Where do you get your reptiles

I am just curious, as I am a member of two reptile communities, where you have all gotten your reptiles and where you avoid. Most, if not all, of the people on those sites condemn pet stores as a place to get a good, healthy pet of any kind. I have heard Petco and PetSmart single out on many occasions as the "devil" of places to even go for pet food. Now, I have never gotten a dog or cat, or other mammal, but I have gotten reptiles from PetSmart and they were just as healthy as the ones I had from a breeder. Now however, the only way I take in any animal is if it is an animal in need of a (better) home. And then I try to find them good homes either through my contacts or by using Oodle.com and Craigslist. Before you ask, I do a thorough "interview" as well as a home visit and get a copy of their ID prior to agreeing to give them a pet. So where do you get yours?

Well, I would advise anyone to consider avoiding places like petsmart, petco, etc, for live reptiles. Its a crapshoot. They buy the cheapest animals they can in bulk, and typically, they are shipped and stored horribly throughout the process, and can have a myriad of problems. If you store dozens of baby/juvenile leopard geckos, bearded dragons, whatever, in small boxes or containers for weeks, of one has parasites, they all will, off one develops a repository infection from the stress and bad care, the bacteria will spread to all of them quickly. And I've seen and heard of them ordering more than they need, because they expect some to perish. Not a good business model IMO.

Personally, most of my reptiles have come from private breeders, people I've met, and know, at least to some extent. I've had animals shipped, and purchased locally at shows. I've taken in rescues over the years. I've adopted out all the beardies I had. I would love to have the time, space and money to run a beardie rescue. We have a tegu who is a rescue. But I think she's staying here.

I personally get my reptiles from my local pet shop. For some reason, I'm scared to order reptiles from the internet. I prefer seeing what I'm buying before actually buying it.

(12-25-2012 08:58 AM)OnlyOne Wrote:  I personally get my reptiles from my local pet shop. For some reason, I'm scared to order reptiles from the internet. I prefer seeing what I'm buying before actually buying it.

Well, I can certainly understand that I only order online from people I know &/or have stellar reputations as breeders. I would NEVER just answer an online ad to purchase a reptile without knowing who the person is. The best option in my opinion still is a show or Expo. You get the larger dealers & breeders, as well as smaller breeders, you can meet and talk to them about the animals, and you can see and inspect the animal first.

If someone is selling reptile pets on ebay, just read his or her rating and the comments on the selling history. I don't need to know the person to trust all those comments he or she received from many different ebay users who also have done a lot of deals there.

For fish we have aquabid.com which is just like ebay but it is for fish only and it is free to sell things on there. The rating and comments are still what we depend on to figure out if we should go for the deal or not. I am not sure if there is a similar alternative for reptiles.

(12-28-2012 12:23 AM)Thor Wrote:  If someone is selling reptile pets on ebay, just read his or her rating and the comments on the selling history. I don't need to know the person to trust all those comments he or she received from many different ebay users who also have done a lot of deals there.

For fish we have aquabid which is just like ebay but it is for fish only and it is free to sell things on there. The rating and comments are still what we depend on to figure out if we should go for the deal or not. I am not sure if there is a similar alternative for reptiles.

Unfortunately there is nothing quite so simple in the reptile world. I think because there is a lot less volume in animals being sold, the increase in price, and the fact that it takes years between generations in many species. We do have a place called "The Board of Inquiry", which is a, business forum I guess you would call it, focused on transactions inside the reptile industry. But it is a "catty" place, allot of bickering and infighting. You cab learn quite a bit about businesses there though.

The only reptile I have that was purchased from a chain store ended up having extremely high levels of parasites It's just hard to tell with chain stores. I purchased one of my bearded dragons from the internet, and my water dragons were purchased at a reptile expo. I am planning on purchasing a BTS soon, but I will probably be able to find one at an expo. I've also ordered spiderlings from the internet and had them shipped. What kind of reptile are you looking to purchase, if there are any specific?