Would you buy from a breeder IF....(Help, please.)

[Leopard.Geckerz]

Okay, I'm sort of half looking for another breeding female. There's a reptile show on the 22nd that I'll be attending. I've been in contact with a breeder attending the show. I've had no previous experience with said breeder, and haven't heard anything either. He has a large collection (60-80, I don't want to give away anything too obvious in case he's on the boards, or something, and I won't give names.)

He has a beautiful hypo tang female for sale, gorgeous..I really like her, for a reasonable price. The only thing that bothers me... is when he sent me pictures of available geckos

1. Some of them appeared to be missing a toe, or two.
2. Some had some shed left on their heads.
3. Two of them had tails as skinny as a pencil.. at best.

I understand that geckos sometimes have a tough time shedding, I have geckos like that myself, BUT I wouldn't photograph them to advertise them for sale until this was fixed.

He also won't give me a weight on the gecko, and I found that odd, because I think asking for a weight is fairly customary, especially on valuable breeding prospects.

What would you do? Would you buy..and possibly support a not so great breeder.. or would you pass and look for something that seems a bit better, ethics wise.

 

[crotaphytidae]

Given this situation I would pass, the weight to me is very important. You could also look on the Fauna Classifieds BOI to see if anyone else has dealt with this particular person. I hope you find a good, breeder quality, animal.

 

[Leopard.Geckerz]

Thanks, I'm thinking the same. He won't meet me at the show to sell me the gecko anyway. His city is 2 hours away from mine, and I'm not willing to drive that far when the show is half as far, and he plans on going. He just won't bring the critter there to sell privately.

Overall he's coming across as sort of odd.

I don't think asking for a weight is that odd.

 

[Nigel4less]

Given this situation I would pass, the weight to me is very important. You could also look on the Fauna Classifieds BOI to see if anyone else has dealt with this particular person. I hope you find a good, breeder quality, animal.

:main_yes:

 

[Haligren]

I'd got with your gut on this one. Even if most of his geckos are fine it's still not very professional to take pictures of the 'ill' ones and show them to people. :main_no:

 

[Leopard.Geckerz]

I'd got with your gut on this one. Even if most of his geckos are fine it's still not very professional to take pictures of the 'ill' ones and show them to people. :main_no:

That's what I thought. I'd never take sales pictures of geckos in that condition.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

I personaly wouldn't buy from some one who is trying to sell a gecko under weight. Not fattening it up sounds like he's not that reputable of a breeder, I think you've made a good decision.

 

[DLS Reptile]

I have never produced a gecko that went skinny or had stuck shed that was left on for a pic. No way:main_no:

 

[Leopard.Geckerz]

I have never produced a gecko that went skinny or had stuck shed that was left on for a pic. No way:main_no:

The gecko I was personally interested in was in good weight and had all shed removed, but some of the lower quality geckos he sent me pictures of were the ones in rough shape. I just don't think I want to support a somewhat shady breeder.

 

[GeckoGathering]

All Sounds like a Turn Off

That's what I thought. I'd never take sales pictures of geckos in that condition.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Haligren View Post
I'd got with your gut on this one. Even if most of his geckos are fine it's still not very professional to take pictures of the 'ill' ones and show them to people. [/QUOTE]

Once saw a guy trying to get painting jobs
with a business sign that looked hand painted by a three year old.
It read "Perfection Painting"...............This sounds like it could be the same guy trying to sell you a "perfection gecko".............STAY AWAY
from the painter or the gecko guy. You won't be satisfied with
results from people that don't know what the word means.
Take care. HJ

 

[Mel&Keith]

It sounds like you're making the right decision, Sarah. It sounds like the guy is throwing out a lot of red flags. Less pricey geckos still deserve as much food and care as high dollar ones so it certainly sounds sketchy.

 

[whkrazyk]

yea id fund a better quality batch ton ppick from at the show

 

[ajveachster]

I have to agree with everyone else. Sounds shady to me. If the guy was really interested in selling you a gecko he was proud of, he would want to share vital statistics with you.

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

In dealing with this breeder you might want to put something up on the Fauna Classified BOI just to give everyone a heads up. That's all personal opinion if you want to or not.

 

[malt_geckos]

Absolutely not. I think it's unacceptable to sell skinny geckos. They should be shipped at a healthy weight to help them cope with shipping. Also, if they have pencil tails that's a sign of aneorexia due to lack of food, parasites, or even crypto. I wouldn't bring anything like that into my collection in fear of killing everything. There are a bunch of reputable breeders that I'm sure have the same type of animal you want but just healthy.

 

[Leopard.Geckerz]

In dealing with this breeder you might want to put something up on the Fauna Classified BOI just to give everyone a heads up. That's all personal opinion if you want to or not.

Yeah, I'm not sure if I'd want to go that far.. There aren't a huge number of Canadian's on here in comparison anyway, and he doesn't ship. If any Canadian/Ontario members did want to know, they could PM me for a heads up.

Thanks for the advice, I knew it was a bad idea, gut feeling, and wanted some assurance. Some of the geckos looked icky and others looked great. To me it just seems like the geckos pricetag deems how much care it gets with this breeder.

 

[BettaDragon]

That's a lot of flags to me. I wouldn't buy from them. It just baffles me why people would even take pictures of animals that looked like that and display them let alone put them up for sale.

 

[Leopard.Geckerz]

That's a lot of flags to me. I wouldn't buy from them. It just baffles me why people would even take pictures of animals that looked like that and display them let alone put them up for sale.

It confused me too. He seemed like an okay guy until I saw the pics. I should have gone through all of the ones on the Kijjij ad because it was even on there! (So if you really wanted to, Toronto Kijiji lol) I want to show everyone the picture, but I don't want to out him like a snitch. They weren't on their death beds, but they were pretty bad, way skinnier than I'd ever let a gecko of mine be if I could help it.

 

[snowgyre]

I seriously think that you can judge a breeder's reputation on the condition of the least valuable gecko in his/her collection. Sounds to me that this guy could be hoarding geckos thinking he could get a quick buck by reselling them, or he's just a hoarder in general and tries to get rid of them as he gets bored with them. Not giving weight I can sort of understand as I didn't own a scale myself until I was a couple of years into the business, but photographs should represent the best of your animals. If those shots are the best his poor animals have to offer, then pass.

 

[Leopard.Geckerz]

I seriously think that you can judge a breeder's reputation on the condition of the least valuable gecko in his/her collection. Sounds to me that this guy could be hoarding geckos thinking he could get a quick buck by reselling them, or he's just a hoarder in general and tries to get rid of them as he gets bored with them. Not giving weight I can sort of understand as I didn't own a scale myself until I was a couple of years into the business, but photographs should represent the best of your animals. If those shots are the best his poor animals have to offer, then pass.

I only just recently got a scale too, but if I were selling, giving a weight would be a priority to me. I'm not sure he gets bored, because he has a very wide ariety of morphs, I just think he has too many, and isn't making the best choices in his husbandry.

I did go ahead and post an inquiry post on Fauna, in a very polite fashion.