Question About Visitors In Your Breeding Facility...

[Slim]

A question prompted by a thread I saw today. I'd like to hear your policy on letting visitors into your breeding facility. How about friends and family? How about friends and family who also keep their own reptiles? Let's hear it

[Pythonfriend]

i dont have a facility...

but then, i think if you cannot trust your close friends and your family with your valuable stuff, you are pretty much screwed. if the situation requires it, i would trust them to the point of giving them the keys to my home. lets say im in an accident and end up temporarily stuck in a hospital, those that i consider close can be trusted to the point of giving them my keys to get something from my home for me. without any worries that they might screw it up.

so, for me, when it comes to friends and family, its a clear-cut case. its a common sense thing, you should know your close friends and family good enough to know who can be trusted.

i think the real problem is that break-ins, theft, and acts of sabotage do happen. so keeping knowledge of the location of a facility limited to a small amount of people can really make sense. it doesnt matter much for small collections that are within someones home, where someone is around pretty much all the time. such small collections are basically similar to having a valuable comic collection or a valuable gun collection, or having a small workshop with valuable tools attached to your house. it also doesnt matter for really big facilities that have security cameras and reinforced doors. those inbetween, with a small facility and limited budget for security, but nonetheless some really valuable snakes, have the highest risks.

so i think how to deal with people you do not know well is more interesting. and it depends a lot on circumstances, like the value, size, and location of the collection/facility, if there is significant cashflow or not, and how much has been invested in security.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I don't have a facility only a room dedicated to snakes (soon I will have 2) and only a few people have had access to the room and it's not a regular thing. ......you can say I don't like to share my toys with others

Obviously I do not allow strangers into my home so customers or curious people do not get to come and see my animals even though I have had many request. Obviously it is a privacy security reason, how many people would let a total stranger in their home anyway snakes or not?

[John1982]

I chose no because I'm in the same boat as Deborah. I'd feel weird asking strangers to remove their shoes at the front door too.

[Marissa@MKmorphs]

I do not have a separate facility. My collection (about 60 animals which I have invested tens of thousands of dollars in) is inside my home.

I do not let people come to visit my collection. The list of people who have seen it is around 10-15 people long.

In Tallahassee, where I live, it is very heavily populated with students and lower income house holds. I don't make it known where I live and how much my collection is worth because the people who live in my area are not trustworthy. There is a high crime rate in my area, and with limited security I want to minimize the chance of anything happening, as far as theft goes.

Some of my visitors own reptiles, others don't. I am pretty cautious about exposing my animals to disease or parasites, to the point that when I get home from work (a locally owned pet store that deals with exotics and reptiles) my clothes go straight in to the washer to limit anything following me home.

My animals aren't just breeders, they are my pets and they are loved. It's no different than me being very cautious of who my puppy plays with and where she is allowed to go.

I guess my point is, I would rather be overly cautious than have something stolen or have my animals get sick.


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[gardenfiend138]

My small collection is at my house. Due to my partner having lots of circles she is a part of, I have had the opportunity to give many people positive first interactions with snakes. Strangers, no. For a sale, maybe, as long as they leave the axe at home (shout out to you chukkee11)! It's tough to get a positive name out there for yourself with a limited number of animals, so I want to be able to give customers as much information as possible, as well as let them feel comfortable with my level of husbandry. Friends, without exceptions. Only rule is no opening a cage if there is any real drinking happening.

[Slim]

it is very heavily populated with students and lower income house holds.

LOL, I live two hours south of you, and I resemble that remark...

[Mephibosheth1]

customers...do not get to come and see my animals even though I have had many request.

So you rely completely on Internet sales or Reptile Expos for your income from the snakes?? I would think that people would like to come and interact with the snake first/see it in person before committing to purchase, especially if they were in the area. We did that with our cats we got from the breeders...

[Billy305]

We have ours in a dedicated room at home. Our friends and co workers know we have snakes we just try to keep the specifics and value quiet. Only a few people have seen them.


Some friend could harmlessly mention details about them to another person who is more dishonest and could lead to a break in.

[Billy305]

So you rely completely on Internet sales or Reptile Expos for your income from the snakes?? I would think that people would like to come and interact with the snake first/see it in person before committing to purchase, especially if they were in the area. We did that with our cats we got from the breeders...

I bought a snake from someone on the forum who I am cool with now and he made me meet him in a nearby public place the first time.

I am totally ok with that and is what I will do when I have to deal with a complete stranger buying a snake from me.