Breeders Subforum - Suggestion

[JamesG]

Hi Guys,

I see a lot of posts on the forum asking about who reputable breeders are, where they can get certain reptiles etc. Would it not be a good idea to create a breeder directory on the forum? That way we can find and add reputable breeders with the push of a button! Included would be online reptile stores, pet shops (I have noticed this subforum) and private breeders. What do you think?

Cheers
James

[leopardgecko]

I think its a prity good idea but the people in charge must agre.

[Herald_23]

It could be a good idea but you will push out the smaller breeders who are looking to start out. Would you rather buy corns from Chantel or from a guy who has just started breeding corns? It won't really promote the smaller, amatuer breeders. Half and half

[Westley Price]

I agree with Herald here, a section promoting only the large breeders with negatively influence the smaller guys.

We are currently looking at getting a section where you can ask about advertising members, for example:

"Has anyone ever dealt with Herald_23? How is the quality of his animals? Any after-purchase service?"

Of course that also presents another problem with competitors bad-mouthing each other.

So we are investigating to see what will work best.

[Kev]

It could be a good idea but you will push out the smaller breeders who are looking to start out. Would you rather buy corns from Chantel or from a guy who has just started breeding corns? It won't really promote the smaller, amatuer breeders. Half and half

Agreed.

You also have the problem of deciding who the "reputable" breeders are.
I'm sure there are different opinions on that front.

[Herald_23]

Westley, perhaps a reputation subsection of breeders? Something like Bid or Buy has. We can state the rules on that subsection (no slandering, hate speech etc). It will just be an outline who the good breeders are, and I think it will push out all these scammers. Anyone who wants to be registered as a breeder can ask the admin.

[JamesG]

Thank you for the comments. I completely understand what you're saying.

I like your idea Herald, anyone who would like to be a registered breeder, should go through all the admin. Though what were to happen if someone were to register, and only breed one clutch in a reasonable amount of time? This kind of determines reputable breeders, who have produced stunning and healthy snakes AND have the experience. Putting your name up there, and producing pleasing results, could indeed help beginner breeders with their reputation. Though inactivity for too long should result in deregistration.

Why put up a Reputable Breeders sub-section? This will obviously cause unfairness and result in the degrading of the beginners. Why not split the sections according to snake species (Venoumous; Non-Venoumous - Pythons and Boas; Vipers etc etc.) and list the breeders under there? Then each breeder will get a profile, illustrating the amount of eggs/clutches produced, their breeding pairs, morphs etc. This way, we can get an idea of their experience, and the quality of their clucthes.
We could also include testimonials? Though as Herald suggested, no slandering, hate speeches etc.

I guess we need to keep everything strict and proper. The admins do a great job when it comes to this, so it shouldnt be too hard if we keep our manners and respect on hand.

[Herald_23]

I agree. Perhaps a basic overview. Example:

Reptiles being bred
Next expected sale date
(and/or) any current specimens still for sale
Shipment sphere i.e: where specimens can be shipped to
Contact details

then below we could have buyer reviews and perhaps a sale rating either negative, satisfied or positive.

[froot]

I will look into a rating system in the classifieds section for sellers where customers can rate sellers which can be seen as a row of up to 5 stars in his/her profile. Sellers must encourage buyers to rate them after a transaction has been completed.

[JamesG]

Indeed, that is a great idea guys
Any other thoughts?

[lerikoen]

I think the idea of having the breeders register themselves in this section - and if they are inactive being removed - is a great idea. People starting out with their collections don't necessarily know who has a good reputation with breeding and might not make wise choices. I think having a section like this will be good for all involved - even the breeders who are starting out, because they have a platform to get started from when they feel ready.

[Urucone]

I for one don't think it's a good idea, I know of one guy that helped me loads and has stunning animals but this year it's quite from his side, I haven't seen one of his adds another guy I know is a great breeder but he withdrew from this site due to interest in his stock,you can make a list with breeders and what they breed with a contact nr. like a vet with a contact nr, another problem is that there is a few guy's with imported stock, so you're going to end up with a list of snakes as long as a 25hour day or there's petstores that has ton's of different stock, I would've looked at something like change the colour of your'e forum name, problem is that every name on this forum will be coloured in different,

I say let things stay as they are.

[lerikoen]

@ Urucone - I understand the problem you raise with the amount of animals, but could their be a system in place where a breeder only lists animals that they have available, still incorporating the client rating system . And maybe in their profile they can have a space where they can mention animals that they work with and hope to produce with, or if it was a problematic breeding season for one of their particular animals and things like that. I don't know how something like this will effect pet shops as their stock varies from breeders.

Of course, breeders might have a different view.

[Frank]

I don"t know how many sareptiles forum users also visit the tarantulas.co.za forum. They make use of a subforum where buyers can post their experiences, be they good or bad, of buying from other forum members. As long as people search for the sellers thread before posting you end up with an easy to find reference point to review before buying from someone.

[JamesG]

Thanks for the replies

@Urucone, I'm a little confused with the issue you've brought up, could you elaborate?

So what I was trying to say with my previous post, the sub forum would look like this:

(Replace Pet Shop Directory with: "Breeders and Pet Shop Directory"

-Breeder Profiles

-Pet Shop Profiles

- Indigenous highly venomous snakes
- Adders
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species <----------------------- And so on, maybe a little less detailed, but you get the point
- Cobras
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Indigenous mildly venomous snakes
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Indigenous fangless snakes
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Indigenous lizards
- Lizard Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Lizard Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Indigenous chelonians and crocodilians
- Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Exotic highly venomous snakes
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Exotic mildly venomous snakes
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Exotic fangless (harmless) snakes
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Exotic Lizards
- Lizard Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Lizard Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Exotic chelonians and crocodilians
- Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

-Pythons and Boas
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species
- Snake Species
- Breeders/Pet Shops who breed this species

NOTE: This is a "rough draft" just so you get the idea.

The whole situation needs to be assessed, to see whether its worth it.
So raising issues, advantages, whether its possible and at the end of the day, maybe a members poll, we would be able to see whether it could work. Have any of the admin something to say?

I hugely appreciate all the replies and feedback !