English Version of our Ethics code

Following the topic about Herp hobby practices and all the problems in France faced by hobbyists,here is our code of ethics followed by the forum and its team.

If you have the patience to read it ,it is also meant to be a petition ,you can post hereafter with your name and location to show your agreement and support.Thanks to all.

APPEAL TO BOYCOTT, FOR A HEALTHY, RESPECTFUL OF LAWS AND ANIMALS, REPTILE HOBBY PRACTICE, FREED FROM OPAQUE, DANGEROUS AND ILLEGAL BEHAVIOURS IN FRANCE AND OTHER COUNTRIES.

BY THE DRAGONS D’ASGARD TEAM AND MEMBERS.

ARTICLE I :

The Dragons d’Asgard team, French Internet Reptile Hobby forum, wishes to organize a boycott, as it is done by consumer’s associations, or group of individuals eager to make trade practices and legislation change. Common values shared by people who will sign up this agreement are the following:

a) The respect of wildlife and of laws ruling its trade, its captive detention, its amateur breeding, as regards French, European Community or Intercontinental regulations, conventions and agreements, for all species designed as “Herpetology collection /hobby” (reptiles, amphibians, insects, arachnids and rodents). The sole acceptable response which could be made to anyone wishing to own and breed fauna in Annex I of the CITES, French mainland and overseas territories species, would be to push them to the strict enforcement of laws.

b) The demand to be provided as hobbyists with healthy animals, kept in proper conditions and receiving adequate treatment, with the priority given to captive-bred specimens whenever possible, to avoid the trade of wild-caught animal. Everything should be done prior to the acquisition to find such captive-bred specimens, and wild-caught ones should be purchased by experienced and capable keepers only, especially when these species are endangered in their native country.

c) Every potential buyer of an animal should have as a duty, prior to buying, to collect sufficient information from different sources so as to offer proper and adequate captive conditions, including knowledge about behaviour, biology and housing requirements.

d) Honest and transparent transactions, with all the legal documents required by laws provided by the seller, and honest information about the animals sold, the truth about their origin (WC/CB), health condition, keeping difficulty degree. We shall not admit incomplete or false information to enable the seller to trade more easily, or sellers who offer sick, ill-treated, badly fed animals. We condemn anyone, whether professional or simple amateur, trying to cheat on this or to swindle the customer out of money, for example not sending animals the customer paid for.

e) We refuse any lobbying generated by professionals of the herp trade or individual breeders to protect practices which compromise the animals’ health and welfare. Morphs are to some extent included in this refusal, what is rare and accidental should remain so, we are not wizards of genetics and have no right to modify artificially Nature laws.

f) We reject any monopole situation as regards trade or intellectual sources (books, periodic publications in our language) which unavoidably leads to occult and/or dishonest practices. We condemn any form of bribery and arrangements made to have the seizure on pet trade or on pet knowledge, aiming at generating more profits regardless of the moral and scientific aspects. We deny such behaviours which are detrimental to the image of our common leisure and for the well-being of our pets, and we are against any financial lobbying leading to oriented care advice, poor trade arrangements between the customer and the seller, or even influencing the physical condition of animals for sale, with the sole aim to make profit on poorly informed, naive, underage or irresponsible customers.

g) We reject any invalid, unreliable or mistaking information source, even if it is published by “famous names” in the hobby, who take the pretext of their famous status to favour their own business or the business of associated partners. Likewise, we assimilate some book, Internet or periodic sources, through the gross mistakes and scientific nonsenses they contain, such as disinformation published for commercial purposes. We should keep a criticizing eye on what is published for reptile hobbyists, and rely on a network of experienced keepers and of approved readings first.

h) The refusal of interspecific, inter-genus hybridization or the melting of different subspecies or localities together, which only lead to poorer genetic potential, so we do not keep together related species, genres or subspecies, nor do we approve hybridization on moral grounds.

