• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    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
    =====================


    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....

Is it GOOD or BAD to try to buy only from quality breeders

Is it GOOD or BAD to buy from only quality breeders

  • It is GOOD! I want to buy the best herp for my money from the best breeder(s) I can find

    Votes: 71 97.3%

  • it is BAD! I only care about saving a buck

    Votes: 2 2.7%
  • Total voters
    73
ScottsReptiles

ScottsReptiles

New member
Joined
Feb 6, 2002
Messages
402
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
Location
Columbus, Ohio
Matt of Ghi Reptiles is attempting to make me look like a bad guy on another forum because of the fact that I have high standards for those that I purchase my herps off of.

So I ask this poll. How many of you think it is a bad thing for buyers to try to find the best herp for their money from they best breeders. If so.. why?
 
Obviously its good because then you dont have to worry if the snake has anything wrong with it.
 
I think the answer to this question is obvious. But I also think that alot of the small guys that do a great job keeping/raising/breeding of their stock are left out in the cold.

Alot of people seem to think just because someone is new that they can't be good quality..(sorry for the offshoot of the topic..lol)

But back to answering the question..absolutely buying the best possible animal from a good quality breeder that is kept in the best possible conditions is ideal.

later
 
This question really goes without saying. Anyone who would choose to sacrifice a measure of quality in order to save $10, $50 or what have you on an animal that has the potential for being with them for years is extremely shortsighted to say the least.
If you want quality, expect to pay for it, and don't expect it to be available the day after you decide you want it. Putting together a high quality breeding group is time consuming in itself, but the reward once the eggs start hatching far outweighs any small savings you might get in the beginning.

As long as your term "best breeders" isn't limited only to those of the caliber of Ralph Davis and NERD, then I would agree with it fully.
The big name breeders are of course among the best, but there are thousands of small time breeders of high quality herps that I always enjoy doing buisness with.
99% of my purchases are from breeders. I very rarely buy anything from a dealer, meaning something they did not produce but just bought for resale.
It has always been my opinion that you can find a superior animal of top quality both in health and appearance if you take the time to locate a dedicated breeder.

I do, I suppose, have the luxury of knowing the name of someone who is breeding most anything I am interested in, so that may come to bear on my opinion. I just can't see passing up buying an animal directly from the breeder in favor of an animal from a dealer. I'm willing to wait if necessary for eggs to hatch, or babies to get feeding, rather than to go to a dealer so I can have the animal now.
This attitude does create a level of resentment from dealers, and they often take it as an insult to them and their quality of animals. That's regrettable, but not something that affects my opinion.
I've just always had much more enjoyable expereinces from small time breeders and even with the big names than I've ever had from a dealer, and gotten animals of a quality that would be harder to find in a dealers inventory.

Being a breeder myself, I also respect the time and dedication it requires to produce quality animals. To be a successful breeder you need to love what you do. It's worth something to me to do buisness with someone who considers their animals to be more than just a commodity.
 
Your question is flawed. Who you buy from may have absolutely nothing to do w/ the quality of the animal you get. I look for quality animals and could care less who is selling them. Everyone knows I buy a ton of animals from JP Pets. JP gets animals from: LA, the Bells, private breeders, kids who get tried of their snake, wild caught, wherever. I have some unbelievable top quality animals which have come from JP. There are many ppl on this board who have stated they would never buy from someone like JP. Some from personal experience and some simply from what has been said here. I too have bought some animals which didn't make it from JP. But, I have bought animals at the NRBE, from the breeder, who knew every time it fed, the last time it shed, and what it's last poop looked like, and watched those animals die as well. It's all about the animal once you own it.

I think the only time "the breeder" makes a differnece is when one is dealing w/ hets. Having a receipt from a know breeder, one w/ name recognition, and therefor something to lose by having that name tarnished, is "safer" than having a receipt from John Smith a guy that's supposed to have an albino whatever.

There is another thread on here right now about a $2500 albino het snow boa, which died 28 days after someone got it. And I believe they got it directly from the breeder. That didn't/doesn't matter once the warranty period has run out and you are left holding a dead $25 or $2500 animal. All that matters is the quality of the animal itself.
 
bpc said:
Your question is flawed. Who you buy from may have absolutely nothing to do w/ the quality of the animal you get. I look for quality animals and could care less who is selling them. Everyone knows I buy a ton of animals from JP Pets. JP gets animals from: LA, the Bells, private breeders, kids who get tried of their snake, wild caught, wherever. I have some unbelievable top quality animals which have come from JP. There are many ppl on this board who have stated they would never buy from someone like JP. Some from personal experience and some simply from what has been said here. I too have bought some animals which didn't make it from JP. But, I have bought animals at the NRBE, from the breeder, who knew every time it fed, the last time it shed, and what it's last poop looked like, and watched those animals die as well. It's all about the animal once you own it.

