Siphon
Fallout Herpetology
I would say that this nearly constitutes a "Bad Guy" tag, but since I have not personally called the shop/individual being discussed I will leave it as an informational thread.
I went to Repticon Chattanooga this year in February on the evening 16th (not long before time for vendors to close up shop, to be honest). I had stopped at Discovery Pets' vendor table after seeing that they had both adult and juvenile knight anoles.
I was assured that they were captive born and bred. I didn't ask if they were, he volunteered the information when he saw how interested I was in his knight anoles. I just assumed they were imported (not a common CBB animal at a show). He also had several juvenile tokay geckos, which I had also assumed as imported until he informed me otherwise. I haven't ever bought any of my tokays at shows, and I've been so on the fence about buying any knight anoles. Well, I ended up coming home with them.
I purchased two of each, what he had assured me was a sexed pair. I wasn't given much of an opportunity by him to check the animals myself, he bagged them up for me and cut me a good deal. I got his card and we went home.
I set the animals up in clean, new enclosures of appropriate size and environment and left them alone. All four were somewhat listless, but the drive from the show venue was about two hours, and it was cool outside. At approximately 3 AM on the 20th, the first Tokay died. I noticed it was near the ground of the enclosure and it allowed me to pick it up without protest. None of the animals had eaten or drank. I soaked the tokay, but he passed away quickly. The tokay that died appeared to be male, and I have since found that my second tokay appears to be male as well (they are still young, so I can't be 100% about this). The Tokays I purchased both had some old/healed scarring that I hadn't noticed at the show, which makes me more suspicious that the animals were all imports (although they may have just been housed communally).
The second tokay has finally started eating insects from a dish, but the anoles still have to be fed by hand. They are still thin (they were slim on purchase and mildly dehydrated). I am extremely displeased with the animals I purchased from Discovery Pets, and even moreso unhappy with their customer service. I contacted them without asking for a replacement animal or refund, simply asking to confirm the origin of the animals I received and previous housing quirks that may have effected their adapting to life in their new home, and received no acknowledgement. My posts on their business's facebook page were ignored and deleted.
I have sent two emails to their business address (dated February 20 and March 7) with no response. The emails were as follows:
and the second email:
I posted on their business facebook page on February 21, and received no response although they have responded to other wall posts since then. I also posted a second time on their wall on April 26. Both of my wall posts have been deleted.
I sent a message to their business facebook on February 24. Message was as follows:
I sent a message to Joshua Whitney's personal facebook page on February 25, simply asking "Are you the same Joshua that works for Discovery pets / NC Reptile Center?" and have received no response.
I sent Joshua a message via Fauna on March 8th, although it does not appear that he frequents the site.
I have not called the shop as I'm not 100% comfortable in calling and confronting them, but they have had the opportunity to respond to me as they have other customers in several different ways online.
The third party I mentioned in my second email:
Has been informed of this thread, and I hope that they come forward with their own testimony.
Just wanted to warn everyone to be wary with dealing with Discovery Pets at future Repticon shows, it appears that they vend at them very frequently in the Eastern US. I am not sure if my experience is typical of this particular business or not, just wanted to toss this info thread up there and share my experience.
This is the first time I've had to post anything other than a "Good Guy" thread, so hopefully I have covered all my bases.
I went to Repticon Chattanooga this year in February on the evening 16th (not long before time for vendors to close up shop, to be honest). I had stopped at Discovery Pets' vendor table after seeing that they had both adult and juvenile knight anoles.
I was assured that they were captive born and bred. I didn't ask if they were, he volunteered the information when he saw how interested I was in his knight anoles. I just assumed they were imported (not a common CBB animal at a show). He also had several juvenile tokay geckos, which I had also assumed as imported until he informed me otherwise. I haven't ever bought any of my tokays at shows, and I've been so on the fence about buying any knight anoles. Well, I ended up coming home with them.
I purchased two of each, what he had assured me was a sexed pair. I wasn't given much of an opportunity by him to check the animals myself, he bagged them up for me and cut me a good deal. I got his card and we went home.
I set the animals up in clean, new enclosures of appropriate size and environment and left them alone. All four were somewhat listless, but the drive from the show venue was about two hours, and it was cool outside. At approximately 3 AM on the 20th, the first Tokay died. I noticed it was near the ground of the enclosure and it allowed me to pick it up without protest. None of the animals had eaten or drank. I soaked the tokay, but he passed away quickly. The tokay that died appeared to be male, and I have since found that my second tokay appears to be male as well (they are still young, so I can't be 100% about this). The Tokays I purchased both had some old/healed scarring that I hadn't noticed at the show, which makes me more suspicious that the animals were all imports (although they may have just been housed communally).
The second tokay has finally started eating insects from a dish, but the anoles still have to be fed by hand. They are still thin (they were slim on purchase and mildly dehydrated). I am extremely displeased with the animals I purchased from Discovery Pets, and even moreso unhappy with their customer service. I contacted them without asking for a replacement animal or refund, simply asking to confirm the origin of the animals I received and previous housing quirks that may have effected their adapting to life in their new home, and received no acknowledgement. My posts on their business's facebook page were ignored and deleted.
I have sent two emails to their business address (dated February 20 and March 7) with no response. The emails were as follows:
and the second email:
I posted on their business facebook page on February 21, and received no response although they have responded to other wall posts since then. I also posted a second time on their wall on April 26. Both of my wall posts have been deleted.
I sent a message to their business facebook on February 24. Message was as follows:
I sent a message to Joshua Whitney's personal facebook page on February 25, simply asking "Are you the same Joshua that works for Discovery pets / NC Reptile Center?" and have received no response.
I sent Joshua a message via Fauna on March 8th, although it does not appear that he frequents the site.
I have not called the shop as I'm not 100% comfortable in calling and confronting them, but they have had the opportunity to respond to me as they have other customers in several different ways online.
The third party I mentioned in my second email:
Has been informed of this thread, and I hope that they come forward with their own testimony.
Just wanted to warn everyone to be wary with dealing with Discovery Pets at future Repticon shows, it appears that they vend at them very frequently in the Eastern US. I am not sure if my experience is typical of this particular business or not, just wanted to toss this info thread up there and share my experience.
This is the first time I've had to post anything other than a "Good Guy" thread, so hopefully I have covered all my bases.