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  1. #1
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    Exclamation How do you report an irresponsible/abusive Ball Python breeder?

    Hey all! Just wanted to stop in and ask to see what the best course of action is here. I recently went to a repticon. When I was nearing the last bit of the show, I saw a guy with a table full of 'misfit' ball pythons. He was selling them reduced due to defects and illnesses. He had an entire bin of adult ball pythons that had upper respiratory and other illnesses. He said he 'didnt feel like paying to fix them' so was selling them for $10 as snake food.

    I didn't think anything of this, because I know some people can't cull and I thought he was just selling off those ones.

    I later spoke with a friend who said a year before he sold her a very expensive morph that had a defect, but did not tell her or mention it. She didn't realize until the drive home. So it seems like this guy has a track record of breeding unwell snakes.

    Is there anyone I can bring this to? Or report to? Thanks in advance!

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  3. #2
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    It's fairly common to cull, freeze, and sell kinked/misfit snakes as feeders for other snake-eating snakes. I never heard of selling them live at expos.

    I would never purchase a snake with RI as a feeder, too much danger of cross-contamination and a lot of collection-killing viral diseases initially present as a simple RI. If their owner isn't willing to treat then he should either cull the snakes or give them away to people who will take them to a vet.

    As to where to report:
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/foru...iries-Feedback

    There are some Facebook groups where you can report the seller, including:
    FBI - Feedback and Inquiry
    Herpetoculture Feedback and inquiry
    Herp Industry FBI: The Good, The Bad, The Truth


    Finally FaunaClassifieds no longer has their Board of Inquiry for posting feedback, but if the vendor you saw selling sick snakes posts his own for-sale ads on that site you can post feedback on the seller just under his ads as responses; you can not create a new thread for feedback.

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    I haven't been to an expo in years but it shocks me to think of anyone selling such snakes (sick ones, with RI's?) at an expo, & personally I'd also be complaining to whomever was responsible for putting on the expo. RI's (or other illnesses) are contagious, so knowingly bringing sick animals to such a gathering? There's just no excuse for that, IMO. If mites can get shared at these things, so can viruses etc.

    Physical defects are another matter, but still? How sad, & it sure doesn't give a good impression, does it?

    And as bcr229 said in above post, buying a snake with an RI as a "feeder"? No way that's a good idea, ever.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 04-17-2021 at 11:53 PM.
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    Re: How do you report an irresponsible/abusive Ball Python breeder?

    Thank you for your response! I didn't realize until I was walking away how bad it was that he was selling sick snakes while surrounded by healthy snakes and responsible vendors.

    I think I was just dumbfounded over the entire thing. I've never seen anyone willingly sell sick animals at any of these shows.

    The sheer amount of them made me really question his entire set up. Like how bad is his breeding stock that he has 30-40 snakes with genetic defects? Not to mention the 20-30 sick or injured ones he was selling for food.

    I'm just hoping by reporting him something will be done or at least investigated. Again thank you for providing a link and information!
    Last edited by Whisperedwoods; 04-18-2021 at 02:33 AM.

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    Re: How do you report an irresponsible/abusive Ball Python breeder?

    Quote Originally Posted by Whisperedwoods View Post
    Thank you for your response! I didn't realize until I was walking away how bad it was that he was selling sick snakes while surrounded by healthy snakes and responsible vendors.

    I think I was just dumbfounded over the entire thing. I've never seen anyone willingly sell sick animals at any of these shows.

    The sheer amount of them made me really question his entire set up. Like how bad is his breeding stock that he has 30-40 snakes with genetic defects? Not to mention the 20-30 sick or injured ones he was selling for food.

    I'm just hoping by reporting him something will be done or at least investigated. Again thank you for providing a link and information!
    I have a couple guesses.

    One possibility is he's a super cheapo and has his breeding stock consist entirely of what are supposed to be "pet only" specimens that are typically sold by other breeders at a discount, and he sells what good (or "good enough") offspring he gets for an inflated price as hinted at by your account of the friend who bought from him before while simply offloading the rest as mere feeders.

    Another is he picks up a bunch of unwanted snakes from Craiglist and other such places, many likely already in poor condition, and shoddily breeds them that way.

    Regardless of the method, it's nothing short of awful. Not only for the animals under his "care" but the blatant endangerment of all other animals at the event as well as potential tarnishing of other vendors' reputations. For example, a perfectly good quality breeder unknowingly has one of their snakes infected during the show by the bad vendor's stock, and then when someone buys the snake, brings it home and finds out they have a sick animal, they'll think it was because of the responsible breeder when it wasn't their fault in reality.

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    Re: How do you report an irresponsible/abusive Ball Python breeder?

    Quote Originally Posted by Whisperedwoods View Post
    The sheer amount of them made me really question his entire set up. Like how bad is his breeding stock that he has 30-40 snakes with genetic defects? Not to mention the 20-30 sick or injured ones he was selling for food.
    When Texas had the big ice storm and the power was out for days a few months ago a lot of breeders ended up losing clutches, or, if the clutches hatched out, all the snakes were deformed because of incubation temperature fluctuations from the power outages. If he had 5 clutches in the incubator and there was an incubation issue that could easily add up to 30-40 deformed babies. If that were the case he could have disclosed it though.

    I'm surprised the vendors around him didn't complain about the snakes with RI on his tables also.

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    So my question is did you bring it to the attention of Repticon? I thought they (repticon) didn't allow sick animals to be displayed or in the venue.

    I wouldn't want to have a table next to a vender full of RI animals. As for misfits being sold cheap. They can make great pets. If they can eat an drink on their own they'll be fine. Not everybody wants to breed noodles.

    For feeders, everything has to eat. Cows are cute when they are dumb calves. When they are 1900lbs they a pains in the backside. On the grill they are mouth watering

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    Re: How do you report an irresponsible/abusive Ball Python breeder?

    I didn't. I'm still kicking myself for not asking a staff member or something. I honestly didn't even think of it. But I have his name+info so besides reporting it I'm going to bring it up at the next repticon.

    And yeah, I understand the misfits+feeders, but it just looks really poor from his end to be selling sick snakes.

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    Re: How do you report an irresponsible/abusive Ball Python breeder?

    Quote Originally Posted by Whisperedwoods View Post
    I didn't. I'm still kicking myself for not asking a staff member or something. I honestly didn't even think of it. But I have his name+info so besides reporting it I'm going to bring it up at the next repticon.

    And yeah, I understand the misfits+feeders, but it just looks really poor from his end to be selling sick snakes.
    I'd be contacting them now, well before the next expo. I'd let them know that I wouldn't be going because of the risks & poor practices they're allowing- unless they change immediately what they allow to happen there. Even if you had tracked down a staffer while there, they might have been low-level & they might have blown off your complaint. You want to reach the top people in charge, the ones that make decisions, however poorly.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 04-18-2021 at 03:12 PM.
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    Re: How do you report an irresponsible/abusive Ball Python breeder?

    Quote Originally Posted by 303_enfield View Post
    I thought they (repticon) didn't allow sick animals to be displayed or in the venue.
    Repticon does not vet vendors and has turned a blind eye to a lot of shenanigans over the years so I won't attend their expos. The only vendor I know of that Repticon actually banned from its shows was brought up on charges for a long list of crimes related to reptile smuggling.

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