Who Can Be Trusted

[KodiakWood]

To honest I really dont even know how to start this but first off there will be no names mentioned here .. but let met start by say Im really sorta new to this forum and basically found it from a post that caught my eye ok enough of the dribble and to the point who is really trust worthy ive spent the last week reading this boi{some of it reads as a soap opera] and everybody that was recommend By word of mouth has been trashed mind you Im not looking for High End way out of my price range snakes Im just looking for the Honest People Who sell and deliver what they say they have Ive gotten burned on a couple of dealings{had Couple Good Ones they know who they are} but that dont stop me {slows me down}and Im not going to throw there names out there because its senseless the point is Who can you really trust in this BUSSINESS so I guess Ill just end this Here Billy

 

[Dennis Gulla]

Billy, I would be happy to give a list of good people to do business with. Could you please be a little more specific? What kinds of snakes are you looking for?

 

[KodiakWood]

Boas

Im into Boas Sorry i should of said that up front

 

[Dennis Gulla]

Good Quality, But Not Over Priced

Here is a list of breeders and brokers that I have personally done business with in regards to boas. Good quality animals, and excellent reputations.

Ben Siegel Reptiles
Herp Hobby Shop- Bob Potts-(813) 925-0041
Rich Ihle- SalmonBoa.com I believe ( higher priced)
Jeff Ronne- The Boaphile

Here are some more that I have not done business with, but would do so at the drop of a hat!

Dembinski Reptiles- Joe Dembinski
Hopkins Wholesale Herps- Jim (Hoppy) Hopkins
Nappa Valley Snakes- Stephen Emerick
The Boa Store

Hope this helps

 

[ms_terese]

Billy,

I know it can get discouraging, but don't forget there are lots of "good guy" posts on the BOI as well. Don't pass those up, they're worth reading!

To add to the list that Dennis gave, I would mention NERD and ProExotics.

However, if you see something advertised somewhere that you like, just do a search on the BOI first, or ask for some references, etc. Don't let a few bad apples spoil the fun of finding the animals you want to add to your collection!

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

I would like to add Mike Greathouse of Reptilian Dreams (reptiliandreams.com) to that list. Mike and I have worked closely together for a number of years and the quality of his animals is second to none.

 

[Darin Chappell]

Maybe I'm being Polly-Anna-ish about this, but I think that the more Bad Guy reports and scams we uncover, the better the industry is, as a whole. Furthermore, the more of these people who are identified for what they are, the better the good guys, who do things right, look, and they become easier to identify.

As to the individuals from whom you received bad deals, I would like to encourage you to consider the following: Make certain that you are in the right on these situations (so as to avoid any embarassing backfire ), then feel free to post their names here.

Unfortunately for those who embrace the "it's all a big clique" theory, there is no one here who is exempt from the examination fo their peers. There have been several individuals, who were once thought to be "good guys," who have since shown their true colors and were outed on this forum. Too many, recently, it seems.

I would make sure you have your facts straight, email those involved to give them ample opportunity to make things right, and then post away! If they are wise, you will be made whole before you have to take that last step. If they doubt that, have them call Neil, Tim, Fred, or any of the others who thought that they were greater than the community of which they were but a small part. They serve as excellant examples of what NOT to do!

 

[CheriS]

I can understand KodiakWood's feelings. No doubt there are some very unethical people in this industry, but there are also some good one. At least this site allows us to discuss them and offers an outlet for other people to seek information before they buy.

Its also a fact that some of those that are pulling what I think as some shady things, don't get reported. People involved with them are too afraid to be what they think are the sole voice of complaint or have seen their pack supporter come out against someone that did complain or even just warn others to ask more questions and why.

Spending a lot of time on reptile medical forums and seeing necropsy report paints a very different picture from what is believed by much of the public about certain breeders... but due to their name in this industry, people are afraid to speak out about what they have had happen to them.

They see the people who have bought a few things from them, defend them and its been fine, but not the other 10 people that bought something that died with the same symptoms or infected their whole collection, because they do not know there are those other 10 people. We can encourage them to come here and post, but so much of the time they are too intimidated by the name to.

Their response often is how can there be a problem when so and so bought from the same breeder or line and is raving about them...... never knowing that breeder also bought up clutches or offspring that belonged to others who where mass dumping them as they knew they had a problem or poor genetic lines. ALWAYS ask a breeder if they produced this offspring, who the parents are and get pictures of them. At least then you have something to stand on when you find out the babies were shipped from another state that week from common parents and not this *hot* line.....people do talk and these things can come out at times.... Don't assume that since you bought from one breeder that the babies they sell are actually theirs or healthy, they have no idea if they are or not, they only had them a short time and really do not even know for sure the age. A perfect looking animal can be sold off as a baby or Juvie, but can be a lot older and have problems that are not visual if you believe they are much younger.

