How young is too young?

[littleindiangirl]

What age do you think is too young to sell to? There is a level of responsibility that many herps require to survive that is often missing in pre-teens to adults.

Not just talking ball pythons, but bloods, chondro, morelia, BCI's giants, chamleons etc...

For vendors at shows, do you have any reservations to sell a <18 year old an animal that you know requires intermediate or experienced care?

For giant breeders, do you think they should be selling to kids younger than 18?

Ball breeders and others, what do you prefer?

This is all hypothetical, but assume that your table, email, or have been called by someone under the age of 18 for an animal. What do you require before you sell to them?

[MATT FISHER REPTILES]

i ask them how old they are in a e-mail then when they respond that is a leagle binding contract that they are in fact 18 and you are not liable in any way after that. if they are not i like to talk to one of the parents about the animals and make sure they undersatand what they are bringing into there home. this is not such a big deal now that i have balls but when i used to sell boas this is more of a concern.

[Ophiuchus]

Not really a dealer/breeder myself, but I feel that a parent should be aware if they're under 18...well, maybe 16. I hear stories of dealers that will just sell anything to anyone with the cash (including hots), but I really don't know how often that actually occurs. But still...whatever "legal adult age" is the particular state....thats what I think dealers should keep in mind.

[kc261]

I think for anyone under age 18 I'd at least ask if they have their parent's permission. For somewhere around age 14 or 16 and up, I'd accept the word of the child that they had permission. Under that age, I'd want to speak/email with the parents directly. The exact dividing line probably wouldn't be age only, but also how mature and responsible the person seems to be.

I'm sure some of those 16 year olds would lie about having permission, but what are you going to do? At some point they are responsible enough for it to become their problem, not yours. I mean, in theory, you could ask every adult man you sold to if he had his wife's permission to bring it into the house.

For animals that require more difficult care, that grow to be giants, are venomous (not that I think I'll ever have those), I'd ask ANYONE buying from me to be sure they know what they are getting into.

And for any animal I sold, I'd make it clear to the buyer that even after the sale is complete, I'm available if they need help with how to care for it. And that if for some reason they cannot keep it, I will take it back from them and/or help them find another good home for it.

[LadyOhh]

Every time I sell to a minor (under 18), I make sure I talk to the parents on the phone to make sure it is alright for the minor to have the animal. This goes for shows as well (in person)

I also give extended advice, and offer a return option in case the animal cannot be cared for in the proper fashion.

[spix14]

Well, I'm not a breeder, but...

I would probably stick to 18 and over, unless the parents were actually with them and I could talk to them. Some parents will allow their kids to gets snakes even though they are afraid of them, then the kid gets tired of the snake, and the parents are too scared of the snake to take care of it, and then the snake gets neglected. I saw this all the time working in pet stores.

As far as the bigger snakes...to be honest, I think 21 and older. I might make exceptions if I knew the kid personally or if they came across as having done their research and seriously knew what they were getting into...but I feel like a lot of teenagers just want big snakes to look cool to their buddies, and that's a disaster waiting to happen IMO.

Honestly, once I start breeding, I'll probably end up having who knows how many snakes, because of how picky I'll be about who I let buy them.

[frankykeno]

I think it's not completely fair to say teenagers only want a bigger snake to impress their buddies. While that might be true for some kids, that could be just as likely true for some adults. It's a bit too much of a generalization.

In our own collection we have a small milksnake that my husband quite likes but rarely handles due to his huge hands and her small girth. It's not a comfortable experience that he enjoys when it comes to handling Emi's smaller size. Now, my 16 year old, he has a male boa. Sev will grow to quite a decent size and part of that was what drew my son to want a boa. As much as Lucas enjoys the ball pythons, he naturally is drawn to a more robust sized snake. Different people like different snakes for different reasons.

Being the kind of parents we are we made our kids "earn" their snakes through good grades, earning part of the price of their snakes, helping care for them and setting down a plan for the snake's future. That information was shared with both the people that we got Emi and Sev from since they were going to be snakes owned by teenagers. Even our 6 year old, who has an 8Ball ball python knows that Buddy is his snake and as he grows up he'll be expected to take over more and more of Buddy's daily care. He has been shown how to feed Buddy and regularily helps feed the rats that his snake feeds on.

Milksnake, ball python, boa or burm - I'd like to think a responsible seller looks beyond a quick buck when it comes to selling any snake to any minor child. Personally though I've yet to sell a snake, I don't believe I would ever be comfortable selling to anyone under 18 until I spoke directly to their parents.