About Deer Fern Farms
&
Policies
 |
| Outdoor Bengal/Savannah Breeding Pens |
We strongly believe that many reptile species will be lost to future herpetoculturalists if we don't establish viable domestic populations in reputable breeding programs
as soon as possible. In our opinion, a viable long-term breeding program requires setting up multiple bloodlines of each species. This can be very space consuming, therefore severely limiting the number of species we feel we can reasonably work with. Thus we only work with a few select species which we personally enjoy. While our goal is to specialize in providing superior captive bred (CB) specimens, we are still actively building up our breeding stocks and thus buy groups of select
wild-collected (WC) specimens. In order to get the best pricing and be able to buy
first-picks (the best specimens) direct from the original importers, we purchase sizable
hand-selected groups (please see below to read how we handle our for-sale
specimens).
We are strong supporters of captive propagation efforts and are always seeking additional healthy clutches produced by other breeders for resale to our customers. These are an excellent choice for pet and breeder specimens as long as they have been properly handled. They tend to be a little more expensive than wild collected specimens, but if we don't support these efforts, the day will come when many reptile species will be unavailable to future hobbyist /pet lovers. In our opinion, funneling a reasonable portion of wild-collected specimens into potential captive breeding programs is also one of the few legitimate justifications for collecting specimens from wild populations. Captive breeding also eventually reduces the demand for wild-collected specimens, easing pressures on wild populations. The extra cost is thus well justified. We consult with other breeders constantly to insure the specimens produced are as healthy and vigorous as possible. Thus if you're goals are similar to ours -wanting truly the best available and specimens with the best potential to thrive for you, please consider some of our stock, either acclimated wild-collected or captive-produced, for your breeders or pets.
We only sell kittens which are born here at Deer Fern Farms or sired by one of our studs. Please read over our Kitten Policies page for more information on how we handle our kittens and what we require from potential purchases of our kittens.
For reptiles, we have long term relationships with several major importers and most major Uromastyx breeders in the United States. As mentioned above, we discuss clutches with other breeders and routinely buy stock from our fellow breeders. We buy well started hatchlings on up and hold them for at least 2 weeks to get them settled in and ready for shipping before offering them to our customers. For wild collected stock, when possible, we fly out to the original importers facilities and handpick our specimens in person. When not, we have on site people we've personally trained to examine and pull specimens to our specifications. We hold all specimens at least two weeks (most several months) while we acclimate them and monitor their food intake and weight gains. We don't release specimens until they have demonstrated a consecutive two week weight gain and to all outward appearances are acclimated and doing well.
We routinely examine all stock for parasites, but we do not advocate the total elimination of common nematodes/pinworms in herbivorous reptiles. Reptiles can not chew their food and do not have rumens and thus are relatively inefficient at digesting plant matter. They rely on gut bacteria and protozoa for the proper enzymes, and since they don't chew their food, the action of nematodes helps breakup the food mass for more efficient digestion. Thus in theory the total elimination of nematodes is actually disadvantageous. We ourselves have seen this in poorer growth rates in nematode-free Mali juveniles verses those with low levels of nematodes. But it's not a free lunch. Excess nematodes or non-mutualistic parasites such as tapeworms hoard too many nutrients for themselves resulting in weight loss and poor overall condition in your Uromastyx or tortoise. Therefore we monitor nematode levels in our animals and periodically apply Panacur (fenbendazole) or Albendazole. Once acclimated, we worm all wild collected stock, but again, we use dosages intended to limit but not totally eliminate nematodes. At your request, we can re-worm any for-sale specimens if you have a strong wish for us to do so, but we advise against this. Please note reptiles pick up parasite eggs from leafy vegetables (yes, even those from the store) and insects, so even if you have a parasite-free specimen, it will likely need worming periodically (we worm all our breeding stock annually prior to brumation plus all hatchlings every 2 to 3 months).
When possible, we'll e-mail you high resolution photographs of the exact specimens you'd receive for adult specimens, so you can verify that 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). We try to point out any notable imperfections such as scars, missing toes etc. and supply their current weight and size information so there are no surprises. This is the exact animal you will receive. We guarantee live delivery of what to the best of our ability to tell is a healthy, acclimated specimen. The only exception is if the shipper (FedEx) fails to deliver the box on schedule (more than 12 hours late) or if you fail to be available to receive the shipment on it's pre-arranged arrival date set up with you by e-mail or phone. No shipper guarantees live arrival even if they are at fault and we can't be held responsible for their errors. We will replace any specimens lost in this manner at a reduced cost to the buyer (essentially at cost or wholesale plus shipping). We do need the deceased animals frozen and returned by priority mail or a good photo of it for verification, at our discretion. Note to date, in the 12 years we've been shipping, this has only been a problem once (with UPS) as we pack in a manner to allow for a more than reasonable degree of shipper mishandling.
