• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • 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.

Looking for rational thoughts...

NIGRO51

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Im in search of thoughts and suggestions on a situation because my first reactions are usually anger.

I purchased a baby "female het pied" back in 2011 from a reptile show. I knew it would take time to prove it out but felt confident in my purchase and wasnt in a rush to breed anyway. I do not powerfeed so she was finally up to weight last season and I was ready to breed. Paired with my visual pied male I witnessed a few locks but mostly fighting. The snake produced no eggs so I chalked it up to her not being ready.

Fast forward to this season. The snake is eating and growing like a beast so I can already see baby pieds hatching in my head. From the beginning the snake locks with my pied male with no issues so I think nothing of it.. until now. The rest of my females are gravid but this one seems slim in all the wrong places. I probe the snake and its a MALE!

What to do now>??....

Do I just bend over and take the loss because I should have made sure or do I rage a bit?....
 
It's been four years. Nothing you can really do at this point except be angry at yourself, and use it as a lesson to double-check the sex of everything you purchase in the future.
 
I like to give people the benefit of a doubt. I'm not sure if the seller intentionally sold you a male by calling it female, but the seller could have popped the snake and it popped female. This is why I always probe all my "females" once they reach a certain age. I've had several switch genders on me.

Your situation would still make me quite angry though, so I'm with you there. The only silver lining in all of this is that adult het pied females are relatively cheap now, so you could add one to your collection without too much financial pain.
 
I can't pop them once they're past the baby stage, but probe kits are only about $20 and well worth the investment if you're breeding. Its super easy too, watch a video and it's very obvious how to tell between the two.
 
Sorry I just realized you said you probed it, but why didn't you probe sooner? I try to sex within a couple days of getting a snake to make sure...if they're small it's super easy to pop them, and if they're bigger probing is easy.
 
I can probe thats how I realized it was a male. My big mistake was not being suspicious and checking for myself earlier. Im reserved to just eat my losses but I cant help but feel cheated a bit out of the time and years spent raising an animal that is now totally useless and monetarily worthless.

As for het pied adult females being cheap I think we have two totally different looking bank accounts :rofl: I saw one for $400 but for that I would rather not gamble again and spend less money for a visual female baby.
 
Sorry I just realized you said you probed it, but why didn't you probe sooner? I try to sex within a couple days of getting a snake to make sure...if they're small it's super easy to pop them, and if they're bigger probing is easy.

2011 is when I started to focus on ball pythons so I was very new and it never crossed my mind to check since it was bought as female. Its a hard lesson to choke down but hopefully someone learns from this and goes on a sexing spree through their collection.
 
I'd be mad too, I don't blame you. After this much time though I think you just have to take the loss. It's a bummer but that's part of working with animals.
 
What if you are not capable of sexing? I cant be the only person who cannot pop a snake.
I also have issues popping babies, especially smaller ones like my BRB's, though I've gotten better at it over the years. I have a friend come over and double check, and I don't tell him what I think it was so as not to sway him one way or the other.
 
I also have issues popping babies, especially smaller ones like my BRB's, though I've gotten better at it over the years. I have a friend come over and double check, and I don't tell him what I think it was so as not to sway him one way or the other.

I do the same thing to my partner Victoria, I sex them first and then tell her to do it so she can get practice :p

It definitely takes a little practice but after a couple dozen I found it pretty easy. Its one of those things you can't really learn from videos or watching, you just have to do it yourself (in my opinion anyway).
 
It may just be me but I have never asked for paperwork at a show nor have I ever seen anyone else ask. I was so focused on the risk of getting a het that the sex never occured to me.
 
I usually provide paperwork and keep a copy in a folder on my puter. It benefits the customer if they also choose to sell or trade the animal in the future.
 
I do the same with all my hets. I provide the buyer with a photo genetic & sex guarantee, plus keep a backup on the computer. Alot more ppl should take the time to do that also. Would definitely help ppl buy with more confidence, good thing for the hobby.
We picked up a het albino adult fem from a show from a reputable guy. Hes always at the shows i goto & have talked to him at every show. Last year we bred her to a visual albino male & got all normals. We are doing the same breeding this yr but with a different visual albino. Should i have said something to the breeder or wait to see what happens this yr?
 
Im in search of thoughts and suggestions on a situation because my first reactions are usually anger.

I purchased a baby "female het pied" back in 2011 from a reptile show. I knew it would take time to prove it out but felt confident in my purchase and wasnt in a rush to breed anyway. I do not powerfeed so she was finally up to weight last season and I was ready to breed. Paired with my visual pied male I witnessed a few locks but mostly fighting. The snake produced no eggs so I chalked it up to her not being ready.

Fast forward to this season. The snake is eating and growing like a beast so I can already see baby pieds hatching in my head. From the beginning the snake locks with my pied male with no issues so I think nothing of it.. until now. The rest of my females are gravid but this one seems slim in all the wrong places. I probe the snake and its a MALE!

What to do now>??....

Do I just bend over and take the loss because I should have made sure or do I rage a bit?....
I've lost count of the number of of females that I purchased from trusted sources which turned out to be males...
Nobody is perfect, mistakes happen, and - no matter how much we understand that gender doesn't change - there does seem to be a time limit on such complaints. I would make the situation known to the person that sold you the snake; but there's really no easy resolution that is likely to happen. I've never gotten (or expected) anything more than a sincere apology, and an offer to try to locate a female. Bottom line, confirm the gender in a timely manner - it's a lesson many of us have learned the hard way.

We picked up a het albino adult fem from a show from a reputable guy. Hes always at the shows i goto & have talked to him at every show. Last year we bred her to a visual albino male & got all normals. We are doing the same breeding this yr but with a different visual albino. Should i have said something to the breeder or wait to see what happens this yr?
BP clutches are small enough that the results often don't match statistical expectations. A single pairing that doesn't give the expected results isn't enough to make the claim that you got ripped off - do another breeding before contacting the breeder.
 
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