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    Posted 08/15/2025
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    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

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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....

Tom Crutchfield - dba Herps Ltd

Another Pearl of the Herp World !

Tom Crutchfield........how soon we forget. This guy has ripped off more people than EVERYONE combined on this site. He has been caught importing and exporting illegal, protected and endangered animals. He was basically run out of the Florida reptile community in the 80's. Now he is back and credible ??????????????? Have you people lost your collective minds ?
 
i recently bought a boa from tom. the snake is exceptional, as was the service. tom is a different type of snaker than he was ten or so years ago. ive heard other people say it, and ive experienced (experianced?) it first hand. i would buy again from mr. crutchfield in an instant. and yes, i know of the laws he broke concerning the reptile trade. it was in the past, and they are counterproductive laws to begin with. IMO.

joe
 
chonjoepython said:
i recently bought a boa from tom. tom is a different type of snaker than he was ten or so years ago. and yes, i know of the laws he broke concerning the reptile trade. it was in the past, and they are counterproductive laws to begin with. IMO. joe
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He pleaded guilty to seven felony counts for his part in an international smuggling ring that specialized in the smuggling of rare and endangered reptiles.

He was on federal probation for a 1995 conviction involving, for yet again, the smuggling of endangered Fiji Island iguanas.

He fled the country to avoid prosecution.

He shaves his body.

He would take your money instead of accepting your payment.

He phones folks to intimidate them if they have a complaint and go public about a transaction they had with him.

Yep. Thats the mans legacy Joe. Its what he will always be remembered for regardless of how many animals he sells now or in the future. I know he has a love and a passion for animals but it wasn't his love for the animals nor his desire to bring a new species into the country for hobbyist to enjoy that placed him in prison. It was all about his ego and greed. Plain and simple.

Be smart Joe and find yourself a new idol.
 
Oh my God Critical Bill......

....you have a new fan. Finally someone here said the TRUTH !!!

I must have been wrong about you Bill - you are sounding like a Republican now !

Yes, good ol' Crutchfield did call and threaten people cause he was a body builder and he thought he was untouchable. Guess who put him in prison ?
Guess who got the Feds looking at him ? Well I know because it was a result of the 1980 "Snake Scam" run by USFW. Everyone got caught up in that. These Feds set up a pet shop in Atlanta, GA and started buying animals for just ridiculous prices. Only one person got out of it and not because he ratted anyone out. He just refused to play ball and roll over for the Feds. He was written up in Texas Monthly Magazine in '80 or '81. When Crutchfield and Hurst screwed this guy, he gave them up.

Any of you remember Shawn Hurst in Alpine, Texas ? He owned the Gulf Service station there. He screwed a certain person as well and got popped for shipping Texas Torts out of State. Then Crutchfield screwed this guy with a honduran Milksnake and that was that. How many years did ol' Crutchfield get ? Did he loose his wife over it ? He is still the snake he always was. Glad to hear someone else remembers.
 
I can't believe anyone would do business with this guy when he got popped I grinned from ear to ear ya I got screwed just like the rest of ya.
 
The best thing about Crutchie's enterprise was his mailing list. It provided dreams for herpers that were readily crushed by the bastard and his staff if and when they ever placed an order.
 
hey bill

did i mention that he was my idol? i only stated my personal dealings with tom. have you ever personally delt with tom? have any of you? we all have a past, some worse than others. he broke some wildlife laws back in the day. that in itself does not bother me as most of these laws are counterproductive to the survival of the species they are intended to protect. and from now on bill YOU are my idol. can you cope with that? how do you know whether you can or cant? you dont know me one iota.
joe janovetz. :dgrin:
 
chonjoepython said:
did i mention that he was my idol? i only stated my personal dealings with tom. have you ever personally delt with tom? have any of you? we all have a past, some worse than others. he broke some wildlife laws back in the day. that in itself does not bother me as most of these laws are counterproductive to the survival of the species they are intended to protect. and from now on bill YOU are my idol. can you cope with that? how do you know whether you can or cant? you dont know me one iota.
joe janovetz. :dgrin:
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What bothers many people more than his smuggling was the fact that he ran from it and only returned to the US to face the charges when literally forced to do so. As for your opinion of the law, to which you certainly are entitled, considering that you evidently cannot even well enough to figure out what "bill's" name is, I don't hold it in very high regard.
 
