• 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....

Bad Guy MEL KRUGER - CROOK

WebSlave said:
There is another level to this that I think a lot of people overlook.

Short answer: Search engines are an immense tool and this site does get ranked pretty highly in a lot of categories. If your name is here, people WILL find it. What do you want people to see when that happens?

I get emails sent to me fairly often from people who have long standing "bad guy" threads here about them asking, demanding, and sometimes begging, me to remove the threads about them because now, later on in life, they are finding that prospective employers or business partners are using the internet to research candidates for positions, and these threads are popping up for them to review.

So yeah, if someone wants to be a bad guy and screw people over because it is actually easy to do, go right ahead, I certainly cannot stop you preemptively. But don't come crying to me later on when you find out that your poor choices today will affect you dramatically tomorrow. I didn't make that bed that you are sleeping in now, YOU did. And no, the threads here about you, no matter how old, and no matter what you WANT, will NOT be deleted.

So choose wisely the path you want to take with your life today. Even if you only want to be a clown and make an ass out of yourself here now, go right ahead. It might not matter to you now, but how's that crystal ball working out for you concerning your future? Think you may come to regret that when someone important to your future sees it?
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I absolutely love this statement. This should be a sticky on every BOI type page. This is what alot of the Internet community fails to realize. You have to be very careful when choosing what type of content you want your name attached to. One day years from now Mr K will lose out on something significant due to his behaviour in this matter and on this thread. I have full faith that karma will come through on this. Mel it's not too late to salvage some of your rep man. Show the world that you can be a stand up guy and work something out.
 
JButera said:
suffered financially due to the this BOI forum.
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Often the scams here are outed pretty explicitly in a thread.
Although lost sales volume is difficult to quantify, common sense would dictate that readers of some of the more scurrilous characters that have lied, cheated and scammed their way through the reptile world would go elsewhere for their transactions, especially since the reptile biz is pretty competitive right now and there are plenty of upstanding honest sellers with whom do do business.


JButera said:
I would consider buying from him in a very rare circumstance where he had something I desperately needed; and yeah I'd be sweating throughout the whole transaction.
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Billy1138 said:
Based on his behavior in this thread, I would not buy a green anole from him. He clearly isn't taking anything very seriously at all, including his business and his reputation.. I wouldn't sell him a green anole either.

No offense to the green anole.
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I'm with Billy on this. I would never buy anything from Kruger even if it was the last critter of its kind.
At this point even if he makes amends, he has lied, scammed, and clowned his way into my Do Not Do Business With list and he is staying there. I would not even take the chance of this kind of business nightmare, why would I?.

Some people can turn their past around and start anew. I'm not getting any of this kind of 'I'm going to do better' vibes from him, quite the opposite.
For some people, and I think he is one, losing reputation is like losing virginity, it isn't coming back. Especially, as in this case, in the business world, he has deflowered himself.
 
Thenotoriousdud said:
One day years from now Mr K will lose out on something significant due to his behaviour in this matter and on this thread. I have full faith that karma will come through on this.
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While many people will care, I don't think it will matter in this particular case. Kruger's rep would have been trashed with most employers anyway due to the felony drug and theft convictions from a few years ago; ripping off Alex now and trading firearms as a felon - even if through an intermediary - just shows a pattern of continued criminal behavior.
 
I'll probably never buy anything from DTS or Backwater..but if kruger made amends with alex (verified by alex) I would consider buying from him.
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in case you missed this one*
 
Guy Castro said:
I'm sure you know how Forrest Gump would respond to that post.
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For once, you and I are on the very same page. The quote you're alluding to is literally the first thing that popped into my head. With each glaring example of how people can choose to ignore the writing on the wall when they think there's something to gain, I have to admit that it gets a little harder to sympathize when they get what others could clearly see was likely coming to them.

This isn't a situation that can be simplified to Mel Kruger just having made a mistake; or some kind of misunderstanding. There's no romanticizing him as someone whose moral fiber insists that he stand up against the tide in a situation where he knows he's in the right. What we have in Mel Kruger et all is a family-run business apparently headed by a woefully, hilariously unintelligent opportunist who seems inclined to run with whatever moronic idea that wafts its way into the void between his ears, as long as it directly benefits him. If it's not painfully obvious why someone like him doesn't even rate high enough to be considered among the bottom of the barrel, I don't know what is.
 
JButera said:
my point being; during this whole thread we watched how kruger was selling alex's animals (despite a Bad Guy warning right under his fb link on Google) and was wondering if most people just ignore this forum completely.
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I can't speak for most people but I certainly value, and have been greatly influenced by, the Fauna BOI. I won't buy without checking the BOI first. No matter how pretty their ads, I'm not interested in buying from anyone who is dishonest, who does not provide their animals with proper care, or who can't control his temper.
 
Nothing would delight me more than a call from the cops. Would honestly make my day and possibly make the OPs life a little easier.
 
Hi All!
I just thought I would add my 2-cents worth: as a non-professional snake keeper (it is just a hobby at this point), in my short time here on Fauna, I have found the BOI of immense value! There have been times where is settled my apprehension, while at other times it has helped me decide wether or not to purchase from a breeder/seller.
In this particular case, after reading through the ~entire- thread, I can honestly say I will NEVER purchase from Kruger. Nor would I be so remiss as to allow anyone I know or do business with to purchase from him without first directing them to this thread!
The BOI provides a vital service to this community and I am very grateful for the work that is done here.
~Beau
 
What I want to know is how everyone who bought those boas from Kruger would feel knowing they had bought stolen property and are by law in illegal possession of those animals and could face charges themselves, someone correct me if I'm wrong. But from my understanding that even if you didn't know, you were still breaking the law and can be charged.
 
If people, unknowingly, purchase stolen property, there is a possibility that they would have to return the property, to the rightful owner, but quite unlikely that they would be charged with having committed a criminal act.

....
 
ElexisOrtiz said:
Unless they refuse.
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Well, once they are advised (esp. if via authorities), they will have knowledge of being in possession of stolen property. Of course, refusing to turn over the stolen property, under that scenario, it would not bode well for them. However, that is not what you, initially, stated/asked.
BTW If they do turn over property, that they purchased *unknowing* it was stolen, they can turn around and sue the person, that sold it to them, for the purchase price.

....
 
Pasodama said:
Well, once they are advised (esp. if via authorities), they will have knowledge of being in possession of stolen property. Of course, refusing to turn over the stolen property, under that scenario, it would not bode well for them. However, that is not what you, initially, stated/asked.
BTW If they do turn over property, that they purchased *unknowing* it was stolen, they can turn around and sue the person, that sold it to them, for the purchase price.

....
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Wouldent that be a turn up for the books and truly Karma at work!
Alex would get his snakes back and Kruger would get a little of what he so richly deserves!!
Can only hope.....
 
I sincerely hope Alex reports Kruger tof the police. We have to heard from Alex in a few days hopefully he's working hard to make sure he gets what he is owed and kruger gets what he deserves.
 
spreckenbahasa said:
Well be sure to let the other vendors and possible buyers know at the Fresno show this weekend. He's slated for a booth there.
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Thats great, I wish more people would do that! If I weren't on the opposite side of the country I definitely would. Maybe if very few people buy from him at the shows he will feel the pressure to make things right and start acting like an adult. I'm not going to hold my breath tho!
 
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