Melamine Racks

Just Curious,

Did you buy snakes from these guys? Or did they just offer you all kinds of help because you just one hell of a guy.

Bill

Graziani: No, as I said in the post.

Alan Bosch: Already bought the python, he went way out of his way.

VPI: Got feeding advice prior to being a customer.

My point is, they aren't ALL bad.

Hey,

And by the way...I know it always seems like we generalize everyone when we are complaining about the few....But the reality of the situation is this. And believe me I am glad you are such good buddies with the big boys. When I started out I emailed about 4 of the big breeders and got one semi descent reply, and that was from the Sutherlands. That is it. That was all I needed to know that I would not be dealing with the big breeders. They don't need me and I don't need them. And if I ever do forget everything I just said. LOL...Just kidding. If I ever have to get anything from them I am done with the hobby. Just my take on it. Don't let it ruin your night.

Regards,
Bill

Good enough. But I never said i was "big buddies" with any of them. I'm not. My goal when I buy a snake is to get the best quality I can afford. Some have come from big breeders, others have come from small breeders. I don't exclude either. If I don't get a response for 2 weeks, then yeah, I'm probably not going to deal with that breeder. But I don't expect them to write out long e-mails to me. They get hundreds a day, care for large collections of snakes and in many cases, rodent colonies, go to multiple shows, handle shipments, etc. I just expect them to answer an inquiry within a reasonable time and if we have a sale agreement, then to ship the proper animals the proper method at the proper price. And so far, they have.

Hey,

Believe me we are in full agreement. The point I have to make here is this. All of us on these forums that have been building a snake room and collection are eventually going to sell off our babies. Do you think you will ever get too big to answer individual emails of any level of experience. I will tell you for sure that it won't be me. And if I ever got that big I would find or hire someone to keep positive public relations with anyone kind enough to write me for snakes or help.

How can these major breeders make so much money over the years and act like emails are a problem. Do you know any big company outside of Snake Breeding that has any issues with keeping up their PR? I mean I have written some of the middle sized breeders when I was trying to buy a super pastel and when the pics they posted were not adequate and I asked for some more pics they told me they did not have time to take individual pic requests? Mind you this at the time was for a 1000.00 dollar snake. Are these problems you want to have, because I do...I want a lot of those problems. The difference is I won't be so over loaded that I cant spend 15 minutes of my day to take the pics requested. Just my two cents and I just get so upset by the Big Breeders that act like our money is chump change and we have to buy their time.

Remember too. We all want to sell snakes. If everyone is buying from the BEST Big Breeder....Who is going to buy your animals. Lets make darn sure that the new people getting into our hobby realize that the small breeder can turn out a very nice snake just as good as from the Big Guy down to the breeder with 5 snakes. If we keep kissing rear ends of the Big Guy, we will never have a chance to make it with our own animals.

Regards,
Bill

Alright, I think we are in agreement here. I buy from both as I mentioned. I consider my male Cinnamon to be one of the favorites of my collection and like him a lot better than many others I've seen and he came from BallpythonInvestments who I believe is a smaller breeder (great guy by the way). A big breeder doesn't necessarily mean great snakes. I'm indifferent. But if the snake I want is from a big breeder, then that's who I'll buy it from. I agree with you that if they can't answer e-mails at all, then something is wrong. That's only happened with me with one big breeder and I won't buy from him as a result. I just don't expect long answers from them. But to your point, if you can't decide on an animal based on the picture they have, then asking for another picture, especially on a $1,000+ animal, is not unreasonable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

I met The Snake Keeper in person, and he is ONE RUDE SOB.

I can see why he talks down on melamine, he doesnt make it.



I was just trying to shoot the breeze with him and talk about new morphs that were comin up and he goes...no joke people

"ITS ALL CRAP. THERE IS NOTHING NEW AND EXCITING ON THE MARKET EXCEPT MY TRI-STRIPE."


I can say with great pride, that I will NEVER buy anything from him.

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I emailed him once about something, and while I don't remember what exactly about, I do remember he came off as you describe.

I would rather buy a ball morph from a 16 year old kid who's passionate about snakes, then a cocky know it all. I don't care what he's bred, that kind of attitude makes anything he does a mute point.

BrandonsBalls

I made my rack from Melamine and I love em, although I will not lie, they are heavy but i have no plans on moving them.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/DSCN3719.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...r/DSCN4736.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old_School

I made my rack from Melamine and I love em, although I will not lie, they are heavy but i have no plans on moving them.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/DSCN3719.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...r/DSCN4736.jpg

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That's a sweet setup man.

Like another poster stated, the particleboard substrate, not the melamine-impregnated overlays, contain formaldehyde based resins. However, particleboard is actually becoming safer as the California Air Resource Board as passed a series of laws drastically reducing the amount of free-formaldehyde molecules allowed. Even the board coming from China must meet these strict standards so no worries. Prior to the CARB standards being implemented, particleboard was relatively stable once laminated. Most of the off gasing occurs during the cutting and fabrication process when the wood fibers are being disturbed. However, the problem of sagging remains and as mills convert their glue lines to more environmentally friendly (weaker) resins, the internal bond strength erodes causing the modulas of elasticity to fall (e.g. less horizontal stiffness) Because of this problem we add interior trusses to our larger cages to reinforce the roof. Actually, we've begun moving away from particleboard altogether in favor of a plywood core panel with melamine overlays. This way you still get the clean look of melamine overlays with the strength and lighter weight of plywood. Its a lot more expensive to have plywood laid up in this manner but a bowed roof is unacceptable.

Snake Reptile Cages