sometimes experienced breeders aren't really "experienced"

[Faunaofthenorth]

ok, so i was at the minnesota reptile show last sunday on the 15th in bloomington, mn, and aside from not really seeing any type of "non"-python/boa/rat/corn snake, there was one garter. This guy who was selling pythons and boas and baby caimans which i thought to be quite odd, had one snake that immediately caught my eye. He had a baby florida blue eastern, which he was from florida. Anyways, i looked at it and immediately was flabbergasted at the fact that he had it in this smelly little round container with about a dozens small crickets, i told him that insects are not part of their natural diet and he said.."well you are just the customer, and i am the breeder, and i'm also experienced so i'm not gonna take your word for it"...and he shut me out, i was like wtf!!! so i bought it to rescue it from probable death, and i told him that you must now expect to have dead garter snakes on your hands if you continue to keep them with these "ill-informed" practices. The baby was wild caught and is very shy and i had to result into force feeding it in order to save it as it was malnourished. It is doing alright, and it also was infested with mites so i'm battling them as well , but... happy that i got a new snake, i will post pics when i get the chance...man some people i tell you

[mustang]

man some people i tell you

i know what you mean...idiots...surprised that bozo didnt pass himself off as a politician....hed blend right in with em.

[kibakiba]

Omg! Poor snake. I hate idiots like that. I cant believe he said that. Experienced my a**. At least your caring enough to take it in. I cant wait to see the cutie

[Stefan-A]

"When others do a foolish thing, you should tell them it is a foolish thing. They can still continue to do it, but at least the truth is where it needs to be."

[Faunaofthenorth]

exactly, stefan, i agree, and yea it is really cute, not sure on the sex yet, but it made me feel very uncomfortable the whole time i was there, that little baby should be in the wild in florida where it belongs, not all the way up here where its freezing 9 months out of the year, at least if its not captive bred, at least that's how i feel

[Faunaofthenorth]

this is actually the second time ive had to rescue a garter snake species from a different state because of accidents like this...the first time was at my local pet store before it shut down. the local owner used to get shpiments from LLL reptile, and other importers and he ordered only 3 xenocrophis vittatus, and i know it wasnt his mistake because i saw the order form and it said in bold "quantity-3" and when the shipment came in, there were at least 70. i used to go there twice a day once during open lunch in high school and then after school. That was 5 years ago when that happened. Anyways, i went there after shool and he was like "well...they arrived, only not exactly what i ordered...there were 70." I was like omg wtf, about 3/4ths of them died because of the quantity, and when i saw them, i immediately recognized an oddity out of place. In the shipment, by accident, a young, male, sirtalis annectans, or texas garter, was under the huge pile, i grabbed it and said i want it...how much and he said...ill give it to you for the price of the air we breathe, i was like sweet, and well i saved him and have had him for 5 years, and he was at least two or three when i got him, and hes as healthy as ever, hes my favorite out of the 100s ive kept

[Faunaofthenorth]

i have also saved a melanistic central american garter snake as well, which was awesome, although it died, sadly about 8 months to a year after i received it. I wanted to get a hold of scott f. back then but it died, at least i tried

[guidofatherof5]

Nice save. Thanks for taking the time and spending the money on behalf of that snake.
Very cool.

[kibakiba]

^^^ What Steve said. Once I get my job as a DJ I'm going to move into a 2 bedroom apartment and take in garter snakes that I find in pet shops I cant stand mistreated snakes. I'd rather have them for me instead, or another forum member of course. I only trust you guys

[mb90078]

I'm not sure he even counts as an experienced breeder. He may (or may not) know about certain species of reptiles, but even if he does, that does not make him and expert on all of them.