Apparently. She got one from somewhere. I never called back to confirm, nor did I ask which kennel she got her pup from. Even if i was inclined to do something about it, Which I was not, Without video or something it would be impossible to prove.
You really need to write down the stories about the breeds, shipments and customers, dealers, breeders and whatnot and submit a manuscript.
You have a talent for writing. Clearly are knowledgeable and passionate about the animals, with a little fleshing out of each story, I think, you would have an awesome read that would be of interest to small or exotic pet owners and ecology and history of it all.
Seriously.
How often did someone come in ask you to break the law by selling or giving him information on how to obtain illegal animals?
Acid Lamp, I’m working on digging up last names for the herp guys I know. My memory is horrible, but I’ve got it all written down somewhere, if I can just find it…
You are too kind. If you know an editor though I’ve got time.
About the business in general. About taking non-domesticated animals out of their habitat and putting them in the hands of bored rich people. About possibly introducing alien species to other ecosystems. About supporting the industry that, on the ground, has to be extremely detrimental to the habitat and lives of the animals left in the wild when your animals are getting caught.
I really don’t mean to be getting on a soapbox. You clearly care about the animals you worked with, and I’m sure you know a lot more about the industry than I do. Do you really feel like you weren’t doing significant damage? And why or why not?
A friend who’s trying to get published is using Authonomy.
Which finally gave me a reason to pop in to say: cool thread, great answers!
Oh man, At least three of four times a week. The interesting thing is at that time, the laws were changing. We had a shiny new game warden who was hot to show that she was tough. The laws were kind of odd and you flew by the seat of your pants most of the time, since even perfectly compliant business got hassled occasionally.
It was pretty pathetic though, I always caught the few undercover guys sent to try and get us to admit to having something we weren’t supposed to. It was easy since they were too dumb to use a regular customer as a mole. They wouldn’t have gotten anything good on us anyway, all our infractions would result in fines, nothing serious.
If I called you and said “don’t sell this person anything, she collects animals and then neglects them” how seriously would you take me? I know someone I’ve considered making calls like that about.
Good question, and a fair one. I can’t promise you’ll agree with the answer, but it is a honest one.
People have always been interested in exotic pets. There is a long history of private menageries going back to the Greeks. There will always be people who aren’t content with the usual allotment and want something new. I think that on the whole, the industry in the US at least is a positive force on conservation. In the last ten years for example, many species of gecko, snake, and turtle have been bred for the first time in captivity. Not by zoos, or research institutions but by hobbyists and enthusiasts. A lot of these same breeders provide animals to the zoos, and to others taking the stress off the wild caught populations. Nearly everyone prefers Captive bred animals unless they are engaged in a breeding program that demands genetic diversity. A responsible dealer tries his best to ensure that as much of his stock is captive bred, and that as many species as possible are brought in, Legally or otherwise, so that they can get into the hands of people who will do their best to establish a captive population. I believe that captive populations will be the future for many, many species that will become extinct soon due to habitat loss, over hunting for food, and cultural bias. There are many populations that exist primarily in captivity already and those numbers are rising.
So why don’t these people just get legal? It isn’t that easy. There are a lot of stumbling blocks, red tape, and outright hostility to the idea. It is damn hard to get labeled a research institution if you are not a PHD in zoology, herpetology or the like, or have one on staff. There is a plethora of zoning laws, and a good dash of institutional animosity between hobbyists and “authentic” herpetologists. It costs a lot of money, far more than a few grand for a pair of exotic snakes to hopefully breed.
Let me give you a personal example. One of my Copperheads gave birth through parthenogenesis, “virgin birth”. It took turning over the body of the mother and baby and the keep log to a prominent venomous expert for it to be authenticated. I didn’t have the resources or money to fund the inquiry or genetic testing. My payback? A footnote in the article publish later on the subject. (listed only as source of material) My word was not enough to get it tested, not my notes good enough to be published, but when attached to a name, suddenly it has weight.
There have been some bad apples, and plenty of irresponsible keepers who’s impact on the environment through alien species has been questionable, but overall, it hasn’t been a major issue. People are concerned about pythons in the everglades, yet we don’t have any data to support their presence being detrimental. The populations of native species seem fine and stable. Iguanas were a big fuss, but they eat plants and don’t bother anyone except cranky old retirees when they eat their hibiscus flowers. Now they are naturalized. As long as we’ve had ships we’ve introduced foreign animals, it needs to be kept controlled, but I don’t see the risk as serious.
I’ve been interested in kinkajous and genets as pets for awhile now, and if you don’t mind, I have a couple of questions about those.
I know that kinkajous can’t be litter trained, but I haven’t been able to glean much else from the internet about how kinkajou owners deal with their waste elimination. Can you diaper them, or would they just rip it off? Can they be taught to “go” in a specific location?
As for genets, I hear they are litter trainable and socialize well with cats (of which I have two). How easily would you say they litter train? Also, how friendly are they with strangers?
What would you say is the most annoying thing about either of these animals as pets?
What exotic mammal do you think makes the best pet for the average person?
Has anything ever surprised you with its ease of care/handling?
And I gotta ask: why do you not own the store anymore? (unless it’s a sensitive subject, in which case I apologize.)
Personally, I would make a note of it and ask you what in particular she hoards. If she comes in asking after such things I might be more leery to sell her anything but care supplies for a while. Your best bet is to contact your local ASPCA and report a concern. They’ll do a check-up on the person and if something is amiss they will take the correct steps to help out. I had a blacklist of people who we didn’t sell to behind the counter. Some were hoarders, others had too many “accidents”, some were just deadbeats who bounced checks. Mind you, this was a private store. A corporate store won’t care a whit.
