• Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
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    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

GILBERT THOMPSON

Justin Mitcham

Justin Mitcham

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Hello everyone I dropped by here to post a little experience I had with this fellow.This guy in my opinion is a total waste of time and effort.I'll explain why...
Couple weeks ago this dude emails and calls me wanting to purchase several k worth of animals from me, from box turtles to abberrant nelsoni's which I specialize in.He ask me what I am doing for the next few days and I told him I was planning on going collard lizard hunting ( something I do for fun and spare $&#036<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>, since the size of the deal was so "BIG" I decided to stay and meet him to do buisness.Well guess what , we made arrangements I cleared my day (since this would be close to a 5hr trip), well the dude never calls or anything, just leaves me hanging, I waited all day to no avail. no phone call, email ,nothin.
Well the next day I get a email appologizing and we talk on the phone and planned another meeting in the morning.We'll guess what the same thing happens.After many attempts to call and email him wondering whats going on I give up and decide to go online and search Kingsnake for some good deals and low and behold what do I find...adds that he placed while I was calling,emailing and waiting on his @$$.I thought that was extremly rude of him and just decided to let it be. I then get an email from him the next day sayin some "crazy stuff" had taken place and he'll get back with me.
A week later he calls again saying he's ready to meet me that night.I say o.k. and that I'll call before I leave, I told him that my car was down and I had to arrange to get someone to bring me. After all that guess what happens again, yup... stood up again. Not one call, email, nothin. Just an email the next day sayin he'll give me a call later. At this point I'm pretty ticked off..I can't believe anyone would be so inconsiderate to repeatedly treat a person like this. So I send him an email explaining that this is not cool and that ea. day he's done this , this has taken $$$ out of my pocket.He rudly sends me a email back stating because he's a mighty narcotics officer and he has to be ready to leave at a moments notice(..do I care..NO..his problems shouldn't affect me and should not affect how he chooses to keep his word), and that he won't bother me again.
So after putting me through all these changes, talking with him on the phone for hours, missing 2 days of hunting in which I average 50-70 collareds a day @ $10ea.(at least 1k out of my pocket), passing up other sales cause he reserved animals for purchase, this guy just blows me off..no appology or anything.I have been selling reptiles for close to a decade and I have never had anyone act so unprofessionally or treat me in this manner.I really expected much more from him, especially since he is an officer of the law and loves to post advice in this forum. But this goes to show that no matter the occupation, how much they talk and sound sincere,
people will be people.
Regards,
Justin Mitcham
wwpsdallas.tripod.com
 
justin
that kind of behaviour is worse then inconsiderate. the excuse of being a police officer is simply not good enough either. thanks for giving us the heads up!
why didnt he just buy the animals and send the money if he has such an unpredicatable schedule???
that problem is his and his alone..and certainly not yours nor should it become yours either..just as you said..i agree 100 percent.
 
Think of it this way. That's 50-70 collards a day that you won't be snatching from the wild to sell. I wouldn't waste that many days on someone but like i said i'm glad you did so those w.c. collards have at least another day to hide from you before you sell pillage their locale. Anyway wish you bad luck on your next rape the land trip for a buck...
 
You know Justin, I think the Window shopper epidemic has gotten worse this past year!  Just yesterday I was talking with another breeder and we were saying the same thing.  Twice we were taken for a ride by a guy named Christopher from "k and s reptiles" in suppossed trades.  Twice in one week, both with different animals.  The first time he wanted to trade and promised to have the animals shipped out in the morning , by the second day nothing.  He blamed the lack of shipping on someone else and we closed the deal and we traded w/someone else!  Then Just on wed we set up another trade for different animals and again nothiing, after he promised to have the animals sent out.  After I e-mailed him telling him the situation was getting ridiculous he e-mailed me back rudely stating it was against his powers LOL!  I think there has been a new hobby found!  The hobby of wanting something, promising purchase/trade and then dissapearing.  Or maybe it is just a game!  It just sucks when you have to turn away other sales etc because you promised the animal/animals to someone else!  Next time maybe you should tell him you will meet him!  Or send them to your website which I always get sent to and that should be good enough!  For the both of us goes the same saying.  Screw me once shame on you, Screw me twice shame on ME!  Blow him off you will recover!  You always do!
Vic Machese
Exclusively Exotics <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>
 
Thanks for the heads up Justin. I received an email from Gilbert about some of my high end leopard geckos, I certainly won't get my hopes up about a big sale from him!

On another note, I wish you would leave the collards alone. I can understand herping for fun and perhaps capturing a pair or small group for captive breeding purposes (I have done this myself) but must you snatch 50-70 collards a day from their habitat? You have a lot of high end colubrids, make your money breeding them and leave the poor collards alone! Just my opinion.
 
