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Breeder Marketplace Policies

Customer Service

HappyDragons Reptile Assistants will offer shipping, educational advice, and general customer support for 7 days after the arrival of the animal. All support related to the sale, shipping, and refunds is the sole responsibility of the breeder. HappyDragons’ Reptile Assistants will serve as a liaison between customers and breeder contact, providing support to breeders on questions and concerns that do not require the breeder’s specific input.

Breeder Certification

Breeders must receive a HappyDragons Certification to sell on HappyDragons. Breeders will be required to complete an online application and a 30 minute interview over video conferencing. HappyDragons will certify breeders in accordance with our ethics and mission statement.

What we require of all breeders on the HappyDragons platform:

  1. Breeders must be able to provide the precise genetics & age of each individual (unless a valid explanation is given & approved on a case by case basis).
  2. All permanent housing for breeding stock must be of adequate size to provide a species-appropriate thermoregulatory temperature gradient and behavioral accommodations with species-appropriate dedicated heat sources & lighting, species-appropriate substrate, species-appropriate humidity zones, proper hides, species-appropriate diet, & access to clean water at all times. Enrichment plans are strongly encouraged.
  3. All temporary housing (i.e. “baby bins”) must be above the bare minimum for survival & provide species-appropriate husbandry.
  4. Avoid shipping animals when too small or young. Size & age minimums vary for each species.
  5. Avoid extensive inbreeding, the breeding of problematic morphs, & irresponsible or harmful hybridization of species.

Captive-Bred Only Policy

HappyDragons does not support the sale of wild caught reptiles or morphs known to cause fatal &/or significant health issues. Breeders are not allowed to sell any wild caught animals or unsupported morphs to customers on the platform.

Licensing

Breeders on the HappyDragons platform must possess any licenses required by local law to sell the animals. Local licensing requirements will be checked for each jurisdiction on a per-applicant basis.

No Deposits or Reservation Policy

The HappyDragons platform does not offer reservations or payment plans for breeders to offer to their customers. HappyDragons requires that 100% of the animal's cost be paid at sale. If customers purchase animals prior to birth and fulfillment cannot be met, breeders are responsible for issuing refunds directly to the customer.

Reptile Purchases

The HappyDragons platform accepts payment by credit card, debit card, or PayPal.

All payments for purchases go directly to the breeder via Stripe’s marketplace functionality. HappyDragons does not take any fee or percentage from the sales of reptiles made through the platform. HappyDragons will hold all charges for 1 business day window, to allow for automated refunds from customer cancellations during this period.

Breeders on the HappyDragons platform will only make sales to customers who are 18 years of age or older.

Breeders on the HappyDragons platform only sell reptile species that are legal in the customer's city and state. HappyDragons’ Reptile Assistants will confirm the legality of species ownership within 1 business-day after a customer’s order is placed. If the species is illegal in the customer’s city or state, purchase will be cancelled and refunded.

Breeders reserve the right to refuse purchase of any reptile for animal welfare or legally based reasons for any reason deemed appropriate by the breeder.

Refunds on Reptile Purchases

All sales are nonrefundable. Refunds will only be issued if an error has occurred on the HappyDragons platform and/or the breeder is unable to fulfill a purchase.

Reptile Shipping & Delivery

HappyDragons requires that all breeders ship their reptiles using ShipYourReptiles or Reptiles Express. Other live animal approved shipping accounts must be approved by HappyDragons’ Breeder Directors on a case by case basis.

All reptiles will be shipped in HappyDragons approved packaging which provides insulation, cushioning, and heat or cold packs as needed, based on the weather. We require that our breeders have a plan and strategy to adjust shipping times based on unique weather conditions that may arise.

Per ShipYourReptiles’ guidelines, HappyDragons recommends that reptiles be shipped on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, not Mondays or Thursdays. Breeders on the HappyDragons platform will not ship animals to a hub if temperatures are below 38°F or above 100°F according to AccuWeather forecasts.

HappyDragons also requires that buyers and sellers agree on shipping the reptile to a FedEx hub. This minimizes the amount of time the reptile has to spend on a delivery truck. HappyDragons breeders will not ship to residential addresses or P.O. Boxes.

Breeders on the HappyDragons platform will only ship after the customer has agreed on a range of delivery dates that they will be available to receive the animal. Breeders will be responsible for providing a tracking number on all customer orders prior to shipping the animal via the online portal.