I think the only time "the breeder" makes a differnece is when one is dealing w/ hets. Having a receipt from a know breeder, one w/ name recognition, and therefor something to lose by having that name tarnished, is "safer" than having a receipt from John Smith a guy that's supposed to have an albino whatever.

There is another thread on here right now about a $2500 albino het snow boa, which died 28 days after someone got it. And I believe they got it directly from the breeder. That didn't/doesn't matter once the warranty period has run out and you are left holding a dead $25 or $2500 animal. All that matters is the quality of the animal itself.
Click to expand...

I think that is a gray area. I believe that some people think that just because they are buying from a breeder its better then buying from a dealer. What this poll is more in reference to.. is buying from whom you feel is a top quality breeder. I have found out from my own experiences that those herps I get from breeders who I feel are top (not necessarily the biggest names) quality.. have top quality herps.

With JP.. its up in the air. I used him sometimes every week when I managed a herp store... sometimes I did get some real screamers.. but.. not always. I had alot of 24 to 36 hour deaths.. but.. that is what I expected from what I knew about him.

For example. I have known Clay online for many years now. I know how he keeps his herps...I know his methods and I know his quality standards. I would buy from him in a heartbeat (just waiting for that one alterna that catches my eye Clay.. I still have not found a mate for mine yet!). There are probably half a dozen people I would consider to be in that area. Those I know and can trust to have good policies in all areas of this industry.

I also know of a dealer that I would buy from in heartbeat as well because I know of his standards and what not.

But I am rambling now.. and need to get into work!
 
I think a quality breeder makes a difference. However, I have seen many so-called breeders that turned out to be nothing more than dealers.
 
Hello all!

First of all hello everybody and I would like to explain what is going on here. Scott Axel aka ScottsReptiles has been giving me problems for months now because of the Need opinions on a bad deal with Tim Bowles of Arboreals of the Rainforest!!! thread. Scott has been at Tims home and is obviously friendly with Tim and since I posted about Tim and was looking for opinions on a disasterous deal and just about everybody found me to be in the right my problems with Scott began. Scott was caught lying on Tims thread recently and my problems with him got even worse. This BS about me saying it is bad to buy from quality breeders is not true at all and is just the latest in a string of problems with several people from Ohio in an attempt to hurt my business. Here is a link to one of Scotts threads about me just to show you guys that he is 'gunning' for me. http://novogate.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=4490&threadid=46154 I appologize that he brought this to Fauna but he is out of control. His thread was just removed from another forum today. So once again I never said anything like he has posted and it is an outright lie so sorry that Scott Axel of scotts Reptiles has wasted all of your time.

By the way I absolutely believe in buying from good breeders with quality animals........I do it all of the time and I also supply a lot of breeders in the US with some of their stock. You can do a search on me and I think you will find out I am telling the truth.

Thanks for your time!

Matt Lerer
Ghi Reptiles
 
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!

At 1st I thought it was a joke when Scott said he had posted this poll here .......But unfortunately its not .........

Scott.... U know very well ur problem with Matt has nothing to do with buying snakes from a quailty breeder ..... U know Matt has never said any such thing to u about not buying quality ...U also know that Matt sells quality snakes to reputable breeders for breeding stock ........And he buys quality babies to resell that are from those very same breeders.......

This lil vendetta u have joined has to do with the Tim Bowels thread and u being caught in a lie on there ......This, as far as I can tell, is nothing more than an extension to the smear campaign that Tim , Bobby , and Ralph started last year .......

BTW..... Of coarse everyone will agree with u on this subject cuz there is NO OTHER CHOICE......But to buy quality .......
 
ScottsReptiles said:
Matt of Ghi Reptiles is attempting to make me look like a bad guy on another forum because of the fact that I have high standards for those that I purchase my herps off of.

So I ask this poll. How many of you think it is a bad thing for buyers to try to find the best herp for their money from they best breeders. If so.. why?
Click to expand...


hmmmm, I find it funny that you, Scott are saying that Matt is trying to make you look bad on that other forum. Well it is clear that you started the thread to try and make him look bad and to talk childish smack about him. Just by the title of that thread you started about him shows a very in depth look into your maturity level.

http://novogate.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=4490&threadid=46154&page=1

Also, You were caught in the middle of a LIE in the infamous Tim Bowels thread and then proceeded to not post on that thread because of what appears to be embarrassment, but try and start crap on another forum .

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22036&perpage=5&pagenumber=145
 
GOOD IDEA

I have purchased animals off the web on 4 different occassions now and I have been screwed over half of the time. As far as looking in the BOI on a company, there are just too many differant ones. I searched on info regarding the sellers and found nothing. After the purchases and talking to other individuals I found out more about the two companies who got me. And if I had thier input I never in a million years would have sent these shmoes my hard earned money. The main thing the consumer needs is a place to go and find reputible breeders and companies.
 