This past week I saw a breeder selling animals starting they were 10 weeks old, in fact they were 1-2 years old and inbreed with genetic size problems from that, look perfect and healthy, but will never grow and the new owners well spend money on vets trying to find out why their "baby" is not thriving, maybe if the vet is knowledgeable, he can tell them there baby is that age and not a baby.

He's right, who can you trust? There are a few out there with impeccable standards and records, but not as many as most people think

 

[KodiakWood]

eyes wide open

I know There are good and bad. Like I said earlier the ones you hear that are best in the field, turned up on here as No Good Ppl, I have had out of 7 purchases/trades 2 that if asked for I would Recommend,the other 5 burned me. but you know what if its 50$ here 50 $ there it adds up and thats ok, Because as im Writing this it dawned on me, I travel alot Im going to start doing bussiness in person.....Thanks for all the feed back and the list of ppl who are honest in your eyes......Billy

 

[Wilomn]

I have purchased several boas this year and all but one deal went very smoothly.

Mike Greathouse Reptilian Dreams
MsTeresa Jungle Mist
Greg Riso
Randy Bush

All the above were smooth transactions, particularly Mike as I forgot to include shipping charges when I sent him my money order and he shipped anyway just on my word that the additional funds were on the way.

On the one bad deal I had, the snake was and is in excellant shape. However, it took me several weeks of asking to get verification from Kelly Sharp that the snake was a het for albino and what I did get was not proof of anything. I got a handwritten invoice that simply stated she had purchased a female het for albino boa from someone Named Mark Wallace in Salt Lake City. There is a Mare Wallace in Salt Lake but, he is an electrical contractor that has NOTHING to do with snakes.

If anyone has any info or can help me get a vendors list from a show in Salt Lake last August 4,I would appreciate it. Kelly has not been getting back to me and I have requested this from her several times. She did have some other hets for sale and if you are considering purchasing them, if they are even still for sale, I'd ask for verification up front. Had I seen the invoice she sent me beforehand, I would have passed. Hopefully she will either send my the info I have requested or will make some other arrangement with me on this snake. I have offered her several options.

I don't, yet, think she's a bad guy, I do believe she bought this snake as a het, however, it did take me a long time to get this inadequate invioce. Hopefully she'll come through for me.

Wes Pollock

 

[evansnakes]

Good people to buy boas from, IN MY OPINION:

Brian Sharp (albino, albino hybrids and more)
Will Slough (hypo, anery, ghost)
Mark & Kim Bell (redtails, bolivians, argentines, dumerils)
Marc Bailey (hogg isles, hypos, redtails)
Jeff Ronne (lots of boas)
Boa Basement/Doug Matuzak (all mutations)
Pete Kahl (albinos and hybrid albinos)
Pro Exotics (albino, anery and snow boas)
Darrin Bell (argentines)
John & Amy Mack (originators of the hypo/albino argentines)
Best Exotics (anery colombians and hypo/albino argentines)
Brian Barcyzk (dumerils, argentines, albino & anery colombians)
Greg Riso (lots of boas)

I am sure I am forgetting some people but I hope this helps you out. Evan Stahl

 

[snakegirl]

another to look out for

there is another bad guy that likes to do trades who is stealing pics off of websites and passing them off as his. some of you may know him as jeremiah stark ( see old boi) he used the alias "andy" but still has the same phone number . i was told of this and checked it out so it may be worth someone else's time if they get any emails about trades.

 

[Gilbert Thompson]

Some more good ones!!

I can tell you of some great experiences with some great people!!
Stan Ruppel from WI;
Tom and Amanda Burke from NY;
I just recently done some deals with these guys and their animals are GREAT!!
Some more folks that are really good:
Bryan Sharp from WV;
Lee Barrie from Colorado;
Robyn @ Pro Exotics and
Ken Siffert from NY (Although I think just Gilas and Torts with Ken) !!
All of the above are GREAT people from my experience that care and will never send you in the wrong directions.
I hope this has helped!
Take care and good luck!
Gilbert Thompson

 

[Adam Block]

I'll list a few of the best people I know in this business:

Chad Fuchs - www.cfsnakes.com (mainly colubrids)
Marc & Ronda Van Winkle - www.nwherp.com (mainly colubrids)
John Romeo - Harbor Reptiles (631) 774-3617 (mainly boids)
John Manser - johnrmanser at earthlink.net (mainly boids)
Shannon Hiatt - www.qualityreps.com (mainly colubrids)
Jim Demirjian - www.jdtails.com (mainly colubrids)
Tim Rainwater - (Yes I'm kidding
Don Soderberg - www.cornsnake.net (mainly colubrids)
Rich Z. - www.serpenco.com (is my nose brown)

