• 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.
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    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.

New Technology could prove disasterous!

R

RedQuake

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Here i am watching the news only to see a report that just scares me to death!!! The police (up in Canada) can now use an infared camera to scan the tops of peoples houses looking for large heat sources, presumingly to find Marijuana grow operations.

Now call me paranoid but wouldn't my gecko room, which i keep around 80 degrees, with all the heat pads and heat wire on at around 90 degrees trigger an attack by the police if they scan my house??? The geckos are all kept in one room in the basement and other than where i keep the geckos the rest of it is usually quite cool.

I'm already aware that they fly overhead, we've seen the police helicopters circle around over and over (we live in farm country).

Ok so should i be paranoid, should i just go to the police first and inform them of the geckos???

Thanks,
Red :)
 
They’ve been doing this in my town for a while. Police helicopters fly over the neighborhoods every now and then. I don’t know if they are always using the infrared heat sensors or not. So far I haven’t got that knock on the door asking why 2 rooms are warmer than the rest of the house. If they did I would gladly show them that it’s noting but harmless reptiles and bugs and not pot. They would probably make a note and be gone.

My reptile and feeder rooms run about 5-10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. I don’t think the change is drastic enough for them to really take an interest in it. So I wouldn’t really worry about it.
 
Just don't leave any calcium powder lying out in the open. ;)
 
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Just don't leave any calcium powder lying out in the open. "

I almost peed myself!

LOL Olivia
 
Maybe.....

you should put up some anti-aircraft guns on your roof? That would probably keep them away? You should be able to make them out of pvc pipe or something. Somebody out there must have a "how to" page on there reptile website? Also If you light all the tree's in your area on fire it might mask the heat signature of your roof? Or you can haul up snow and spread it around your roof every two hours or so? Maybe you could paint a big target on your neighbors roof to confuse the airial swat team?....Or!!! you could paint in ten foot letter on your roof "I don't have any pot in here"....that should do it.....ya think? ;)
 
Calcium powder LOL, that was a great one!!!

Ok so ya i freaked out but i still think it sucks that they can do that. We use a wood stove to heat most of the house, all but the basement, so hopefully they will just think its another wood stove...can get around 100 degrees in that room.

In any case if anyone does ask they'll get a nice showing of my geckos.
 
I saw that on the CTV news last night too, I live in Southern Ontario, but I'm not worried.
The typical 'home grow' operation bypasses the electric meter, the smaller scale growers don't, so their electric bills are sky-high. Either of these situation would tip the electric company. If an occupied home uses next to no electricity, they wonder what's going on. Exceptionally high consumption will also get noticed. As long as you're within the typical family electric consumption rate, you don't have to worry.

The infra-red sensors can locate a heat source in the home. If you're going to grow pot there's no use only using one room in the house, you use every square inch of floor space, which means the heat from the lights will show up all over the house when they 'scan' it. It's not likely that a herp room will register as warm as a pot growing operation.

There was a home-grow house just down the block from me which the police raided about 3 years ago. I could sit at the window and watch them bringing everything out. Judging by the lights I saw them remove, I figured the heat in there must have been incredible. My lousy little floodlights would be nothing compared to the ones they used. The home-grow has to warm the entire room, heating the whole house. Even if you warm your herp room, the rest of your house won't be 90+ degrees.

I'm not worried about them banging in my door, and I've got tanks and cages in every room of the house (except the kitchen).
 
i dont know about infered stuff but they have been flying overhead for years here and they use some sort of black light that when scanned over "doobie central" illuminates because of the THC (thats the stuff that makes ya get high) in the plant ... but of course there have been acres of bud grown around these parts before.
 
How intresting

Pot realyl need to be that hot? Whats this abotu large scale hoem gorws bypassing electric meters?
 
Don't the police have anything better to do such as addressing violent crimes?
Sheesh- A little bit of pot and the swat team comes out !!
I could ramble for hours on the subject ( I grew up in the 60's and 70's-LOL) but I'll spare ya all.......:)
Sandy
 
This is far from new technology....... They have been doing it for many years...... I would say atleast 10 years where I am from..... I have never had a problem and neither has anyone else I know..... They are looking for more than just a heat source...... They are also looking for UV lighting used spacificly to grow plants and it differs from the UV used to keep reptiles...... Besides, they would not kick in your door to see if you have herb growing...... They would get a warrent and politely knock on your door......

Lady gecko, I kinda see what you are talking about but the bottom line is herb is illegal..... The police are doing their job..... Also drugs can lead to violent crimes...... Pot may not directly lead to crime but to some, it is a stepping stone to other, more hardcore drugs, which can lead to violent crimes.....
 
Big growers bypass the electric meter by using a generator. I heard about a bust in Lancaster. They had been using a generator, but the generator broke so the switched over to electricity until they could get it fixed. The huge spike in their elctricity usage raised eyebrows at the electric company and tipped off the authorities.
-Alice
 
They have had those helicopters here in NY for many years as well, atleast 10 or so. And the lights they use are ussually ballister lights, which generate huge amounts of heat, but they can get around that just as easily now by doing a forced airflow setup. That is why they test for the THC now around here, as Robin mentioned. But again, the growers get around that just as easily. NY seems to be one of the worst places, probably like most northern states due to the colder winters a lot of people grow indoors, so they are always looking for ways to get around things. There is ussually an article in the paper every sunday about new technology and plans the police have to scout out home growers.

But besides that, if they do happen to bust any of you for your gecko room, maybe you can make them feel like such idiots they will by all your normals for 200$ each...either that or you sue them. I'm sure the lawyers could come up with something to sue them for :p

Hell, I read an article the other day where some guy broke into an old ladies house and cut his leg when climbing through the window he broke. After robbing her, he then sued her for him cutting his leg....and his lawyer pulled it off and he one. I'm sure it will go to a higher court...but still, lol. Is'nt the judicial system great?
 
it's warm enough here to grow bud outside... thing is you need water but that is nothing a little irrigation cant help.... when i was in high school a friend of mines dad got busted for growing 5 full acres of bud smack dab in the middle of a several hundred acre ranch. shoot we used to find it growing out by parts of the little river that runs thriugh our town. it;s kinda funny kid brought this really pretty plant home to his mom..... she had grown up in the 60's and 70's and that plant looked familiar LOL .... she called the police to come check it out and sure enough, bud. they went and collected several other plants from where that kid found his.... actually quite funny to read in the police blotter of a town with the population of about 4,000 ... shoot thats big news .... people talked about that for months LOL.... btw that all people really do in small towns talk about the newst thing to shock them til they find something else or it gets boring, because you have nothing better to do
 
The lights used for hydro...

are MH and sodium. They put out a ton of heat and will run your power bill through the roof. Reptile rooms do not put out near the same amount of heat. I grew hydroponic plants (not pot) for years as part of my science class. I was going to get some new equipment from a big bust but I moved before I was able to. Pot growers are morons, they spend tons of cash on the best equipment when you can build the same setups for about 20% of the cost. I stopped hydroponics because it got too expensive for the nutrient solutions, I did use the lights for my iguanas...they loved it, $900 worth of MH lighting I'd guess they would love it! BTW, the police will check on several things before getting a warrant to search, mistakes are costly and embarrassing! They will know you have herps before you know they checked you out so no need to worry!
 
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