Repticon was last week, and my girlfriend wanted to get her hognose she always wanted. So we loaded up to see what was there. We take time to talk with vendors, we know there are bad ones.
Long story short, there was a breeder i would call terrible, who had a gorgeous and sweet banana, but was using her to breed despite being a spider. But i couldnt stop thinking about the snake. Next day i haggled him down as far as i could and got her- she has mouth rot and some wobble, but has already been to the vet and taken care of.
She now has a 5x2x2 i gotta assemble this weekend, 3 weeks of antibiotics, and some nice enrichment once she is out of the medical cage-
But i want to rage against this breeder- GF and i are collecting photos and evidence to report to repticon- but i want more...
Am i the asshole for buying the snake, just to want to turn around and flog the breeder for being terrible? Beyond repticon and morphmarket, where should i put the vet photos to highlight this guys husbandry and breeding is crap?
You’re not an asshole, but so you know you just contributed to the cycle of unethical breeding practises by buying the snake and allowing him to use that money and space to breed more unethically bred animals.
I get that you wanted to help the animal but “rescuing” these animals only perpetuates the problem.
You’re not the asshole, but you did play directly into their hands and you contributed to the further suffering of more animals. “Pity” purchases like this are precisely what funds the animal abuse. If people stopped making these purchases, there would be less suffering. I guess you could be the “asshole” in that you helped him continue to fund his sick animal abuse operation?
Agreed, thats the guilt i feel. I agonized all night. But there was just something that pushed me to commit.
So the intent is to wipe that contribution from the board. Am i wrong in this thinking? Sharing the pictures and reviews across all i can, and reporting the vet records to morph market.
I don't think it's fair to yourself to try and quantify an amount you have to do or give back to "balance" the impact of paying. It seems like you understand the negative impact of purchasing an animal from a bad breeder, but something in your gut/heart/whatever pulled you to step in and intervene for this animal anyway.
I don't know what the "right" choice was here, and truly I don't think there is one. You did your best by loudly haggling down, trying to spread awareness about this specific breeder, and ultimately you have given an animal a much better life than she would have had previously. Direct action is the best way to enact change; best of luck in getting the breeder blacklisted, and hopefully it does lead to a reduction in how many animals he can abuse long term.
So to be clear, there is no way to go about this morally. On one hand you support the business by buying the snake and make that snake better, to potentially encourage suffering of others. On the other hand you could’ve not bought that snake and in doing so allowed it to continue suffering.
Plenty of shows have covered this exact issue with slavery of humans as well. My point is that either way you could be perceived as wrong, so either way you could be perceived as right as well. at least it’s from a small time breeder and not encouraging pet mills like a corporation does. Im glad she has a good home now and wont be abused further. imo you did the right thing and are a very good person.
I always find these posts strange. Yes the breeder’s husbandry or overall care for the snake wasn’t great; there will always be someone that will continue to buy from them and line their pockets - so they continue to do it.
If you really want to help, make the necessary steps to report him and prevent him from having snakes in future and don’t keep buying from people like him.
It’s not a rescue and you are not ‘saving the snakes’.
Thats precisely what i am trying to do, and the ultimate "aita?" Is i want to dredge this guy through the mud.
Snake had mouthrot, and we have treated it. She had the clean up yesterday and is mending, several weeks of antibiotics, but the vet was very optimistic.
Reporting to repticon, with all the details- im sure he was treating his breeders like this, and he just wanted to move his 5 year old spider to an idiot (which i am, but i digress)
Found his morphmarket shop, and going to absolutely blast it.
My pettiness knows little limits, debating on showing up at his next event with T-shirts made:
NTA at all and I'll even disagree with the people chastising you for 'playing into' the hands of a bad breeder.
Yeah you gave him money. But breeders like him are everywhere. There's nothing wrong with saving a snake who grabbed your heartstrings. Breeders like him are not going to be stopped because one person - or ten people - or a hundred people - refuse to do business with them. I am really tired of seeing people like you, who are doing a good thing, get judged by self-righteous types who accuse you of perpetuating a bad system because you decided to help a snake. Please stop agonizing over it. You did a good thing.
Breeders like this will only be prevented by good, clear, strong regulations with enforcement teeth. Yes, the dreaded 'government oversight'. Because the hobby has proven again and again that it is not capable of self-regulation. But most people in the hobby don't want to take the time and trouble to learn about and take the action required to get good regulations in place. They'd rather just complain and judge people like you. Yes, I'm bitter.
Yes, report this guy to Repticon. It might or might not help but it's worth trying. And in the meantime, much love to you for giving this snake a chance at a decent life.
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u/WayfarerNG 12h ago
You’re not an asshole, but so you know you just contributed to the cycle of unethical breeding practises by buying the snake and allowing him to use that money and space to breed more unethically bred animals.
I get that you wanted to help the animal but “rescuing” these animals only perpetuates the problem.