I want to take this opportunity to state, As long as Justin has the required permits from the state and collects the legal amount of Collards allowed by law then there is nothing wrong with collecting them for re-sale.  I agree with not raping the wild, but that is why there are laws and limits set forth by the DNR in those states where the animals come from. What do you think would happen if non of the Collards were taken from the wild? would there be an overpopulation? Probably.  Also this thread was posted to inform others about this person and was not posted for an opportunity to jump on Justin for his business practices.  it is very unprofessional for you folks to try and tell him how to run his business when you really have nothing to say about it.  Just my thoughts ont his.  Also thanks Justin for the heads up on this Guy.
 
Well, to balance things here, I just had an extremely pleasant experience with Gilbert Thompson.  
We spoke several times on the phone about some frilled dragons.  He asked all of the right questions, explained his set ups (which he got together BEFORE making the purchase), and everything went extremely smoothly.  Within one week, I was happy to ship out some cbb frillies that I felt were going to a very good home (which means a lot to me).  He was also appreciative and did not try to hassle me on pricing (also a big relief these days).
I am sure he will get on this thread at some point.  This does not sound like the knowledgeable, expedient customer that I dealt with.  
I would not write him off.  Things do come up.  Besides, I'm sure an extra day at your facility to take care of animals and clean cages is not so terrible!
Dana
 
Thanks Rob for pointing that out, people seem to like to beat up on the collectors these day's , I guess it's just not politically correct anymore, I remember back when hundreds of people would flock here to hunt greybands and other reptiles, back then it was the thing to do and no-one cared.Today these same people bust my chops for collecting, and are the same ones who come running when I have a good deal on wildcaughts. Besides I'd say 50-75% of the animals I collect are sold on Kingsnake to other breeders who have the intention of breeding the animals I supply, it's not like I am selling these guys to Petco or anything.



Dana,
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed talking with Gilbert, he seemed like a very nice person, sincere and genuine. But his actions proved otherwise to me.
 
I apologize if anyone took what I said about the collards badly. It is just my opinion. I have met Justin and he is a nice fellow, i didn't mean what i said to be a personal attack on his business ethics, and I also apologize for posting off the topic. Sometimes my emotions get the better of me.
 
Rob, he mentioned why he was upset and i replied.. Just because you can get a permit to do something doesn't mean you have to collect every last one you can. I think they would be just fine if people didn't collect thousands to resell and die in someones collection. They were apparently doing fine before.  
Also point out to me where i told him how to run his business.  He complained  the guy didn't show up so he couldn't go collect a few hundred collards to sell so i can say something until you become the thought police..
Last thing, believe me i don't buy wild caught, never have and never will. When you guys post a bunch of wild caught herps here or kingsnake  they don't get looked at.. So i am glad that guy was unreliable saved a few lives at least for the momment...
 
I had an almost identical situation with Gilbert earlier this year.  He contacted me regarding a pair of  Graybands I had advertised on my site.  After two phone calls and approximately 1.5 hours wasted including shooting new pics of both animals at his request, I got a short Email from him stating that something had come up and he hoped he hadn't inconvenienced me.  This was 2 days after he told me he definitely wanted the animals and would I please mark them sold on my site.  

I have spoken with at least one other breeder in Florida who recently had a similar experience with Mr. Thompson as well.  Apparently this behaviour is the norm for him rather than the exception.  All I can say is that this is not a particularly effective method of establishing relationships with good breeders.  Word does tend to get around about behaviour like this and it tends to close a lot of doors.
 
Joel,

Your comments had nothing to do with the topic of this post and were uncalled for.  If you don't like purchasing w/c animals thats your choice, but this thread was about the way this person treated Justin and acted to him.  YOUR comments were very unprofessional and had no place on this thread to begin with. </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> Anyway wish you bad luck on your next rape the land trip for a buck...
</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
 
My last comments Rob unless you have something new to say.

He said it in his thread and it was why he was upset about being stood up so it is relevant whether you think so or not.. Also stop with your "unprofessional" comment already. Did i say i was trying  to be?  You quoted me now show me where in that quote i am trying to tell him how to run his business. I thought you couldn't but the effort was there so i credit you for that.
Good Night Rob.......
 
Rob , just let Joel run his mouth, he's pretty harmless actually, he's only trying to get to me, he's got on to me before for collecting, this isn't the 1st time he's givin me his two cents worth. I guess he saw an opportunity to harrass me again and couldn't resist. He knows exactly how I feel, so him adding how he feels about me collecting was actually pointless and inflamatory, just a little more obvious now since I revealed we've had this "chat" before.
 
