sheer stupidity

[sarahbell]

Me and my husband bought 2 childrens pythons today. We went to the breeders house and he took us to show off his extensive collection. as we were looking, he started to clean turds out of an enclosure 1 foot away from my husbands bare feet. he walked off about 20 feet to get some newspaper and i enquired as to the breed of snake as it looked strangely like an INLAND TIPAN... He confirmed this which caused me and my husband to take a few very LARGE steps backwards away from the snake poking its head out of its enclosure.
After the deal was done and we were bagging the childrens pythons, he noticed that a snake was out of water. He lifted the lid off a shallow enclosure and walked out to the kitchen to get some water. we had a brief look in the cage and made a quick exit outside when we saw a death adder looking back at us.
i'm all for cleanliness of their enclosures, but leaving enclosures with highly venemous snakes inside open when 2 people with a 9 month old baby come to buy a couple of childrens pythons i think is a little bit rude. at least a bit of warning would have been nice. what do u think, is this the norm out there, or am i just being a little paranoid???????

[almaron]

No, it's not you. That is pretty stupid. I think I'd buy from someone else next time, and maybe tell the guy why.

[grahamh]

I hope it's not the norm. People like that make me wonder how they manage to keep going. Only thing I can say is he must be prety confident in his own ability. Obviously has no respect for others let alone his customers. Good luck with the new additions - they must be a lot safer in their new home.
:roll:

[sarahbell]

the only reason that i'd go back to him is that he has a large range. from memory here is what he breeds... coastal carpets, jungle carpets, diamonds, childrens, black headed, olives, womas, death adders, inland typans, stimsons, water pythons I think that that is it, he had 2 very large rooms crammed full of smallish modular enclosures. of his selection, he has 3or more pairs of each. his prices are a little eratic, i.e i paid 150 each for hatchling childrens, which i think is quite reasonable. yet he sells coastal carpets for more than that..
The other thin that worried me a little is that he must make a hell of a lot of money as he wouldn't even knock $10 off the price, yet he lives in a crappy house filled with rundown furniture and has crappy raw chipboard enclosures for his 'pets', i'd love to know what in the hell he does with his money

[almaron]

Buys antivenom. Just in case, ya' know.

Hullo sarabell.

I am curious here, why would the breeders income worry you and if it is of concern to you with what he does with it, why don't you ask him?

If his enclosures and setups etc are worthy of a public post/complaint, perhaps you had ought to (if not already) contact the appropriate authorities e.g. (NPWS).

Most important if he has unrestrained elapids popping out to say g'day!

Did you find his collection of reptiles healthy and well maintained?

Raw chip board?? Why did you buy snakes from him, seems an act of support, not a rescue mission here.

________________________________________________

Originally Posted by grahamh

I hope it's not the norm. People like that make me wonder how they manage to keep going. Only thing I can say is he must be prety confident in his own ability. Obviously has no respect for others let alone his customers. Good luck with the new additions - they must be a lot safer in their new home.
:roll:

Why would the snakes be safer, grahamh?

[Mel]

Sarah,

I'm in South East Qld, and I'm just wondering where abouts this guy was? I'm trying to figure out if I know of him. Are you talking about someone on the Gold Coast, or elsewhere? There's only one guy I know of on the coast with Death Adders and a Taipan... it doesn't really sound like something he would do, but you never know, do you? Can u give me a suburb? I just want to make sure I don't go to this person.

Mel x

[Greebo]

Hi Sarah,
Did this guy have locks on the cages housing the venemous snakes?
I doubt that you or your baby were in any danger of being bitten but it sounds like the guy was very complacent.It's always a bit of a reality check when someone freaks out at one of your snakes (especially when it's a harmless one).When you have snakes for a while you kinda forget that not everyone feels the same way about snakes.
It was very irresponsible of this guy to leave the cages open while he was gone.It also sounds like he may not be following a few guidelines in his housing.I think you should make a call and get a ranger around there to check out his set up.

[sarahbell]

no locks on any cages, i wasn't so concerned for me after we left, just if they do get out, he lives in a nabourhood full of children who were playing on the footpaths......

[Alexahnder]

In nsw you need to keep venomous snakes in locked cages in a fully escape proff room

[Vat69]

No locks on cages? I don't know about the laws in QLD, but in NSW you've got to have them locked in cages in a lockable room.

[africancichlidau]

What laws in Qld? They don't have any do they ? Not ones that work anyway
Stands back and prepares for the onslaught

[Nicole]

If the collection was housed in poor conditions..and his handling of elapids is less than responsible, I'd report if I were you... JMO

[sarahbell]

qld laws are the same as nsw and im going to report him for not having locks.