Breeders reserve the right to refuse or delay shipment of any reptile for animal welfare or legally based reasons for any reason deemed appropriate by the breeder. If a breeder refuses to ship a reptile after receiving payment, the customer will be refunded in full. Execution of refunds past the 1-business day confirmation window will be the sole responsibility of the breeder.

Live Healthy Arrival Guarantee

All breeders on the HappyDragons platform must guarantee that reptiles will arrive at their destination alive and healthy.

If an animal arrives injured, deceased, or is lost during shipping, the Seller is responsible for making sure the customer is fully reimbursed for their purchase.

To receive a refund, the customer must provide, within 1 hour of arrival, both HappyDragons and the Seller video evidence of any damage to the animal during shipping. You may contact the HappyDragons team at help@happydragons.com or you can message both HappyDragons and the breeder through your order page in your account dashboard.

HappyDragons and breeders on the platform are not responsible for deaths that result from the customer missing a delivery attempt or for deaths or injuries that occur after arrival. Poor care & lack of proper quarantine can injure or kill an otherwise healthy reptile within hours.

Reptile Listings

Breeders on the HappyDragons platform may list and sell reptiles below the minimum shipping age/weight, but may not ship to the buyer until the reptile reaches an appropriate size, determined on a species-by-species basis.

Breeders on the HappyDragons platform must provide accurate, up to date information on the product pages for all reptile listings. Genetics must be as specific and accurate as possible, utilizing all available ‘trait’ tags that apply to the listed reptile. Any traits not found in the tags list should be included in the product description &/or title. Age, weight, sex, & any other attributes or defects should be accurate to the best of the breeder’s knowledge and kept up to date on the product page. All listed reptiles must be labeled as male, female, or unsexed. Reptiles sold before they are mature enough to be sexed must be listed as unsexed. Species or traits on the HappyDragons ‘Special Care’ list must be labeled as such & the breeder should provide specific care requirements in the product description. Unhealthy reptiles & species/traits on the HappyDragons ‘Unsupported’ list may not be listed or sold on the HappyDragons platform.

All listings must include at least one photo of the reptile for sale as the primary image on the product page. All photos & videos must be of the exact reptile for sale, unless explicitly noted with ‘Parent Photo’ or ‘Representative Photo’. Parent Photos must be the breeding pair that directly produced the reptile for sale. Representative Photos must be a reptile bred by the seller of the exact species/genetics as the reptile listed for sale. Breeders on the HappyDragons platform must own all photos & videos posted to their listings, including Representative Photos.

Breeders on the HappyDragons platform may not list or sell any reptiles produced by another breeder, except with written permission from HappyDragons. Listings that violate any of these requirements may be removed at HappyDragons’ discretion.

Customer Responsibilities

  1. Customers are responsible for researching proper care before purchase.
  2. Customers are responsible for carrying out appropriate quarantine practices upon transfer & providing proper husbandry & care for the species purchased.
  3. Customers will purchase reptiles with the full intent to keep & care for the animal themselves. "Animal flipping" is not supported by HappyDragons or its breeders.
  4. Customers may not breed "pet only" designated reptiles purchased on the HappyDragons platform.

Reptile Restrictions

Unsupported (Red) = These species or traits are explicitly unsupported on the HappyDragons platform. They have been agreed upon by our Breeder Directors. Unsupported species, in particular, may include animals with excessively large enclosure needs or highly difficult care requirements. We respect and acknowledge experienced keepers’ ability to have success with specialized and large species, however we do not support the sale of those listed in red below on our platform at this time.

Special Care Considerations (Orange) = These traits will require specific husbandry considerations.

General

  1. Eyeless
  2. Scaleless
  3. Moderately-to-Severely Venomous
  4. Two-headed
  5. Crocodilians
  6. Excessively large snakes (Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, rock pythons, anacondas etc.)
  7. Large Varanidae (water monitors, Nile monitors, black throat monitors, crocodile monitors, etc.)
  8. Sulcata tortoises (excessively large enclosure needs)
  9. Interspecies Hybrids (few exceptions for well-established & naturally occurring subspecies hybrids)
  10. Other genetic deformities (extra toes, kinked spine, bug eyes, small eyes, duckbill, etc.)
  11. Albino/Amelanistic
  12. Require very large &/or specific enclosures