Gilbert i don't know a thing about you except what you posted here. If we've had a back and forth before i don;'t recall it so it's nothing personal. If Rob insists on posting after me  and it's something new i will reply. If nothing new about what i said then i won't.
Glad you think i'm running my mouth Justin and i'm harmless as you are mean about as much in my world as i do in yours. Next time you want to whine in a public place about someone not showing up and messing up your lizard collecting adventures then leave it out and state the person left you hanging 3 times and leave it at that and i will have no reason to ad my comments. If you reply to this with something new i will also. If it's your same message i won't simple as that... By the way since when is this considered harassment? I had no idea who you were until you said it so please don't make yourself feel important enough for me to wait for you to post so i can "harrass" you...
 
Gilbert backed out of a $4500+ order with me as well.
I no longer hold animals without either a deposit, or a
working tracking number for payment sent overnight.
 
Hello to all!
   Justin is right in alot that he is saying.  I did make several appointments and could not make it to either one of them.  Call it what you will!!!  It was not done on purpose.  I have at no time pushed my profession around.  I don't know where that statement came from.  (mighty narcotics officer)!
 However, I always let you know what was going on.  The very last time you were rude in an email.  I wrote back and said I would not bother you anymore.  You immediately emailed back appologizeing and calling me.  At the point of the rude email I was done.
There are also alot of others I have contacted on deals and not folowed thru.  The reason being!!  If something didn't sound right or did not feel comfortable with the situation I changed my mind.  
It is clear that I must be out and out rude for the point to come across when I feel uncomfortable with any given situation.  I try my best to polite and let someone down softly.  I don't want to hurt someones feelings.
I have  clearly understood tonight the only thing I hurt was not pading a few pocket books a little more.  To a majority of those out there I am refering too.  You would have done alot better had you thought more of customer support than lineing your pockets.  It is clear why you can't.  You are to busy jumping on band wagons and tending to others peoples issues than your own.
I will repeat I am sorry if this has hurt anybody in anyway.  Have your fun for the week and run me in the dirt I don't care.  There are alot of people that know differently.
If you have received money from me you will continue to do so.  If something feel thru you wont. (My reasons and they are not malicous but there has always been a reason&#33<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>  It's simply that simple.  It's pretty sad too!!  There are alot of breeders that will be getting alot of my money.  Kudos to those guys/girls.
I appreciate the ones that have spoke up for me.  Call me being to shy getting stiffed for $6,000 one time.  It changes your out look and some people are different then others.  In the way they react to things.
If you choose not to answer a email or not do business with me that is fine.  Because if that's the case I didn't need to to begin with.  As far as, someone stating that they will not count on the deal to go thru.  You don't have to count anymore!!  I will spend this cash elsewhere.  With that attitude I need too.  
I guess one decideing to go elsewhere has caused quit a stink.  
As far as you Justin.  Since you started the thread.  I will oblige you in informing you why.  I think you are a nice guy to talk too.  However, I cannot be associated with someone that over collects to line their pockets.  Huh!  That reminds me!!  What effect have you had on th Indigo population in Texas?<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>?  I am not downing you I just don't agree with your tactics.  I have to agree before I send money.  Had I known the things I know now, while we were trying to set up a pre-determined meeting location.  I would have done my best to gracefully decline on purchasing animals from you.

So ladies and gentleman!
I repeat agian!! I appologize if I have wronged you in some way.
  However, the money I have is mine.  I earned it and I will spend it where I want.
Where I feel I will surpass some that have differences in tactics.
Are these few things:  I don't have to sale an animal to live.  I make my money elsewhere.  Therefore, I feel I can give better guarantees and stand behind my animals no matter what.
Secondly, I enjoy visiting with people in the industry.  I don't care if they are waving a credit card in my face.  They don't have to do that for me to talk with them.
Thirdly, I will help anybody with anything I can.  Whether they have bought from me or not.  Some of the younger generation that is being blown off due to age and bank account.  Someday they will be here and remember those things.
I feel alot of people have replaced their natural love for reptiles with money.  Therefore, are now being driven by money and not the original spark that started it all.
 The bit on deposits!!  I think thats crazy.  Either you have an animal that is marketable or not.
I am kinda glad this happened.  I can clearly see who not to deal with in the future or recomend.
Well, I'm done!!  So say what you will!!
Remember you can't stir $h!t.  Without getting some on you.
Have a great day and good luck!!
Gilbert Thompson
 
