Big time breeders vs. Small time Breeders

[Texas Dan]

After buying my second BP I know I may not be the authority on this but this is a free country so I have the right to voice my opinion (within reason). I think I prefer dealing with small time breeder more than big time breeders. It has been my experience that they seem to do a much better job of answering the phone, returning emails, and they seem to be less strict about prices and will work with you.

This stems from my most recent experience looking for a nice female pastel. I tried contacting a certain big time breeder in SE michigan area multiple times and found it extremely difficult to get a hold of him. I called his business once a day for about a week straight and not a single time did someone answer the phone. I left several voicemail messages and no one called me back. I had to message him on myspace before I ever heard anything from him. He said they had one female pastel left and I asked him to send me a picture to my email address and he never sent it. When I finally did an email from him it was a response to something I filled out on his contact me page the first time I every visited his website. By then he said they were out of female pastels.

I continued my search and was able to get what I was looking for from a small time breeder in cali. Would have preffered to have purchased locally in michigan but we will see how delivery goes later this week. My communication with this breeder was excellent and she sent me several picture of the snake along with a pic of the mother.

Here are definitions of Small time and Big time:

Small time= Breeding snake is not their main source of income or it is part of another business that they own. They take care of all of their snake or at most have one other person helping them. They usually have a snake room in their house and not huge facility.

Big time= breeding snakes are there only source of income (not including those who have retired from other jobs). Have a staff of 4 or more people. Have Huge breeding facilities the size of a small department store.

So what type of breeder do you prefer to deal with?

I've never purchased a snake from BHB, but I had a question once, Brian called me and gave me his cell phone number. I had a question about a snake, and he was ready to mail it to me that day. I would just go with whoever has what I want, and is known to be a good deal.

[hondo1967]

There attitude doesnt really matter to me, I see something I like and buy it. Big breeders want to deal with higher end morphs, i bet if you look to spend 3000 they will answer your questions. But thats the norm most places. I sent graziani an email and never got an answer so i bought elsewhere. Im sure its not personal maybe they didnt check there email. Theres so many breeders to choose from.

[muddoc]

My question is if your selling a snake... people want to see pictures... why wouldnt you take like 10 pictures of the snake(s) for sale and put them on your computer?? This way when someone comes and says can you send me pics its like a 2 second process... I understand some people have like 100's of snakes for sale and thats a little much to expect/ask for but the majority of breeders arent huge. I know this is what I plan on doing when I have babies for sale.

My theory on this has been that I take 3 pics of the snake for sale. I then pick the best picture and load it on the website. I think that someone can definitely know if they are intersted by that one picture. If they are interested, then when they call or e-mail, I can send them as many other pics as they would like. Once I get one request, I'll save the extra pics. However, as you stated at the end of your post, we produced 121 animals last year, and expect to double that this year. I just really don't have time to take 2500 pics and load them on the computer.

I just wanted to share my take on this. However, I do hate looking at an add for a snake, and the seller was too lazy to take at least one picture, especially if it is a snake that they are asking over $3000 for (and I have seen plenty of those adds).

[Entropy]

If there is a picture that is at least halfway decent I don't ask for another. In my situation there were no photos of available animals. None. And I don't buy sight unseen except in one case and I was pleasantly suprised (thanks Adam!).

[waltah!]

My experience with BHB was excellent. Brian sent me pics of multiple snakes to choose from on the same day that I asked. He also responded to all of my emails or myspace messages on the same day provided I did not send too late in the day. He also shipped the same day that I paid via Paypal which was awesome. I always got one early the next morning in that case. Tracy Barker was also great when it came to communication and shipment. If I was buying from NERD then I would just go there to look and buy in person as it's pretty close. As I don't have many snakes at the moment I have not dealt with any small breeders, but would not hesitate to if I felt comfortable after conversations and word of mouth.

[mikedahitman87]

Well, I see that the breeder whom I was referring to has had his named mentioned. I purposely didn't want his name mentioned because I don't feel it is right attack a person's rep from one non-transaction. Chances are if I see at a booth at a big show, i will prolly stop by and make a purchase. He has some nice looking animals. My cousin is into corns so I might get her something nice for her birthday.

[Papa Burgundy]

I have a hard time dealing with anyone that is reluctant to getting back to me. With all of the technology around today, messages and email is at our fingertips. If someone is to run a business, big or small, they must realize that people are trying to get in touch with them.
With that said, I would usually go with the smaller guys. Your business usually matters more to them and their prices are usually much better.
As long as the snake is healthy, and you don't pay and arm and a leg, it's all gravy when it comes to balls.

[rabernet]

Well, I see that the breeder whom I was referring to has had his named mentioned. I purposely didn't want his name mentioned because I don't feel it is right attack a person's rep from one non-transaction.

There's really only one "big time" breeder in SE Michigan, so it really wasn't too hard to figure out who you were referring to.

[West Coast Jungle]

My theory on this has been that I take 3 pics of the snake for sale. I then pick the best picture and load it on the website. I think that someone can definitely know if they are intersted by that one picture. If they are interested, then when they call or e-mail, I can send them as many other pics as they would like. Once I get one request, I'll save the extra pics. However, as you stated at the end of your post, we produced 121 animals last year, and expect to double that this year. I just really don't have time to take 2500 pics and load them on the computer.

I just wanted to share my take on this. However, I do hate looking at an add for a snake, and the seller was too lazy to take at least one picture, especially if it is a snake that they are asking over $3000 for (and I have seen plenty of those adds).

I agree 100%

[SatanicIntention]

If a person is selling a snake that I want, I will go above and beyond being neurotic and will research that person until I am blue in the face. I ask the bigger breeders if they've heard of them, or have dealt with them, and if they have, and that person gets good reviews, then there aren't any problems. A good number of my snakes are from small-time breeders and there have been good and not-so-good transactions.

I've also emailed some of the bigger breeders and have either gotten responses right then and there, and had a good transaction, sometimes I was just plain ignored or forgotten, so they didn't get my business. In the situation of the bigger breeder who ignored me, I was wanting to buy a breeding-size Ball, and willing to pay for quality. I'm very picky about what my animals look like, so if I don't get a picture of the snake I'm interested in, then I won't buy.

I've also had a good number of small breeders go above and beyond the call of duty to send me pictures, even of normal animals, so I could pick.

All in all, I think it evens out.