Why so cheap?

[CammieNLeno]

Not sure if its even a good idea to ask this question here. I am searching for a panther after i settle in from my upcoming move to the mainland. I have been checking just about everyones site here for current stock, and what will be avaliable come jan/feb - even been communicating via email a bit with some breeders.

I came acrosse a site i havent been to yet today, http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/animals/chameleons/

I was shocked at the low prices, to the point that i wonder why? Is there something wrong with these animals? Can anyone share any expierences they may have had with these folks? I am not posting to taint the reputation of LLL, just curious as to the substantial price difference.

I am prepared to spend upwards of 400 for a nice healthy ambanja baby, and i am seeing them for 140 on this site?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Ren]

I asked the same question and got the answer which makes sense to me,.... they are not breeders they resell animals they buy in bulk from people like you or me... they get them cheep and sell them cheep... if they don't have to raise the animal they don't spend so much on food housing this and that as well do to have to charge the higher amounts to get their initial investment back, please correct me if i am wrong guys...

 

[Dankmeleon]

either that or they have a huge stock and instead of going slowly but surely for high prices knowing they can hang on to them and get the most money (similar to fl chams) they are more concerned with freeing up the space and making the quick buck selling more for cheaper....but this brings up questions of care and housing, for those prices I picture chams in tupperware containers

 

[ChameleonsTree]

They are selling them really young...too young to tell the sex of them in fact.

 

[CammieNLeno]

Thanks guys. I am going to shy away from them becuase i dont trust the quality of the product- I appreaciate the feedback. Looking forward to sharing some photos of a new guy whenever I am able to make it back home!

 

[lonomac]

Ive gotten lots of supplies from them, but have read less than positive feedback about their chams. At least enough to never attempt getting one from there.

 

[Fidel]

As already stated, they usually sell in "bulk" so to speak, and they sell their chams very young. They also travel to just about every major reptile show in the country. I got two panthers from them awhile back and have had no problems with them, but they were really young. If you want a good pet for a good price then they are good. If you want a breeder, or you want to be 100% sure of lineage and sex, you may want to go with a chameleon specialist.

 

[Kent67]

Fidel, did your two panthers turn out to look like the locality you purchased them as?

 

[Fidel]

Well, the nosy be did, and he looks good, the other is a female. I got them when LLL ran that buy one get one 1/2 off sale, so I got a pair shipped for like 280!

 

[John33871]

i wouldnt go with LLL, i would buy supplies from them because they have good deals sometimes. i bought my first chameleon from them, and it never seemed to be right. never ate, almost became sick as soon as it arrived, and died about a month after i got him.

 

[twiztid]

Though this probably won't count for much, I figured I'd stand up for LLL. I've purchased a few chameleons from them, including baby panthers, and while they don't guarantee the sex of the babies, the ones that they've "guessed" at have all turned out to be accurate in time. All of them were healthy as could be too. Every time I'd send an email in regards to anything it was always answered promptly and courteously. I really like LLL and have had nothing but positive experiences in dealing with them. I'd say if you don't mind raising the baby chameleons it's worth the effort, even if the sex would wind up wrong in the end, you've got yourself a nice chameleon for a nice price.

I don't get the chance to give praise very much, so I just figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity lol

 

[PardalisGirl]

Me too.........

I'm going to stand up for LLL Reptile too. Lorin from there is an excellent guy. I'm the one that told Ren how they work. They buy from people that end up with clutches, but don't want to have a business of their own to sell them. LLL buys them in groups for low prices and turns them around fast. LLL has a big "pool" of breeders to buy from. I'm sure that if LLL discovers that one breeder is turning out substandard chams they drop that breeder. They have a very low keeping cost because of the turn around time.

They will also get in wild caughts that they encounter through their vast contacts. And they do have a lot of contacts. Lorin knows everyone who is anyone in the reptile world. I got one of my most favorite males from LLL. My big monster Tamatave came from there. Ren recently got an excellent looking female (Autumn) from LLL. She is very healthy looking. They know how to ship properly too. As with any cham purchase you have to closely watch the new cham during the health guarantee period. If you see anything that is off or wrong you report it right away.

 

[Kent67]

Well, I always have a difficult time staying out of these. I live near them and have gone there many times over the years. I've never purchased any CB animals from them but plenty of wc's. I've had some very healthy, rare, inexpensive chameleons that came from them.

However, I've also seen and experienced some things that really turn me against them. First, I was lied to/misinformed about an animal's health that I purchased. I emailed LLL about being unhappy about the situation. I never asked for a replacement, refund, or help with vet bills. The responses I received from LLL were rude, condescending, and elitist. "I don't know what your problem is. You picked out the animal." Yeah, I picked it out, after I was lied to about them.

Second, any dealer that would pile 20 something ill/dieing/egg-bound C. dilepis literally 3 and 4 deep on top of each other's backs on the bottom of a 38 gallon Reptarium for their shows is nothing but reprehensible.

Third, I've been in their shop and watched one of their employees (who still works there) clumsily try to hook a snake from one of their top most cages. The snake wriggled free and fell almost 6 feet to the tile floor with a sickening splat. What did he do? Picked it up, boxed it up, and shipped it out while I was talking to him. Sure glad that wasn't my snake.

In my experience, you can get good animals at a good price there. BUT, my best advice for anyone would be not to purchase any chameleons that have been in their care for more than a few days. They don't have automated waterers in their shop, and I have never, ever seen any of their chameleon cages wet. The effects of being extremely crowded and deprived of water has very deleterious effects on chameleons that may not manifest as problems for a month or two, hence the experiences mentioned previous.

 

[Lost Lake Chameleons]

There are some things you don't buy from WALMART.

 

[Chameleons By Design]

Its one of those things when you see a particular business with 50 or so ads on Kingsnake. And only a few ads are chameleons ads you can see that they aren't specialists in what there selling. And I cant agree more with Josh from Lost Lake Chameleons when he says there are just some things you dont buy from walmart.

 

[booshified]

i would have to agree that if you can find out how long they had a particular animal (and not be lied to) then it may be fine. id def stay away from anything they have had for more then a few days.

 

[zackrepko]

I bought a veiled from them, She looks good and healthy. She eats and drinks well and was in good shape when she arrived.

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

I'm with hairfarm67 on this one
There's a real problem with animal brokers and those that try to work bulk animals for the pet trade
Commiditization of living and feeling things is very difficult to keep humane.

Walmarts are not a good thing.