The Obvious
i.e. animals must be perfectly healthy, live arrival, good communication with the seller before & after the sale...this is a MUST. Anything less gets nixed right off of my "to buy from" list. And spell your friggin' ads correctly, people.
One of my biggest no go's: when you write to someone to inquire about an animal (esp. anything that is several hundreds or even thousands of dollars) and all you get back is a short, one or two line answer. For example: "Dear, so & so...I saw your ad for (insert animal here) and am very interested to know more informtion. Please detail its lineage, feeding habits, age, and your experiences with this animal. I look forward to hearing more about it & hopefully doing business with you." BAD REPLY: "it eats rodents, I thunk it is a year old, I don't know the bloodline, um, it is a good snake."
Frankly if you want me to send you any kind of $$$ for a snake, esp. anything in the $500+ category, please be prepared to DAZZLE me with your response that clearly demonstrates your pride in the animal, how thoroughly familiar you are with its husbandry & habits (even if you have to refer to notes/records!) how amazingly well it has done for you, and why you're confident that it will continue to grow and thrive under proper care in my collection. Back up what you're selling.
Another peeve: BAD PHOTOS!!!! This is the only thing worse than NO PHOTOS. If you're going to make the effort, make it a decent one! To put up an out-of-focus, lo-res image of a barely discernable snake is only going to do more harm than good when trying to sell it. Frankly I'd rather not see a picture than click on an
ad to find a really crappy shot, or a pic that is only 2" square in size. That's a big "why bother" in my book.
The Anal-Retentive:
COLOMBIAN boas folks, not COLUMBIAN. Borneo SHORT-TAILED pythons...not Borneo bloods. SUMATRAN SHORT-TAILED pythons...not black bloods. Ok, maybe "aka black bloods..."
HOG Islands or Cayos Cochinos boas, not HOGG Island. Ad! Not ADD!!! Ad! AD as in advertisement. ADD as in to increase the quantity thereof! If a seller is straight on everything else (see above rant) then I am MUCH more likely to buy from someone who uses the same vernacular that I do. If you're nit-picky enough to specify that a Sumatran short-tailed python (P. curtus), is also known as the black blood, then I'm willing to bet that you're nit-picky enough to care for an animal the same way I would...or at least close.
I'm sure I'll think of more...thanks for the chance to get that out of my system!
K
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So a Buddhist monk walks up to a hotdog vendor and says, "Make me one with everything."
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