Diapers are generally a bad idea unless you obtain a kit still on the bottle. Bottle fed babies are generally easier to train than nursed kits. Litter training works well if you allocate a closet to them as their room. Add climbing things and keep it up on a shelf where they can eliminate in private.
I’ve never dealt with the species, but they are related to the civet cats I recall, so they will be wary of strangers, and prone to fear biting. They also will make your domestic cat’s climbing abilities look pathetic.
Kinkajous can musk, smelling up the house, Genets can do this as well. Both are nocturnal and will require significant training to reverse their sleep pattern.
A fennec fox or hedgehog for those with little time. A skunk or ferret for those with some, and a raccoon, coatimundi or kinkajou for those with a lot.
I was surprised how easy large fruit bats were to handle. They were very sweet tempered. I like them enough I incorporated their face into a Polynesian style tattoo on my arm. The inside portion of it is based off the Rhino Viper’s pattern.
Financial issues prevented me from taking the store in the direction I wanted it to go. If I could secure a good business loan I’d open one up again in a heartbeat though.
Do you feel responsible, in any way, for the many exotic pets that have become major pests in Florida’s Everglades, driving out native species?
Yeah. I guess it’s not like it was being sodomized violently, but animal sex still skeeves me!
Are chinchillas considered “exotic”? My teacher in elementary school used to have one, and it was our class pet. I don’t own any pets of my own, but I’ve always had a soft spot for them. They’re definitely cuddlier than the monitors and so forth. Lizards are cool but I’m a stereotypical girls about the mammals.
As far as I can tell, it seems like anything not a dog, cat, or goldfish is considered an “exotic.” 
Plus per his statement earlier, many “exotics” are actually captive-bred, and some species - ferrets, for one - don’t even exist in the wild as that particular species.
Interestingly, most of the species present in the south Florida ecosystems that have been problems have been single species competitors. That is to say, they only out compete a local species that performs roughly the same function and have had little other impact. (as far as we can tell anyway) The usual suspects are:
Burmese pythons: These guys get a lot of bad press because they are scary to a lot of folks. Ecologists are worried about their impact on wading bird, small mammal and alligator populations. They’ve been present sine the late sixties though, and to my knowledge;(which may be antiquated at this point, it’s been a few years) they have had no measurable impact. It seems that there was room for them, as they prey in turn on juvenile alligators which also prey upon the baby snakes. This one is probably a lucky wash.
Green Iguana: Now a naturalized species. Case closed.
Cuban Knight anoles: These big guys prey on anything that fits in their mouth and that includes hatching chicks. The songbird people were really worried about them for some time. As far as I know, their range is so limited by climate that they haven’t been an issue.
Smaller crested and Jamaican giant anoles: These lizards have displaced the local green and brown anoles. They also interbreed with them. The gradation between them is becoming to broad to tell easily between the species. Probably a wash again unless you value a subspecies only for purity value.
Tokay geckos: This one IS bad news. They eat anything, are voracious, and nasty. They make up for it by being beautiful though. Again, their impact is limited by climate though and they probably will never spread beyond central Florida.
Al sorts of fish: I DO feel a little responsible here. We have a significant problem with exotic fish out competing our local game fish. It is mitigated by the fact that most of the exotics are also good game fish, and in many cases superior food-wise than the local species. I’ve always been conflicted about this issue since Fish and game goes in for family rather than species bans here. That can be very frustrating for someone who wants to breed a harmless species but finds it outlawed because it’s third cousin twice removed might be a pest. With so many species just being discovered, and then rapidly moving towards extinction in the tropical zones, I’m not certain what my role should be.
I don’t think that alien species are not an issue, they can be disastrous like zebra mussels; but I do think that we often push the issue a lot harder than it actually impacts us. If the numbers were more compelling I’d be willing to reconsider my position on the issue.
What about really poisonous animals? Have you handled any potentially lethal ones? And what precautions did you take (one of you handles the animal, the other one has 91 dialed on the phone)?
We kept many of the most venomous species on earth regularly. While we worked with them when needed, we never “handled” them. Snakes are moved with hooks, insects with forceps or hemostats. The local hospital was appraised of our listed species and were obligated legally to keep a few vials of anti-venin on hand for us at all times. (They never did the cheapskates). Knowing this, we would call Tampa and have a life flight arranged if an accident was ever to occur. The process of dealing with the animals is pretty safe so long as you take it seriously, use your tools, NEVER take shortcuts and NEVER, EVER, get complacent with your animals; no matter how docile or friendly they may get. We had several vipers that would have made excellent lap snakes due to their calm nature, even so, they were never handled directly.
In order of lethality (my assesment based on availability of anti-venin, toxicity, etc) here is a list of the species I’ve worked with:
Puff Adder
Gaboon Viper
Rhinoceros Viper
Sawscale viper
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Western Diamonback Rattlesnake
Mojave Rattlesnake
Timber/Canebreak Rattlesnake
Pygmy Rattlesnake
Red diamond Rattlesnake
Egptian Cobra
Monocled Cobra
Red Spitting cobra
Black Neck Spitting cobra
White lipped Pit viper
Bugs:
Death Stalker scorpion
Fat tail scorpion
Fish:
Scorpionfish
Stonefish
Lionfish
Mangrove snake
Yikes!
Makes not not to mess with Acid Lamp since he knows how to get hold of really poisonous stuff
You say you’d go back in a heartbeat if the finances were better, but what were some other of the not-so-fun bits?
Or just any other amusing anecdotes you want to share?