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[SoberGuy]

While I think there's numerous things to consider here in regards to the responsibilities of breeders, I'll try to limit this strictly to the area of buyer screening.

First, I think it all depends on what's being sold. A more hardy species, like a corn snake, would require much less screening that some something a little more delicate, like an ETB or GTP. Then it should be all the more thorough with a venemous species.

That said, I am not trying to imply that the life of a corn snake is of much less value or concern than anything else. Just that some species are much more tolerant of husbandry mistakes. Make a mistake with something more delicate, and you've got some serious issues.

I think the first area of screening, and the most obvious, is an actual in person screening. If someone walks into a store or up to a table. Would anyone in their right mind sell Louise a burm or retic without a few questions? Love her to death, but she's just too tiny (which she thankfully admits). A lot of thigns can be sized up in person, like size, age, general attitude, etc. Size, in this regard, is big to me.

Age is another important factor. I'm not a big fan of pets being sold to minors. To me, that means anyone under 18. I know we have some folks here who had pets as minors, and we have some minors here with pets. While we may have some stellar examples of minors who are responsible enough to properly care for various animals, I hate to say that this is not always the case. Age doesn't have much to do with it, there's a muturity factor as well. I think this needs to be weighed out by anyone selling any living creature. I think that what a minor should be able to purchase should be limited. As they increase in size, at some point parental consent should be required. Personally, I'd like to see parental consent for any living creature being sold to a minor, to ensure the parents are properly informed of what it takes to properly feed and care for any animal. At a minimum, I think parental consent should be required for anything with the potential to grow larger than 5 or 6 feet. Just my opinion.

I think breeders should ask what sort of set-up someone has. Everything from enclosure size and type, to heating methods, humidity, temperature controllers, even thermometer type, food availability, etc. Where will the cage be? You never know what some people will do....

There's also local laws to consider. Some things are legal in some states, and illegal others. What may be legal in a state may be illegal in a particualr county or city. I do not expect breeders to know the county and city laws outside of their immediate surroundings (mostly where they live or sell from), but I do think they should be aware of state laws. I think a part of screening should be asking each potential buyer to ensure that whatever they are interested in is actually legal to keep where they live.

There's a lot still that I want to cover, but I'll do that in another post. I think with all the screening anyone could possibly do, somebody will still end up buying something they aren't prepared for.

The purpose of thorough screening, to me, is to try to limit the amount of idiots that give the hobby a black eye. Too many news stories about snakes on the loose, people being bitten or killed, or just whatever. I think the more reposnsibilities the breeders take on, the more this can be limited. Of course, the world will never be ideal, and we'll still have people that will sell to anyone. C'est la vie.

I think buyer screening is a whole new ball game with hots. I'll leave that to those that buy and sell hots.