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Info Kalamazoo Reptile Show

Like I said before, I go to the show pretty regularly (as I only live maybe 5 minutes from it). I have seen the kid there before and yes he is a kid as the op stated but I don't think I have ever seen him trying to "push" gators on anyone. I know that on certain shows they have a "petting zoo" and you can get your picture taken with a burm or retic (both of which are supervised when handled) or you can get your pic taken with the gator and the gator might be 2 feet or so. I think the OP is blowing things way out of proportion here. That is probably why he seen the gator in the first place. This might clear some things up. :shrug01:
 
You went to a reptile show and someone tried to sell you a reptile? . . .

Alligators dont make good captives for 99% of the people that buy them. But then again neither do boas , burms , retics , iguanas , large monitors , and not to mention all the wild collected stuff that people sell at shows. If you dont like it dont buy it. And if you do like it do the proper research before committing to something like that. Bottom line is, it is legal to own them in the state of Michigan. It's up to the people buying the animals to do the proper research as well as the people selling them to educate. And had you shown any interest in purchasing the gator im sure some questions would be asked . . .
 
Suncoast Herpetological said:
Apparently Mr. Ritchie has opted for Banishment by Stupidity here. The countdown has already begun. Anyone taking bets on how many more posts it will take? :shootfoot:shootfoot:shootfoot
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John, John, John... If you even remember me from the "old days", I have have probably been banned from this forum more times than you have had bowel movements in the past week. I seem to remember a trivia forum here, where you and I were intellectual champs, so calling me stupid really gets me right here (alternately pointing to heart and buttocks).

Anyhoo, back to the point, I think I have made mine. Time to let this thread die.
 
jsrocket said:
Because you're question is absurd. I spelled it out in the first few posts.
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If that's your excuse then everyone at that show or any show for that matter is "Pushing" animals? For all you know the kid might of had more knowledge than even you about gators. He may have done a ton of research and had a lot of help from other people including his folks. But you decided to be judgemental instead of stopping and asking questions or even offer a helping hand.
 
Steve Hamm said:
If that's your excuse then everyone at that show or any show for that matter is "Pushing" animals? For all you know the kid might of had more knowledge than even you about gators. He may have done a ton of research and had a lot of help from other people including his folks. But you decided to be judgemental instead of stopping and asking questions or even offer a helping hand.
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Well, If he had that much knowledge and compassion about gators, he would not be standing at the entrance booth of a reptile show, trying to sell babies to lookie lou's, to make a quick buck, without any regard to where they would wind up when they were 6' long.
 
Uluru said:
You went to a reptile show and someone tried to sell you a reptile? . . .

Alligators dont make good captives for 99% of the people that buy them. But then again neither do boas , burms , retics , iguanas , large monitors , and not to mention all the wild collected stuff that people sell at shows. If you dont like it dont buy it.
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These aren't a pair of shoes or a cell phone. These are living, breathing animals with needs that when you purchase you are fully responsible for making sure these needs are met. Lets stop acting like they're a canned good.
 
I totally agree. I stated in my post you have to be responsible and do the proper research if you want to own something like an alligator. Not sure how you got I thought they were something like canned goods . . .
 
It is the notion that "if you don't like it, don't buy it". I don't think that is good enough. A seller of a burm, retic, venomous, croc or anything along those lines (potentially dangerous and/or difficult to care for or provide care for throughout its life) also has responsibility in who they sell to. Saying "it's the buyers responsibility to know what they are getting into, what I'm doing is legal" is a cop out in my opinion. I think the hobby has been shooting itself in the foot with the wild west free market approach it has been taking for decades. (Note: I hold this opinion for a number of pets species/classes, not just reptiles, but herps as pets are more widespread and popular than most).
 
jimoo said:
These aren't a pair of shoes or a cell phone. These are living, breathing animals with needs that when you purchase you are fully responsible for making sure these needs are met. Lets stop acting like they're a canned good.
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Which would be an accurate statement about any animal purchased, from the aforementioned alligators to the also oh so cute baby leopard gecko or turtle.
 
hhmoore said:
Which would be an accurate statement about any animal purchased, from the aforementioned alligators to the also oh so cute baby leopard gecko or turtle.
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Very true. Though the issues with long term care throughout adulthood is far more easily addressed for a gecko or (some species of) turtle than it is an animal that is generally treated as a disposable commodity. Turtles, of course, often run into different but related situations where you are effectively taking on the care of the animal for decades and one needs to commit to that.
 
In other words the "needs" are far more easily met for a leopard gecko than an alligator or anaconda.
 
I also say its up to the seller to educate . . .

Owning any animal big or small is a huge responsibility and commitment regardless of what species you get, after all thier life and well being are in the keepers hands.
 
hhmoore said:
Which would be an accurate statement about any animal purchased, from the aforementioned alligators to the also oh so cute baby leopard gecko or turtle.
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Right. I didn't think I would clean up the whole industry with one post, but just start with the OBVIOUS ones.
 
I would like to start by saying that I'm sorry I haven't responded to this sooner. I haven't been on Fauna for awhile, and I was just made aware of this thread yesterday by some of the vendors at our show. I would like to thank those of you who have come on here to show your support for us and our show. We do our best to run a quality show where people are educated about the animals that are available, and I have personally turned away a number of sales where I did not feel the customer would be able to properly care for the animal involved.

