Quote Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki
there are definitely some great people selling animals at shows, but unless you know who they are BEFORE you go to the show, you're rolling the dice.

Hope this helps.

-adam
I couldn't agree more! Whenever there's a show locally, I print the vendor list about a week before the show, and start researching on the BOI. I sort of grade them 1-3. 1's are people who have favorable BOI threads and who I am somewhat familiar with. 2's are people who don't have any reputation on BOI and 3's are those with a history of bad transactions on the BOI.

I will only do business with the 1's. Usually there are only 3 or 4 "1's" (for me) of people I will consider buying from.

Occassionally, I'll get to the show and there will be a vendor that I'm already familiar with (like Ballroom Pythons South) that wasn't on the vendor list, but was very familiar with their quality, who I'd also buy from.

And just a personal thing for me, I ALWAYS pass from a vendor who has a ton of babies in one small display tank. I don't see the balls, I see nothing but potential parasite or sickness.

Basically a lot of words to say - anytime you go to a local reptile show, it's always good to have done your homework, not just on how to care for your new pet, but also of the vendors who will be showing.