African Fat-Tailed Geckos

  1. Albino/Amel (light & UVB sensitivity)
  2. Caramel (UVB sensitivity)
  3. Ghost (UVB sensitivity)
  4. Super White Out (lethal)


Ball Pythons

  1. Caramel Albino (kinks, fertility issues in females)
  2. Champagne (gene causes mild to severe wobble in all morphs)
  3. Champagne x Hidden Gene Woma (severe wobble)
  4. Champagne x Spider (lethal)
  5. Cypress (wobble)
  6. Desert (infertility & health issues in females)
  7. Hidden Gene Woma (wobble)
  8. Lavender (possible kinks in some bloodlines)
  9. Lesser Piebald (small or missing eyes)
  10. Lesser Platinum x Piebald (small eyes)
  11. Microscale (more exposed & fragile skin)
  12. Pearl/Super Woma (normally lethal)
  13. Powerball (wobble)
  14. Sable x Spider (severe wobble, difficulty hatching)
  15. Spider (gene causes mild to severe wobble in all morphs)
  16. Spotnose x Champagne (kinks, deformities, wobble)
  17. Spotnose x Hidden Gene Woma (kinks, deformities, wobble)
  18. Spotnose x Spider (kinks, deformities, wobble)
  19. Super Butter (bug eyes, BEL)
  20. Super Champagne (lethal)
  21. Super Cinnamon/Super Black Pastel (kinks, duckbill, bug eyes)
  22. Super Lesser (bug eyes, BEL)
  23. Super Lesser Platinum (bug eyes, BEL)
  24. Super Sable (wobble)
  25. Super Spotnose (possible kinks, deformities, wobble)
  26. Woma (gene causes mild to severe wobble in all morphs)


Boa Constrictors

  1. Motley/Super Motley (juvenile death common)
  2. Sterling (stargazing and/or wobble)
  3. Super Jungle/Arabesque (juvenile death common, poor liver function)
  4. Super Aztec (low coordination)


Bearded Dragons

  1. Dunner (may have appetite issues)
  2. Short Snout/Pug (associated with breathing and bone issues)
  3. Silkback (thin, very fragile skin)
  4. Leatherback (more exposed & fragile skin)
  5. Translucent (prone to seizures/tremors/neurological issues, dependent on lineage)
  6. Witblitz/Zero (UVB sensitivity)


Carpet Pythons

  1. Granite (tend to be deformed due to inbreeding)
  2. Jaguar (prone to wobble)


Corn Snakes

  1. Albino (light & UVB sensitivity, impaired vision)
  2. Caramel (enlarged heart, general weakness, sudden death)
  3. Microscale (more exposed & fragile skin)
  4. Striped (enlarged heart, general weakness, sudden death)
  5. Sunkissed (prone to stargazing and wobble)


Crested Geckos

  1. Super Cappuccino (reduced or closed nostrils, potential eye deformities)


Iguanas

  1. Green iguana (sp. Iguana iguana, temperament & care problems)
  2. Blue iguana (genus Cyclurana, require very large enclosure)


Leopard Geckos

  1. Albino (light & UVB sensitivity)
  2. Blizzard (UVB sensitivity)
  3. Enigma (poor balance, stargazing, & death rolls. Enigma Syndrome is a neurological disorder linked to the phenotype & cannot be bred out)
  4. Lemon Frost (codominant gene consistently results in cancerous tumors)
  5. Murphy Patternless (UVB sensitivity)
  6. Super Snow (UVB sensitivity)


Rat Snakes

  1. Leucistic Texas Rat Snake (possibility of bug eyes)


Red-Eared Sliders

  1. Pastel (scute deformities, general sensitivity, shortened lifespan)
  2. Albino (light & UVB sensitivity, impaired vision)


Tegus

  1. Argentine Black & White Tegu (require very large enclosure)
  2. Red Tegu (require very large enclosure)
  3. Hybrid Salvator Tegu (require very large enclosure)


Western Hognose Snakes

  1. Albino (light & UVB sensitivity)


Hybrids (including, but not limited to)

  1. Kingsnake x Corn Snake (different genus)
  2. Ball Python x Burmese Python (substantially different species)
  3. Carpet Python x Green Tree Python (substantially different species)
  4. Bull Snake x Rat Snake (different genus)


*Note: In case of wobble, individuals with wobble will be flagged & designated as “pet only” or outright banned. Individuals without wobble will not. Breeders who lie about this will be penalized.