Big dealers

[marisa]

I was cruising the American classifieds on Kingsnake...

Ever notice those couple of big compaines who have like 30 classifieds, in like almost every section, of like every herp you could want?

It's nice to see variety in the classifieds, but when I see the same company with soooo many animals, even one company openly stating that they are WC, it kinda bothers me....

Not like I think they shouldn't sell that many, or whatever, just it's weird ya know? I mean, when I actually *buy* a reptile (not a dumped on my doorstep like normal :() I look very carefully, at both the snakes available and their breeders, their breeders other ads, etc. And I can't invision myself ever buying something off a huge company like that....It just seems to me they wouldn't have time to know anything about a certain animal, seeing as they have classifieds for 2000 others, especially when they have WC. Of course this just really applies to the "norm" herps....common snakes and lizards as I know sometimes you can only get certain things from dealers like this....but anyways, it's just weird too me. I would feel like I was buying a piece of clothing at a dept. store or something, not an animal. I dunno! just random, rambling thoughts....

marisa

[Corey Woods]

There are some legitimate breeders around that actually sell only their own animals. But, there are mainy more that not only sell what they've got they do a lot of trades and sell other peoples animals as well. Not that there is anything wrong with that it's just that a lot of people assume that if you are buying a CB animal from a big breeder that they produced it (which is sometimes is not the case).

Some of the dealers in the states do breed their own animals and some of the "breeders" I'd classify as dealers as they sell more WC animals than CB. There are examples of this anywhere though.

Basically it all comes down to the individual company you are dealing with. Some companies deal with a lot of different types of animals but they also have many educated employees as well (not the kid next door who is getting minimum wage and doesn't care about anything).

As always it is best to deal with a reputable breeder who actually produced the animal him/herself or is well educated with working with the animal.

Just my thoughts anyways,
Corey

[Darren Hamill]

I agree with Corey,

This has been an ongoing debate over many different forums on Kingsnake. If you are planing on buying a reptile from a breeder or dealer and they claim it's captive bred and born (CBB) do some research on them and make sure they are whom they claim to be. It's one of my peeves when I see breeders/dealers posting opn the classifieds making the statements that the animals that they are selling were produced by them and they are CBB when you know they aren’t.

Another thing that happens more than people admit it is that many people advertise their animals as "CB." This can be misleading because this can stand for both "captive bred" witch means the adults were bred and produced offspring in captivity or it can also stand for "captive born" witch means that the animal is from an imported gravid female. These are two VERY different things! A more appropriate way of advertising your animals if they are captive bred and born id CBB. This way there is no mistaking them.

Again it all comes down to doing your research and making sure the person has a good reputation in the buisness/hobby. There is no substitute for 100% CBB reptiles! Take it from the experienced breeders that produce the real quality that you're looking for.

[marisa]

I agree with everything you both said.

I just wouldn't feel right buying a snake from one of these HUGE dealers in the states....I would feel like I was getting a mystery snake really in some weird way. It's hard to explain...I am not really "against" them of for big dealers...I personally just would feel really apprehensive about pruchasing from them over a home based small scale business.

marisa