Oh.. that was the reason for this thread Rob... he tried to cut me down and tell me how I would be hated in this industry because try my absolute best to not buy from people that do things illegally. He tried to get my arguing that it was bad that I do like those in this industry that have been caught for "smuggling" and then

I guess it is safe to say that you don't like anybody in the business or hobby who has dealt in questionable or illegal animals and that none of them should be in the business then, by your own admission of course.

<b>Man everyone is gonna love you............lol!</b>
Click to expand...

and then you can see by reading that.. joking around like it is absurd to think that it is crazy to keep that kind of standard. I stopped replying to this topic shortly after that.

If Matt wants to follow everywhere I go with the Tim Bowles thread.. he can be my guest. It does not bother me. The funny thing about his comments are that I have been to Tim's house once.. during the Arboreals Gathering. We might have talked a half a dozen times in the past years. The conspiracy talks just cracks me up!
 
Hey Rob,

You know very well what kind of liar Scott has proven himself to be on this very forum and his comments are just absured, like the one below...

Originally posted by Scotts Reptiles
I stopped replying to this topic shortly after that.
Click to expand...
My Reptile Room post that Scott is referring to here was posted on Feb. 2nd at 6:55pm. He states that he stopped replying a short time after my post. Just to show how much of a liar he is, he has posted 16 more times on that thread since then, and the last post was at 9:16 this evening....two full days and 16 posts after he claims to have stopped posting.
It just keeps getting better and better with this guy!
 
Ghi Reptiles said:
Hey Rob,

You know very well what kind of liar Scott has proven himself to be on this very forum and his comments are just absured, like the one below...

Originally posted by Scotts Reptiles

My Reptile Room post that Scott is referring to here was posted on Feb. 2nd at 6:55pm. He states that he stopped replying a short time after my post. Just to show how much of a liar he is, he has posted 16 more times on that thread since then, and the last post was at 9:16 this evening....two full days and 16 posts after he claims to have stopped posting.
It just keeps getting better and better with this guy!
Click to expand...

Jeez.. you have absolutely zero reading comprehension outside of the lines. I stopped posting on that topic line shortly after that post. Did you not make it past the 3rd grade reading level Matt?

It just keeps gettind dumber and dumber with this guy!
<b>
Since you are obviously going to twist and distort everything I post. Lets end it now. You do not like me. I do not like you. We stop posting in anything relating to eachothers comments on any forum. All this has been doing is wasting bandwidth and I highly doubt anyone else really cares. Can ya agree with that?
</b>
 
Originally posted by Scotts Reptiles
I stopped posting on that topic line shortly after that post. Did you not make it past the 3rd grade reading level Matt?
Click to expand...
Yes we can see that 'that' post was two days pryor your last post and before 16 more posts by you. You lied again no big deal. You say you want to end the communication between us but it will not stop because you are still doing it in your last post. If you want to stop posting........stop, you don't need any agreement from me. If I had someone pointing out all of my inconsistancies I would probably want to stop too. If you want to stop posting do not reply to this thread again or any other thread that involves me. Do not post negative or positive comments about me or my business and do not refer to me in any way in any post from now on and I am sure you will be happy.
 
You know.. this shows <b>exactly</b> what type of a person you are. I post a way for both to end without anymore attempts at stabbing at eachother. A simple "agreed" post is all that is needed... but you needed to try to get the last final jab in. That behavior is typically seen on the playgrounds at primary schools.

I hope this shows exactly what type of person Matt is to the rest of you. You just do not know when to stop. Thankfully.. atleast one of us do.. this is now over. This time.. attempt to control your stupidity.

These posts are needed.. because I have tried stopped posting several times.. but within a day or two you start another thread or directly attack me on other forums..including my own. So.. I do need an "agreed" answer from you. Put it in writing on this forum. I can swallow my pride and offer it to you as well.

The ball is 100% in your court now. If you want this to end, to stop the pointless bickering that is getting everyone nowhere. All you need to do is say something to the extent of.. agreed.. this ends here.. we both will cease attacking eachother in public or private forums. Treaties are not signed by only one party.
 
These posts are needed.. because I have tried stopped posting several times..
Click to expand...
You have got to be kidding! Tell us all who has the gun pointed at your head and we will call the cops.

Nothing is needed from me in writing for you to stop posting......simply stop. Just like nothing is needed for you to continue to post, you just don't want to stop.....if you did, you just would and wouldn't come up with the Declaration of Scottdependence for me to sign. So simply put, stop your crap and quit posting and like I said you will probably end up a happy person in the end.
 
C'mon Matt... all you need to do is say agreed. I have stopped posting about you in the past.. and you have shown that you will not do so as well.

So.. Matt... admit you will stop posting negative comments about me.. and I will do the same about you.

There is no other way to end it.
 
Back
Top