• 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

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    Posted 08/15/2025
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    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.....

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    Addendum: 01/10/2026
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    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....

shipping price

some people do a box charge (I see this a lot more with feeders) but most people build the price of shipping materials into the price being asked for the animal.
 
When you ship reptiles should you charge for shipping materials?

For me, it depends. If I am shipping out a $50 snake, I might, but $500 probably not. I like to reuse boxes if I can, but I usually just take it out of my pocket if I have to. From a business stand point, this would be something I would have to factor in, but I am just a "hobbiest" with a day job.
 
Better to factor it into the pricing - whether it be on the shipping end, or the price you put on the animal. If I'm buying something from Average Joe Reptiles, and they inform me that there is going to be a box or handling fee, I am more inclined to say Thanks, but no thanks. I sort of look at it the same way as I view somebody saying I have to add the 3% for a PayPal purchase...the difference being that I can't turn the box charge person in for violating a TOS, lol.
I don't use the pre-made kits...there are several reasons, but one of them is that they are expensive. Once somebody is doing enough shipping, the convenience factor weighs in more heavily, and it makes more sense.
I, personally, don't like reusing boxes; first impressions mean a lot, and layers of tape, or ripped paper (from removing the old tape) just don't do it for me. I'm not so anal that I complain about receiving that type of box; but, in my mind, it says something (its hard to define just what that something is - I've given it a few minutes, and failed). I guess, to an extent, it sort of depends on the situation. I HAD to reuse a box when I shipped my adult dumerils - it was a large box from Mice Direct, with the styro cooler inside. The dimensions were such that I couldn't easily come up with an exact replacement, and I was set on using the cooler (3 adult boas, with a combined weight of nearly 60 lbs, requires a sturdy box)... I'd selected that box because it arrived in perfect condition, and I'd used extreme care in opening it. I didn't like doing it, though.
 
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