i) The firm and total refusal, except for professional animal keepers legally authorized and individuals having the same authorization, to own, breed, show in public, sell or buy dangerous species such as venomous snakes, tarantulas, scorpions, phyllobates frogs and all species considered as dangerous by the laws of the country (large varanids, constrictor snakes over 3 meter long). Our wish for the future is to see such species only in the hands of researchers, scientists and naturalists. A leisure activity is not meant to be a danger for oneself and the people around (neighbours, family members, other pets, etc.).

j) The refusal and denunciation to competent authorities of any animal illegal trade or traffic, for example with protected and/or dangerous species, including international traffic and phantom companies enabling such clandestine practices. Likewise, we will denounce any practice showing bad faith to sell an animal, or which misuses the spirit of laws to cheat the customer or the authorities.

k) A non-speculative practice of breeding, in which the animal must be at the centre of the breeder’s preoccupation, and not the profits it may generate. A HOBBY HAS NEVER MEANT TO BE A SOURCE OF WEALTH: then it must not be a priority for non-professionals. We too often witness a broad-scale speculation on the morphs of a limited number of species, which alters the lineage as well as the diversity of the captive species. Likewise, we have the right to request REASONABLE PRICES, we shall not accept to see a snake being bought € 10 and resold € 70 a few weeks later by professionals. Animals are not goods like another and they shall be respected. We are for a fair policy of prices for the buyer and for the seller, aiming at making our leisure accessible to all within the limits of adequate keeping skills and financial means sufficient to ensure the welfare to our own animals. It also seems logical not to speculate on variations of morphs within the same species, and not to create artificial rarity to maintain high prices, the costs to breed a “wild coloration” animal and a morph are the same, only the beginning investment differs, so a morph shall not be sold several times the price of the normal form of the species (we nevertheless admit slightly higher prices). We reprove the fashions and everything which make herp items to show off or affirm any kind of status mark. We are not totally against owning and breeding morphs, but this shall not be done on such a large scale as it is done nowadays in our country, leading to an aberrant market. Reptiles and amphibians are not toys, if you like colourful things, collect stamps. If you want to show off with your financial possibilities, buy a sports car, not an albino ball python.
l) We refuse to buy or use products labelled “for reptiles”, much more expensive than their strict equivalents anywhere than in pet shops, or products which are useless, inefficient, gadget-like, or even dangerous, as some products offered on the pet trade are.

m) The obligation for a professional to be well informed on the species sold in his shop, the same for a non-professional selling his own animals or young individuals born in his vivaria. The buyer should also be well informed and should not take an animal impulsively, without proper knowledge, preparation and installations ready to receive new animals. Professionals should sell only adequate products with the species chosen by their customer, no big UVB spots for snakes or frogs, for example. Sellers will pay attention to the age, level of responsibility and species experience of the buyer, so as to avoid entrusting an animal to an incompetent or immature owner. Rare and/or endangered species should only be sold to capable keepers willing to get reproduction, and with substantial skill and knowledge within the same species field (never get a Brookesia or a baby Mantella in the hands of a beginner!). The seller should be able to provide the buyer with all the required data the buyer may ask about the species.

n) No defamation on a sale which had been legally, commercially and technically (meaning, biological and specific aspects, or in the case of vivaria and accessories, good technical information) well achieved.

o) We do not accept to see some “herp personalities” controlling all levels, mixing their professional practices with their personal interests, in associations or scientific interest groups, on web forums or press and TV media, to promote their own business and/or activity and/or those of their associates.

p) The total responsibility of a professional veterinarian as regards treatment adequacy, aggravation of symptoms through bad practices, practices just aiming at making more money on their customers without getting the animal in a better condition, any practice endangering the life of the animal, or choosing a treatment less efficient because there are agreements with pharmaceutical company, or recommending a treatment which has been reported as inefficient and/or dangerous for the animal. In France, vets are free to refuse any animal according to their field of studies and their vet clinic policy: if they are not competent, they must admit it rather than accepting to cure an animal, and send the owner to a more capable colleague. No useless vet act shall be done on an animal, nor shall a vet deny scientific evidence for his own benefit.

