences here.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

No one has been rude to you. This is a business forum. You cannot come here, cast aspersions on people, businesses, and this community, and when you are called out for proof, have a 'po me' tantrum and skip out, and expect anyone to take you seriously.
Real businesses and real reputations are at stake here, and the only person ruining your reputation right now is you.

This.

 

[Chris Kennard]

But Chris she wouldn't do that, she hates drama. She'd probably start hyperventilating just thinking about posting on other sites about her traumatic experiences here.

You're right. What was I thinking? She doesn't just hate drama. She "despises" it. In all seriousness though, her first post here is wolf din din. She's gotten off easier than most. I had to read it three times to convince myself I wasn't crazy.

 

[Lucille]

Because of his 'can do no wrong' attitude, I have witnessed a carpet python escape it's tank in his store, even after I warned him it was getting out.

So you are saying that people who have critters escape have a 'can do no wrong' attitude?

 

[Chris Kennard]

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.

 

[Chris Kennard]

What are the odds of a gecko escaping a tank only to try to get back into another one? What a stroke of luck, huh?

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

What are the odds of a gecko escaping a tank only to try to get back into another one? What a stroke of luck, huh?

I could see it happening if two tubs next to each other in a rack system were both pulled out partially.

Not expressly to pile on, as I feel Lucille already captured things comprehensively in her post I already quoted in agreement, but there is another point of inconsistency (and questionable accuracy) in the screenshot Lucille more recently provided of the FB page.

The genes of the two stated animals are not incompatible in any sense (she corrected this later, but left the falsehood earlier). Likewise, while not wanting to breed an animal that has recovered from MBD can be a valid concern and breeding a diminutive female can be a valid concern, an emission of semen by a formerly MBD-afflicted male is not going to be a negative factor in his continued state of improved-since-then health. In other words, that alarmism is really more a whole lot of nothing.

Not an overly big deal, but perhaps worth pointing out.

I do feel this person has worthwhile ability to contribute meaningfully, but I was disappointed by the Reptiles by Mack thread. The style was not okay. Likewise, she should be prepared to defend claims made in this thread. With evidence if possible.

 

[Chris Kennard]

I could see it happening if two tubs next to each other in a rack system were both pulled out partially.

Not expressly to pile on, as I feel Lucille already captured things comprehensively in her post I already quoted in agreement, but there is another point of inconsistency (and questionable accuracy) in the screenshot Lucille more recently provided of the FB page.

The genes of the two stated animals are not incompatible in any sense (she corrected this later, but left the falsehood earlier). Likewise, while not wanting to breed an animal that has recovered from MBD can be a valid concern and breeding a diminutive female can be a valid concern, an emission of semen by a formerly MBD-afflicted male is not going to be a negative factor in his continued state of improved-since-then health. In other words, that alarmism is really more a whole lot of nothing.

Not an overly big deal, but perhaps worth pointing out.

I do feel this person has worthwhile ability to contribute meaningfully, but I was disappointed by the Reptiles by Mack thread. The style was not okay. Likewise, she should be prepared to defend claims made in this thread. With evidence if possible.

I based my comment on her saying it escaped it's "tank". I assumed if it was in a rack system she would have said tub.

 

[Big Borg Reptiles]

I do feel this person has worthwhile ability to contribute meaningfully, but I was disappointed by the Reptiles by Mack thread. The style was not okay. Likewise, she should be prepared to defend claims made in this thread. With evidence if possible.

This was my feeling exactly. I'm not saying "there's no way Jeff would ever do this, it must be a lie!", but at the same time, I'm not going to believe something without some sort of evidence. If it hadn't been for that other thread I might even have been inclined to believe her, but what she did to Reptiles by Mack was in very poor taste and completely inappropriate.

And any time someone uses mental illness as an excuse for something it really rubs me the wrong way. If you're not mentally stable enough to respond to questions, you probably shouldn't be posting in the first place.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

I based my comment on her saying it escaped it's "tank". I assumed if it was in a rack system she would have said tub.

I am not disagreeing with you, Chris. I am offering a plausible scenario.

 

[Big Borg Reptiles]

I should clarify, it's not that I don't think mental illness is a valid excuse, but if you're fine posting things and making responses and talking about all of these problems you're having, and as soon as someone calls you out you suddenly can't deal with it because of your "mental problems"....give me a break.

 

[Chris Kennard]

I am not disagreeing with you, Chris. I am offering a plausible scenario.

I know that. I was just explaining why I discarded that scenario right away. I did considerate it for a second, but there is a big difference between tank and tub. Maybe she considers them one in the same, who knows? Under the circumstances, I have a tough time giving her the benefit of the doubt on anything. So far she comes off as an instigator with an aweful lot of holes in her contributions here. I wasn't barking at you Nickolas. Just responding.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

I know that. I was just explaining why I discarded that scenario right away. I did considerate it for a second, but there is a big difference between tank and tub. Maybe she considers them one in the same, who knows? Under the circumstances, I have a tough time giving her the benefit of the doubt on anything. So far she comes off as an instigator with an aweful lot of holes in her contributions here. I wasn't barking at you Nickolas. Just responding.

No worries, sir.

 

[Chris Kennard]

No worries, sir.

Also Nickolas, I did give alot of thought to your comment about worthwhile ability, and don't disagree. There are positive forces in this community that got off to a rough start. Hopefully this will be a good learning experience.

 

[Chris Kennard]

I contacted him through his website.
I think he should, if he wishes, have an opportunity to present his point of view.

Is he registered here? If he checked his website, he should have responded. He's had 5 days since you contacted him. Maybe there's a better way to contact him?