Also, everybody will say big names when asked who the best is or who can be trusted. Big and best don't go hand and hand, big and trustworthy don't go hand and hand. Tim Rainwater and Tom Crutchfield are two of the breeders that drive that point home. What they did went unchecked for far longer then it should have because they were big names and people were too scared to say anything against them until they had a mob of people behind them, there are many Rainwaters and Crutchfields still out there so don't let a name fool you. Find a small breeder you can trust and ask for names of big breeders/people you know that will vouch for them.

 

[dan felice]

trusting big names....

my neighbor and i received 2 higher end bullsnakes yesterday [8/23] from a very well known breeder. the snakes were well packaged and beautiful and in great shape....but he sent them 2 day air and charged us $60 delivery! we checked w/ fedex and found out we were heftily overcharged for shipping by this person. i was shocked to say the least. we sent him a letter concerning this matter and are waiting to see what he's going to do. no word yet.........

 

[snkkpr01]

Stone cold Reptiles

I would like to add myself to the list of good guys to deal with for Boas. I breed Col. and Surinams. If you do a search you will find only good things said about me.( I dont usually brag, but to me good posts are really great.)

 

[Mark and Aimee]

from a very well known breeder

but he sent them 2 day air and charged us $60 delivery!

I can't think of a single well known (respected) breeder who would send ANYTHING by 2 day air.

we were heftily overcharged for shipping by this person

This depends on the extent of the overcharge... But please consider the cost of the shipping box, snake bags and/or deli cups, packaging material, and time/fuel spent to drop the package off at FEDEX (if it was not picked up). These things are often overlooked in the price of shipping.

I'm not saying you don't have a valid complaint... But it all kind of goes back to the "well known breeder" who sent you snakes by 2 day air?? That's just stupid.

 

[Adam Block]

This depends on the extent of the overcharge... But please consider the cost of the shipping box, snake bags and/or deli cups, packaging material, and time/fuel spent to drop the package off at FEDEX (if it was not picked up). These things are often overlooked in the price of shipping.

I ship in a hard sided cooler costing $10

Hand made snake bags by my mother taking roughly one hour of her time and $10 in supplys to make 5 of them. She makes $30 an hour in real life so that breaks down to $8 per bag.

It takes me about an hour and a half to get a snake packed and get to FedEx and back. Plus I drive a Tahoe so gas is sort of high. An hour of my time is worth $20 at the very least to me. So with gas that's $30.

A box for shipping and packing supplies are another $2

FedEx next day shipping is $30

So with the above qoute you're saying I should expect people to pay me $80 for shipping a snake, heck that's $88 a pair for shipping?

$60 unless shipping delta is insane, end of story. Shipping through any carrier should never be more then $40.. I charged $39 in the hot summer in AZ with a cooler, hard ice pack and everything not to even mention FedEx was 25 miles from my house one way!

I mean I don't care what people think, I lost money much of the time on shipping so maybe it's me that's the stupid one. From a customer service standpoint though, I wouldn't feel right about any part of that. I even felt bad charging $39 shipping. When it was normal temps I dropped shipping to $25.

 

[dan felice]

the box weighed 5 lbs....

and was normal sized, 12'' x 12'' i'd guess. i have shipped and received many snakes and assumed the shipper was going to use delta dash when i was told what the shipping would cost. in fact, we were told that it exceeded $60 slightly but that ''he would call it even''. then the box came.... clearly marked, fedex 2 day air. when we ran the tracking number, we discovered that the actual shipping cost was less than $13! again, we have no complaint w/ the snakes whatsoever but we were GOUGHED on the shipping. incidentally, the snakes came from arizona to philadelphia, where it was almost 100* most of last week, including the day they arrived. 2 day air for live animals is NEVER acceptable and temps were extreme at both ends. if i didn't see and experience this for myself, i doubt i would have believed it....but it happened exactly as described here. still no word back from the email we sent him but we're waiting........

 

[KodiakWood]

Like I said earlier the ones you hear that are best in the field, turned up on here as No Good Ppl,

This quote was wrong I apologize for that,my fingers couldn't keep up with my mind there are some really good guys out there and trust me Ive been checking .....Im just a little guy trying to start a new collection{geeez I wish I could afford some the snakes I have Seen.......lol} ..hey Mark[GOOD GUY] the baby is doing great thanx again