Deer Fern Farms Uromastyx Policies Ordering Page

Ordering / Pricing

Main Uromastyx Breeding Room

To place an order with us, please e-mail or call us [ (360) 435-2679 Pacific Standard Time ] so we can best help you with your needs. We receive a large volume of phone calls and e-mails each day so we can't always get back to everyone quickly and still do our normal husbandry chores. Please be patient and try again if you don't hear back from us.

For e-mails: Please put the word "Uromastyx" in the subject line to help our Spam filter save your e-mail. I try to get to e-mails in the evening. If you don't hear back from us by end of the next business day, odds are your e-mail got lost in the sea of Spam or buried too deep under the onslaught of e-mail we have to wade through each day! Please send it again and I should get it. Note we don't open e-mails that don't have a subject line so PLEASE at least put the word "Uromastyx" or "Lizard" in the subject line.

For Phone calls: Leave a brief message (< 1 minute) with your name and phone number First in the message and please Say your number Slowly and Clearly! You would be amazed at how many people either don't leave their name or say their number too fast for us to decipher. It also helps if you tell us where you're calling from so I know how late I can call you back. Note we are on Pacific Coast time which runs 2-3 hours BEHIND most of those who call us. When you call us, you are calling our home, so please no calls before 7 AM PST or after 8PM PST. The best time to catch a living being (Doug, verses the answering machine) is between 1 and 3 PM afternoons. Before that I'm out preparing shipments or doing husbandry chores and generally can't get to the phone.

Please note we are not a "Pet Shop" or "dealer", but private breeders. We do not have hired help, thus all aspects of our breeding work and daily husbandry as well as the business (sales, shipping, customer service) are run primarily by just one individual (Doug). When you call, you're talking directly with Doug, not a hired helper. So the information is coming straight from the horses mouth! On the down side though, that limits how quickly we can get to everyone who is asking for our time. In the interest of helping the most people as efficiently as possible, please read our Care Sheet (http://www.deerfernfarms.com/Uromastyx_Care.htm) first before calling to ask for advise. Likewise, we are willing to help anyone regardless of where you bought the animals but PLEASE contact the person who supplied them to you first. They took your money so they should be the ones giving you their time.

Payment Options

We accept Cashiers checks or Postal money orders, and are set up to accept Visa, Master Card, American Express and Discover through Paypal (click on the "Buy Now" button below the Paypal banner). Note you don't have to have a Paypal account to use your credit card if you use the "Buy Now" button below to make your payment to us. We don't ship live animals C.O.D

Make Credit Card Payments Here!

Note Paypal payments allow us to ship supplies immediately and live animals immediately upon verifying your housing is properly set up. (we ship livestock Mondays through Wednesdays by FedEx overnight). We have setup an online shopping cart for supplies but NOT for ordering live animals. You MUST contact us directly (by e-mail or phone) before we will ship a live animal to you. If mailing a check or money order, please send it to:

Deer Fern Farms,
27610 Whitman Rd.,
Arlington, WA. 98223

PLEASE contact us first to verify the availability of the specimens you want before sending any money! Once we've received your payment, we will make arrangements with you to ship to your home or office via FedEx Overnight Express service. For most Uromastyx and rare lizard shipments, this runs $47 to the west coast and $57 to the mid-west and east coast. Kittens are shipped by Pet's First same day delivery - airport to airport only. Costs for the Vet Health certificate plus Pet's First delivery service changes regularly but has been around $275 as of early 2008. For reptiles we use heavily insulated designed specifically for live animal shipping and add heat and/or cold packs as needed. Each specimen is bagged with more than sufficient padding to insure a comfortable, safe trip. We need you to be home (or at the office if delivered there) to accept delivery of your new companion.

