Certification

[Nate]

is there some sort of certification you can get to be recognized as a herp professional?

[mlededee]

i don't know but there should be some kind of certification that you have to get in order to keep herps so that we don't end up with so many cases of neglect and abuse and just general people not knowing what they are doing. i really hate it that just anyone can walk into a petstore and purchase a snake or a lizard or whatever without the slightest clue as to how to care for it. sorry, i rambled and got you off topic.

[elevatethis]

A college degree, such as a BS in Biology with a focus on herpetology is probably the standard for getting a job working with herps. Second to that would be a degree in Wildlife Management or something along the lines of that. I would think that you will need some sort of higher education though.

[Nate]

oh i agree 100% there mlededee...

A college degree

i'm earning a college degree in Multimedia....there's no way i could change my lifestyle right now...

i guess i'm thinking more along the lines of...what mlededee said

instead of ppl buying a snake and not knowing what is going on, there should be some sort of test given that proves your knowledge of the animal you want.

[mlededee]

hey nate, i do multimedia stuff too. right now mostly web design, but also flash, cds, some after effects and the occassional print work. isn't it fun?

[kontron]

that is a great thing pet stores should do. answer a test before being allowed to purchase the animal. i know when i went to pet kingdom they asked me a ton of questions before letting me get even rats.

[elevatethis]

If you were a pet store owner and you fed your family based upon the number of animals that you sold, would you want to disqualify prospective buyers or sell an animal first and worry about proper husbandry later?

Welcome to the real world y'all...

[Jeanne]

Let me explain from both sides of the fence on this issue:

I worked in a pet store, it is not the employees place to judge who knows what about what animal, if it was, they would never get sold. Also, you will ALWAYS have an employee who dont give a care about where the animal goes, as long as it gets sold. For a pet store to administer a "test" for them to decide whether you, the buyer are capable/eligible, it would almost seem not right. If they take a sudden dislike, you would not get the animal.

But, from the reptile trade point of view, if it were required to take a "test" in pet stores, it would open up a so to speak "black market" type thing going on, ppl would get tired of that pet store side of it, and would find other outlets to get the animals they want. If the big breeders of these animals were to "test" perspective buyers, and start turning ppl down, the breeders would also lose $.

I think that there is a huge problem with ppl buying animals they know nothing about, but lets be honest, how many of us really knew what we were getting into 100% before buying the animals, part of having them is being WILLING to learn how to care for them, then being MOTIVATED to give the right care to begin with. Part of thr "fun" of having them is learning how to care for them and doing so. It all comes down to being responsible in owning animals.

[UberAlice]

I agree wholeheartedly with Jeanne.
The best thing you can do when faced with a customer who wants an animal they are obviously not prepared for is to emphasize the more difficult parts of their care (note I said emphasize, not exaggerate) to try to sway them from their decision. Unfortunately, some people just can't be budged.

[sophie42204]

I also totally agree w/Jeanne. It doesn't matter what kind of animal it is, there will always be people that buy/acquire them but don't really want them. If they did truly want them then they would be willing to learn how to do it right, in other words they would CARE about the creature to begin with. I will never understand why people get dogs, cats, snakes, or even have kids when they really don't want them b/c it always ends up in neglect. Sad but true....