chonjoepython said:
did i mention that he was my idol? i only stated my personal dealings with tom. have you ever personally delt with tom? have any of you? we all have a past, some worse than others. he broke some wildlife laws back in the day. that in itself does not bother me as most of these laws are counterproductive to the survival of the species they are intended to protect. and from now on bill YOU are my idol. can you cope with that? how do you know whether you can or cant? you dont know me one iota.
joe janovetz. :dgrin:
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You been schooled, don't be fooled.
 
its ok jim, we all make small oversights from time to time. kinda like i did in not realizing that "critical bill"s name is actually chuck. but that is beside the point. ill ask again, have either of you (chuck aka bill or jim) bought or attempted to buy anything from tom crutchfield? because i have. and i got just what i was looking for, at a great price, with very good service to boot.
:thumbsup:
 
Check out page 2

post #8 for a summation my expererience with Tom. Had nothing to do with his illegal activities, just his lack of ethics.
 
Opinions and happenings

Years ago, when Tommy started his business, I dealt w/him on occasion. I had no bad dealings whatsoever..in fact, oftentimes he would include a specimen as a gift which I thought was very considerate. During this time, He, Penny and the girls all helped so as to make the business work. Even during those early years, Tommy had problems finding honest and hard working help which led to many "28" hrs. work days !!!! I believe that as the business grew (because of shipping nice animals,etc.) so did the need for more help. Unfortunately, pickings were slim as to ethics and qualified individuals applying for such jobs. Tommy had a tremendous overhead which invariably placed a great deal of pressure on him . He had really struggled and sure as hell didn't want to lose everything. He crossed the line by importing and/or smuggling certain rare protected reptiles. I believe that Tommy lowered his standards and ethics in an effort to save everything he owned. He was caught and paid the price for those mistakes. I do know from a number of reptile collectors that Tommy is sending excellent quality specimens and has been very helpful in the total transaction. I would not hesitate to purchase specimens from him. He paid his debt to society and will hopefully rectify the past. Many people do not visualize this happening...remember ,we are all entitled to our own opinions and I do believe that many people change their previous ways.....I wish the best for Tom--maybe because I have no axe to grind. Regards, Earl H. Turner Ph.D.
 
That is no excuse

Tommy boy is a crook. He always was a crook. If he needed to become a crook to take care of his family - he is still a crook. I guess robbing a bank to take care of them would have been okay too !? What about all the people he stole money from ? They had families too. They worked just as hard for the money he stole from them. As for him paying for it....he only did so when his luck ran out and he had to come back to face the music. Like the crook he was - he ran like a low life coward from his deeds. I hope he paid a dear price for it too. How are Penny and the kids ? They were probably really good people. Too bad they were conected to Tommy. I hope they, at least, are doing well and far away from Tommy boy.
 
Hey keith, did you ever do business with tom, or are you just along for the ride? ive asked this question to other posters and gotten no real answer. did you EVER do business with tom crutchfield?
 
chonjoepython said:
Hey keith, did you ever do business with tom, or are you just along for the ride? ive asked this question to other posters and gotten no real answer. did you EVER do business with tom crutchfield?
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So you would let a child molester watch your children because he hasn't molested them yet? Would you stick your hand in a fire because it hasn't burned you?

The man is a smuggler and there are plenty of people who have posted here about bad deals and animals. That's enough for me to know that he hasn't really mended his ways. The measure of anyone in this business, and most others for that matter, is not how they handle the good transactions, but how they handle the bad ones. On that, old tommy hasn't changed his spots.
 
The man is a smuggler and there are plenty of people who have posted here about bad deals and animals.
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Actually I skimmed back through the posts and I couldn't find any negatives on recent transactions, but I am sure there must be one. In any case I believe that chonjoephthon's problem with k.willimas55 is that he makes blanket statements like this:

This guy has ripped off more people than EVERYONE combined on this site.
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Which I believe is not true. My dealings with Tom are all from the old days and I had no problems with either Herpetofuana or Crutchfield's. The smuggling was wrong, of that there is no question, but I am more interested in what's happening now.
 
kmurphy, please read the first few posts in this thread. there are several people who recently bought from herps ltd (tom) and were more than happy with the service and animals. and please, lets not compare herpticulture to child molestation and such, its just plain senseless. :NoNo:

ps that last statement not aimed at you kmurphy.
joe
 
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