Note: Our shipping rates are often somewhat higher than the import houses/jobbers/ general animal dealers on the internet. This is due to two factors. First, we don't do volume shipping, which is what is needed for the best rates from the main shipping agencies. We specialize in just a few species and only sell acclimated specimens that are long-term housed under our care before selling them. This limits our volume and thus our rates from FedEx. Secondly, we are meticulous in our packing, so you can be assured they will arrive in good condition (we guarantee live delivery - please see below). We use custom manufactured boxes with double-thickness Styrofoam insulation. We have probably the best live arrival rate in the business in part due to shipping less stressed animals but also because we ship under less stressful conditions relative to most others in the reptile trade. We pack assuming everything will go wrong, thus helping to insure your new arrival will travel in comfort even if somehow delayed (very rare w/ FedEx). We ship at cost (we make no profit off the shipping fees). Our normal fee for FedEx barely covers all our side expenses (shipping boxes-which average about $6 each, and heat or cold packs ($2 on average).

Alternate shippers: We have not found UPS or DHL to be reliable for us and will not guarantee any animals insisted by a customer to be shipped by those carriers. We've used USPS Overnight Express in the past but post 9-11, their service has steadily deteriorated for Express animal shipments - to the point that they rarely meet the delivery dates posted. We still use them for Priority shipping of supplies but will not use them for live animal deliveries so please don't ask. We apologize for the inconvenience this makes for some buyers, but the animals' health has to be our first priority. Our goal is the arrival of a live, minimally stressed animal.

Pricing

Pricing varies by species, age, and source of the individual (our own in-house produced stock verses wild collected verses purchased from other breeders). Please contact us first to verify the availability of the specimens you want and pricing before sending any money! For rarer, more expensive species ordered, if you have internet access, we will try to e-mail a photograph of the specimen(s) we pick out for you prior to your purchase so you can make sure they meet your expectations. For hatchlings/ juveniles, please look at our website for photos of representative specimens for that species as they don't vary enough at those ages to justify taking the time to take individual photos for them. For most specimens, the pricing runs as follows: (listed in order of general availability)

Uromastyx

Mali Uromastyx: Hatchlings to yearlings $75 to $85, Premium Breeders $125 Hatchlings generally always in stock and available, sub-adults rarely available. Best beginners species.

Moroccans: Hatchlings to yearlings, Deer Fern Farms Stock (DFF) ($155 to $175), sold out till August 2008. Other stock and older animals only rarely available -call for pricing. Good beginners species.

Egyptian: Hatchlings to yearlings (Ranched from U.A.E. or CB from affiliated breeders) $125-$175 up, generally availability. We expect to have Ranched juveniles available for release for late spring 2008, hatchlings in Sept, 2008. Good for beginners with room for a large cage (4' x 2' x 2' minimum when adults if fully reared in captivity, 5' minimum if bought as adults).

Ornate Uromastyx: Hatchlings to yearlings -Imported Captive Bred/Ranched $225, DFF stock $250, Adolescents to adults (sporadically available) $250 up. Generally available in small numbers. Adolescents/adults are good for beginners, hatchlings better suited for those with some experience. (NOTE - no more DFF hatchlings available for 2008 but should have other 2008 hatchlings available in Sept.)

Saharan Uromastyx: Hatchlings -(Captive born) $145 - usually available in fall- early winter only, Field Collected adolescent to adults are special order only and do not come with any guarantees other than live arrival. $125. These can be very difficult to acclimate so be aware of this risk before ordering. Seasonal availability, please call to verify availability. Wild collected are NOT a good beginner species and wild collected adults tend to crash on novices and even those with moderate experience. Captive bred are good for those with experience working with Uromastyx already.

Banded: Hatchlings to young adults (Price highly variable, $150 to $225 for Field Collecteds,). Our 2008 Captive born production will be held back for future Deer Fern Farms breeding stock. We hope to have a small number of Field Collecteds available but nothing firm for 2008 as of yet. E-mail us to get on a waiting list. Good Beginner species if fully acclimated before purchase.

Somali: Special order captive breds only expected for 2008, $250, We do not normally sell wild collected Somalis. Not good for beginners!

Indian Uromastyx: Hatchlings to yearlings (Ranched CB) $150 , very sporadic availability - long shot for 2008. Good beginner species.

