If you sell a critter to a minor...

[Daniel.michelle]

my little tidbit applies to really anyone purchasing a reptile, not just minors.

I'm 17 right now and I keep monitor lizards (I just had one lay eggs actually) so there are minors who are very good at keeping reptiles.

I speak from experience when I say to people selling, do not tell the person what the animal needs (at first) for any large animal. An ignorant person(minor or adult) will not care or listen anyway. With anything "large" you should quiz the person on basic knowledge of the animal (how big it will get, how old it will get, and what/how much it will eat, ENCLOSURE SIZE) first (to show it is not on impuls) and if they cannot do that, then do NOT sell them that animal. it may be tedious for if you're at an expo with a lot of people, but it can be the difference between being a good owner, and an animal being released into the wild.

That's my little tidbit anyway. just an idea.

[Felidae]

Haha... Teenagers.
I remember my first "big", an adult female burm, when I was around 15-16.

My father always fear from the snakes but he accepted my little hobby. (A good papa)
He didn't really listen me when I told him what I'll bring to home in the next week. (A busy papa)

When I got the big lady, I needed help from 2 friends to get home and to put in the terrarium what I built before. She was heavy and nasty one..
At the evening when my father saw her the first time, he sad to me: You can choose.. That snake, or me... My answer was: Listen Papa, I told to you that I would like to get that one, and you agreed. I spent a whole week to build a good size cage, and hours passed to take out, bring home and put in... I'm tired.. So do what you want, take her out with your bare hands and bring back, or make your suitcase.
I kept the snake and my father too...

[Daniel.michelle]

Hey, some of us teenagers actually know what we're doing. Granted that's only like 2% of us, but still.

[Felidae]

Agree

[Lizardlicks]

None of this is to say that teens are all terrible, irresponsible loafs and shouldn't be trusted to care for a living thing ever. I have known far more than just 2% of teens who I think would be conscientious and attentive exotics keepers! But the fact is, that as long as you're legally confined to living under someone else's roof, you gotta live by their rules.

The kid who owned this snake may turn out to be the BEST snake owner ever in a couple of years, when they got an apartment, with understanding landlord, and roommates, but even if they were able to put the time and money into the snake right now to make sure it was set up properly, they did it behind their parents' backs, leading to this, "take it out back and shoot it," situation. Hence why make sure a) the parents know about it and b) are okay with it, before selling to a minor.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Selling to a minor is something I have done (it's rare) however the talk with the minor customer only goes as far as picking out the snake, asking questions related to the snake after that everything else, reminder of the commitment, the actual sale, payment and shipment is handled by the parents.

Nothing like selling a snake to a minor without dealing with the parents for it to bite you back in the butt.

[Mr. Misha]

Nothing like selling a snake to a minor without dealing with the parents for it to bite you back in the butt.

Agreed. It has nothing to do with how responsible the teenager is. At the end of the day, if you sell anything to a minor without parental consent, you're on the hook.

[bcr229]

Ayup. Anyway we've reached out to the breeder b/c after we saw this girl, what the kid said she was doesn't match her looks, I'm not seeing Jamp.