Mostly all I got from that was Gilbert justifing the way he treats people, here's the emails in question, draw your own conclusions:

Justin,
      I had some stuff come up and I will call and fill you in tomorrow.
Thanks,
Gilbert Thompson


Man this is the 3rd time you've done this to me...I've went through a lot of trouble to meet you, last time this cost me almost 2 days worth of collard lizard collecting which is roughly $1-$1.5k in profit.My time is money and I can't really afford to sit around and wait for a "maybe", too many are dependent on my income.
Regards,
Justin Mitcham


Justin,
       I am also very busy and I have to be prepaird to leave at the drop of a hat.  Sorry this has caused you problems.  I will not bother or put you out again.
Regards,
Gilbert Thompson
(This is where the "MIGHTY NARCOTICS OFFICER" comment came from.He plainly implies due to his JOB "narcotics officer" he can't meet me,why is this my problem???)

Sorry for being so blunt but hell a 30sec phone call or email is all I ask.So you want to do buisness or not, I hate to go through all this for nothin :)
Regards,
Justin

As for collecting, he offered to take me out on his "8,500 acres" to do some collecting, when I 1st spoke with him and he asked me what I was doing for the next couple days I told him I was planning on lizard hunting, we had a little conversation about it and he was impressed by the numbers I can provide, funny at the time he wanted to come along on one of my little trips.Didn't seem too bothered by it then, now he's had a change of heart.
Also I like to add thet Indigos are protected here, there very rare and I have never even seen one in the wild, much less caught one or would catch one, not worth the trouble dude.So don't imply I'm out catching illeagal stuff and I won't ask where a 29yr old narcotics officer comes up with all that cash to buy reptiles with!!!!!FAIR !!!!!
And for all you Weekend Warriors/Game Biologist the state of Texas has determined that collecting collared lizards does not adversly affect the population, in fact each year I catch more and more in the areas I hunt, not the opposite as some of you would imply. Also you treat these as if there rare, or even slightly rare, these guys are probally the most common lizard found here in Texas, yes I catch 50-70 per day and miss more than 100 in a matter of 4-6 hrs. skipping the heat of the day, but what you don't get is that I hunt off the roads which is a manmade habitat. Rocks are bulldozed to the sides the caliche roads providing basking, sleeping and hiding areas, there's ditches on either side providing water which draws insects, plants , all of which attracts lizards, there is no way I can set out cross country and catch that, they are much less dense in there NATURAL HABITAT.
Basically Gilbert there are WAY too many people who are offened by the way you treat them, before I even posted a thread one of my friends gripped you had done the same to them, that's were I got the ideal. I'm glad you don't have to sell reptiles to make a living and I'm glad I don't have to arrest poor, sick, mentally ill people who only wanted to fill the hole in there heart with a substance that made them feel better.It's wrong of course so are lot of things in life,I don't agree with making matters worse by imprisoning the weak and destitute so when they get out of jail there a worse danger to society.They need help and love not pain, ridicule and imprisonment. Did I hold your JOB against you no!!!So why pic on mine!!!
My stepdad is a cop, I know 1st hand how crooked SOME cops are.The're human just like everyone else,if they weren't you and I wouldn't be having this conversation now would we., as Jesus said,
"Those without sin , cast the 1st stone".
Regards,
Justin Mitcham
 
Justin,
     Congrats!!  You have just shown your true colors and how ignorant you really are.
  You are a poaching, sacreligous and money driven punk.  Your lack for judgement is just like your beliefs on the legality and the criminal mind set in general.  Wonder why???
 Your step father was a cop.  The only thing I can see where you were slighted on anything was you were not kicked right square in your a$$ enough.  I say this due to your lack of respect for religon, laws with which govern you and not following the laws of the land.
Now for the 29 years old, being a cop and having cash!  Now that's a hard one!!!  What should I say???  Am I caught??
 Your an idiot!!  I work for it.  We have the fourth largest cattle operation in Texas and I spend it wisely.  Like makeing sure I don't buy from someone like you.  I will repeat I make a living working not hunting a quick dollar at the exspense of mother nature.  I am crooked?? That is definitely a first!!  Your forgeting I'm not the one showing abnormal money tendencies.
With the comments in your last reply I hope people now see what kind of person you really are.

Gilbert Thompson

This is my last post on this topic!!!  I have said what I needed to and apologized for some of my antics.  I was burned before and that is the reason.  I know it is not a good one but at least I have been totally honest.  Which is more than I can say for some.
 I am not going to reply due to the childish way this is headed.
 Those of you who no me.  No better!!  Those of you who don't I am sorry this has come to this and look forward to being of some help in the future.
 
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