Most
specimens need about a week or so to settle into a new home and we send complete
acclimation instructions along with your new arrivals. We offer
phone and e-mail support for any questions or concerns you may have at any time.
We do insist you read our Care Sheet for the
Genus Uromastyx
prior to making your purchase and you must have their housing setup prior to our
shipping to you. If you'll follow these guidelines
and contact us immediately if you think
there may be a problem with your new pets, we'll guarantee your satisfaction for
2 weeks from the time of purchase. If at any point during that
time you are unsatisfied with the health of your animal, you may return it (in
the same manner it was shipped to you, normally FedEx Express) for a
refund of the purchase price minus shipping costs. The only exceptions
are
for specimens which have been injured by the new owner, either by improper
housing, physical abuse
from other pets, being dropped, burns, bites from cage mates, or crushing injuries from poorly
supported rocks or similar cage furnishings. Additionally, if a specimen isn't eating
after the first week, you must contact us immediately so we can assess what's
wrong and instruct you on how to proceed (it's almost always a
temperature/housing problem that we can fix over the phone with a discussion
with you on what to change etc.) For tortoises, we guarantee live
arrival of what to the best of our ability to tell is a healthy specimen.
But since we can't control how you care for them, we can't guarantee them beyond
that. If you are unhappy with your tortoise within 48 hours, you can
return it for a refund of the actual cost of the tortoise minus the cost of
shipping. Call us immediately if you have any concerns. We can't
help you if you don't let us know there may be a problem. We don't cover Veterinary
examinations or other bills you may chose to incur in working with your animal.
We give you our time for free - please use it when needed.
Please, even if you are an experienced
reptile keeper, read our care sheets. Most species we sell to the
public are hardy, easy keepers if
you'll just follow our guidelines.
Contacting Us
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 contact us, 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 for the Genus Uromastyx (http://www.deerfernfarms.com/Uromastyx_Care.htm) or Care Sheet for Tortoises (http://www.deerfernfarms.com/Tortoise_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 make them give you their time first. Please use e-mail when asking for help with a specimen you purchased from someone else. We simply physically don't have time to answer phone calls from people with problem animals purchased elsewhere (emergencies are obviously an exception but in most cases, if you feel it's an emergency, you should be contacting your local Vet. We strongly recommend your finding a local Vet you trust (one experienced in reptile care) as soon as possible - ideally before you purchase a pet.
For e-mails: Our e-mail address is at the bottom of every page on our website. Please put the word "Uromastyx" or "Tortoises" or "Cat" in the subject line to help our Spam filter save your e-mail. 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. Odds are your e-mail got lost in the sea of Spam we have to wade through each day! E-mails without subjects or simply - "please reply" or similar cryptic subject lines are eaten by our filter and lost. We literally get hundreds of these per day as spam and can't open each one looking for the stray legitimate e-mail. I try to check e-mails twice daily (mornings and evenings).
For Phone calls: Note we are on West Coast time which runs 3 hours BEHIND the east coast. Our number is 360 435-2679. 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 noon and 3 PM. Before and after that I'm out preparing shipments or doing husbandry chores and generally can't get to the phone. Our outside buildings are heavily insulated, blocking portable phone transmission, so the answering machine answers most calls during the rest of day. Leave a BRIEF message with your Name and Phone number first in the message and please say the number slowly and clearly! It also helps if you tell us where your calling from so I know how late I can call you back.
To place an order with us, please go to our Ordering and Pricing page then call us [ (360) 435-2679 Pacific Standard Time ] so we can best help you with your needs.
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).
We don't ship live animals C.O.D.
Note Paypal payments allow us to ship supplies immediately and live animals immediately upon your verifying your housing is properly set up. (we ship livestock Mondays through Wednesdays only by FedEx). Our Paypal account is NOT a shopping cart so you must add up what you want and put the total in yourself. Then list what you're ordering in the memo section. We do it this way in part to insure you contact us first before making an animal purchase. Supplies are shipped the next day (Monday-Friday) by Priority mail. You MUST contact us directly (by e-mail or phone) before we will ship a live animal to you. If mailing a cashiers 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 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 average approx. $195 as of late 2006. For reptiles we use heavily insulated solid core boxes designed specifically for live animal shipping and add heat and/or cold packs as needed. Each specimen is bagged individually with sufficient padding to insure a 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 rarely covers all our side expenses ( shipping boxes-which average about $6 each, and heat or cold packs ($2 each 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 no longer use them for live animal deliveries. 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.
Email:
douglasdix@deerfernfarms.com