Now to answer the original post.

jsrocket said:
Went to this show.
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I would like to know when you attended our show. Unfortunately, the original poster has been banned from the site, so I don't know if I will ever get the answer to this question. However, this thread was started about 3 weeks after our February show, so I am wondering if that is the show you attended or if it was another month and what prompted this post.

jsrocket said:
At the door, where you pay your $5 admission,
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This is a small issue, but our admission is $4, not $5.

jsrocket said:
there is a zit faced 15 year old boy, hocking American Alligators. "They are so cute", etc. WTF? Encouraging an impulse buy of a reptile that you will never be able to care for to adulthood?
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The insinuation was also made by the OP in another post that we have seen this and done nothing. I have never seen anyone at the front table "hocking alligators." Our admission table worker and his girlfriend sometimes bring their pet alligator to show people, but he is not for sale.

There was a post made by Jimmy Sims (username Sharpshooter) in June of 2009 alleging this same thing. I asked for more details, and he was not able to provide them. Again, I have never seen a young person, or any person for that matter, at the front of the show trying to push impulse buys of alligators, and if I did, I would have stopped it. The only person I can think of that comes close to the description that was given is a mentally challenged son of one of our vendors who has not been to the show in more than six months. He is very excited about animals, and especially reptiles, and would sometimes walk around with different animals (usually bearded dragons) and talk about how cute they were. He may have told people that they needed to buy a "cute little baby alligator." (Again this is speculation, as I never actually saw him do this with an alligator.) However, I assure you that he did not have the ability to actually sell that animal. If a person was interested, he would have taken them back to his dad, who would have then talked to the customer about the needs of the animal before going through with the sale.

If this is not the person being referred to in the original post, then I do not know who it could be or when it would have happened. There is a lot involved in running a show, and I cannot be everywhere at once. I do my best to be aware of what is happening, but many things take place in the show that I do not see or even hear about. If you saw this taking place, I wish that you would have come to me and said something. The admissions workers or any of the vendors can point me out to you, and I would be happy to listen to your concerns and correct any problems that are happening at our show.

jsrocket said:
I will NEVER attend, or support this show again. The Collison bunch can kiss my you know what...
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I'm not sure who you are or if I would recognize you if I saw you, but I am always sorry when a customer is unhappy. I hope that this answers some of the concerns that have been raised about the show. If anyone has any other comments or questions, I welcome you to let me know, either here on this thread or through email.

Thank you.
 
collisonzoo said:
I would like to start by saying that I'm sorry I haven't responded to this sooner. I haven't been on Fauna for awhile, and I was just made aware of this thread yesterday by some of the vendors at our show. I would like to thank those of you who have come on here to show your support for us and our show. We do our best to run a quality show where people are educated about the animals that are available, and I have personally turned away a number of sales where I did not feel the customer would be able to properly care for the animal involved.

Now to answer the original post.



I would like to know when you attended our show. Unfortunately, the original poster has been banned from the site, so I don't know if I will ever get the answer to this question. However, this thread was started about 3 weeks after our February show, so I am wondering if that is the show you attended or if it was another month and what prompted this post.



This is a small issue, but our admission is $4, not $5.



The insinuation was also made by the OP in another post that we have seen this and done nothing. I have never seen anyone at the front table "hocking alligators." Our admission table worker and his girlfriend sometimes bring their pet alligator to show people, but he is not for sale.

There was a post made by Jimmy Sims (username Sharpshooter) in June of 2009 alleging this same thing. I asked for more details, and he was not able to provide them. Again, I have never seen a young person, or any person for that matter, at the front of the show trying to push impulse buys of alligators, and if I did, I would have stopped it. The only person I can think of that comes close to the description that was given is a mentally challenged son of one of our vendors who has not been to the show in more than six months. He is very excited about animals, and especially reptiles, and would sometimes walk around with different animals (usually bearded dragons) and talk about how cute they were. He may have told people that they needed to buy a "cute little baby alligator." (Again this is speculation, as I never actually saw him do this with an alligator.) However, I assure you that he did not have the ability to actually sell that animal. If a person was interested, he would have taken them back to his dad, who would have then talked to the customer about the needs of the animal before going through with the sale.

If this is not the person being referred to in the original post, then I do not know who it could be or when it would have happened. There is a lot involved in running a show, and I cannot be everywhere at once. I do my best to be aware of what is happening, but many things take place in the show that I do not see or even hear about. If you saw this taking place, I wish that you would have come to me and said something. The admissions workers or any of the vendors can point me out to you, and I would be happy to listen to your concerns and correct any problems that are happening at our show.



I'm not sure who you are or if I would recognize you if I saw you, but I am always sorry when a customer is unhappy. I hope that this answers some of the concerns that have been raised about the show. If anyone has any other comments or questions, I welcome you to let me know, either here on this thread or through email.

Thank you.
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Right here is why I put the Collison at top of my friends list. lol. The Collison group are just people that love being around animals and are so easy to get along with. A+ people all the way. I use to vend their show. And not once have I even seen a sick animal for sale at their show.

I have met so many friends at their show also.
 
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