Sudanese: Hatchlings to yearlings $195 up (none expected for 2008, check with Urotopia (Lindsay Pike) for availability. Adolescents to adults good for beginners, hatchlings to smaller juveniles best left for those with more experience.

Algerian Leopard Uromastyx: Wild-Collected juveniles-adolescents $175-$225 - long shot for 2008. A few DFF eggs currently incubating for 2008 but they will only be available to experienced breeders for use as future breeders (too rare to justify as pets-only at this time). Contact us if you're interested in working with this species. Good for beginners. Unlikely to be imported other than sporadically and relatively rare in the U.S.

Ebony Uromastyx: Two possible clutches in the works for 2008. $250 for hatchlings- For breeding stock use only, to moderately experienced breeders only.

Rainbow Benti: Juveniles to yearlings should be available in late spring 2008 (for sale only to experienced keepers) $195 NOT a good species for beginners! Very small numbers of imported specimens possible for 2008. Get on our waiting list now if you want some!

Orange Benti: Hoping for a few wild collecteds available in 2008, price variable but expect $175. For experienced keepers only!

Tortoises

Redfoot Tortoises: Captive Bred-Ranched sub-adults $125 up, sporadically available, yearlings $125 up. Generally available Excellent for Beginners

Russian Tortoises: Field Collected adolescents, $75 to $95, CB $95. FC generally available year round, Limited numbers of DFF's CB expected to hatch in late summer 2008. Excellent for Beginners

Golden Greek Tortoises: Field Collected, $95 to $125 very limited numbers - most FC are more typical T graeca Greeks (high pattern, more black). We expect a few clutches for late summer 2008. Moderate Experience best.

Libyan Spur Thigh Tortoises: Field Collected unlikely for 2008, a few CB eggs incubating for fall 2008 release, $225. Moderate Experience best. Sold to breeders only in 2008.

Rarer Lizards

Chuckwallas:

Angel Islands: Should be available from affiliated breeders for 2008. Prices not set yet but likely $175. Excellent for Beginners

South Mt. Carrot-tails: DFF second generation CB's expected in 2008, very limited availability and only to breeder homes for 2008. Price $195. Moderate experience best.

Calicos: Hoping for DFF F2 stock hatch in 2008 (assuming our "male" really is a male!). We should have hatchlings from an affiliates breeder available for late summer 2008. Prices not set yet but likely $225 to $250. Good beginners species.

Spiny-tailed Iguanas:

Bananna Iguanas: (C. pectinata). First DFF CB's expected in late summer 2008 but no eggs laid as of May, 2008. Odds are if we get eggs this year it will be a late summer laying. Prices not set yet but likely $275. Excellent for Beginners for well started juvies.

Black-chested Bluebacked Iguanas: (C. melanosterna). First DFF hatch not expected before 2010.

Canary Islands Lizards:

Canary Island Palm Lizard: (Gallotia g palmae) First DFF-produced eggs scheduled to hatch in May. Very limited numbers, $125 each.

Bengal / Savannah Kittens

(Note: we are developing a separate photo web site for our cats - please look for it's completion at a later date).

Bengals: Deer Fern Farms Stock Seasonally Available, very limited numbers. Leopard Spotted -$300 to $700, Marbles $250 to $500 for kittens.

Savannahs: Deer Fern Farms Stock Seasonally Available, very limited numbers. F2 Males $$1,500 to 2,500. F2 Females $3,000 to $4,000. F8's $500 to $1,200.

PLEASE NOTE: Some of these species are rare and/or not advisable for beginners. We reserve the right to assess your ability to properly maintain these species prior to purchase and to refuse to sell specific animals to what we feel are unsuitable homes or circumstances. Please review our care sheets posted for each species. You MUST have their enclosures setup prior to purchase. We guarantee your satisfaction with our animals for 2 weeks after purchase as long as you follow our care guidelines. We supply extensive after-purchase aid and are available at any time to help with maintenance/breeding concerns etc. We strongly believe helping others to succeed benefits us all as herpetoculturalists and we don't believe in "trade secrets"!

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