q) We refuse any kind of media monopole of some “herp personalities”, because their appearances on TV and newspapers did not make things get better with the image of our leisure and of ourselves as keepers. We are against voyeurist programs which show reptile hobbyists as a vast majority of dangerous maniacs. We refuse to see the aforementioned personalities use their status gained through media exposure to rule the hobby and to be defended by hordes of blind worshippers. Scientists and shopkeepers may never be godlike substitutes. For a minority of foolish, irresponsible and show-off keepers, we do not want to be assimilated to traffickers, enemies of ecology, or people endangering the lives of others with their animals.

r) We do not give credit on people repeating blindly what they have read in a book as the ultimate truth and rely on our common sense and herp experience. We reject people unable to show a minimum of courtesy and politeness during data exchange, a sale, or a debate on herps. We reject people who follow and/or protect in their speech professional and individuals reckoned as dishonest, irresponsible or incompetent.

-s) As far as possible, when acquiring an animal, priority should be given to captive-bred individual and via a private breeder. When the only available specimens come from “farming” or are wild-caught (by the way we request transparency from pet shops for this type of animals), we should do our best to achieve reproduction and to find CB specimens. Only breeders experienced in the species or group of species should be able to buy imported animals. We condemn massive imports and wild-caught animals, as well as bad transport and storage conditions at wholesalers’ which result in a high death rate due to stress and combined parasitic diseases (among other causes). We disapprove that a wholesaler who is also a retailer, imports 500 Python regius in a single freight, stores them in overcrowded tanks pretending such animals are well-treated. We also condemn the acts of sellers who sell off one specimen alone (thus limiting any reproduction possibility), animals injured because of their own negligence or diseased animals, or who quickly get rid of their last individuals to have more. We do not accept that sellers lie to buyers and pretend that antiparasitic treatment was done by a professional, while the animal must be treated a short time later for the same parasites.

-t) We condemn the fact that professionals can obtain more easily their capacity by different means: one of their employees has a petshop seller diploma or they insist on their ability to create jobs to keep their capacity in spite of the incompetence of their staff.

ARTICLE TWO

Les Dragons d’Asgard request for the compliance with simple principles in the interest of animals, herps and general public, so as to respect nature and ecology.
Our principles are: transparency, integrity, honesty, refuse of any untruthful or dishonest deal, respect of nature, animals, other herp lovers. We also need to play a pedagogic and demystifying role toward general public, to make it forget the images shown by certain sensational press. We also have to take every step to comply with legislations regarding the species we have, as quickly as possible. Our purpose is to share our skills and knowledge with others and to increase our own knowledge through exchanges, books, advice or any other reliable and relevant source.

ARTICLE THREE

The purpose of Les Dragons d’Asgard, in addition to ethical requirements, is to increase the knowledge on our captive animals, to make people know and appreciate them and, whenever possible, contribute to wildlife conservation and widen the range of species bred. We commit ourselves to provide data and advice only based on our own experience, and not on websites or books. Whenever it is not the case, we shall indicate it.

ARTICLE FOUR

Contrary to many individuals sharing our leisure, the purpose of Les Dragons d’Asgard is not to collect money, whether collectively or individually. However, once our favourite leisure freed from any dishonest practices, we expect, eventually, to play a national role and become reprsentatives toward governmental authorities to reach a positive evolution of current laws and regulations. We also wish to become a source of information for other passionate people through our website, as well as (in the future) through an association, public events (meetings, conferences, educative trips) or the drafting of articles, books or specialised pournals.
In addition, in accordance with our guiding principles, our purpose is not to harm or compete with other herp forums or websites, but, if possible, to work with them in a common objective.