Hi Char,

Welcome to Herp Center! What kind of critters do you own????

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Smile and the world will think that you are up to something!

Steve

Sorry Its taken me so long to reply... Thank you all for the warm welcome! Ive been extreamly busy with critters and sick kids... So far I have 5 snakes... all of which are rescues...
I have 2 male ball pythons...Gizmo and Houdini
1 male anery corn snake.... Tic Tac,
1 female red tail boa...Mona,
and a female albino burmese python....Bell...
I also have 5 northen alligator lizards, 3 of which were just born early this month...
I have a male pac man frog... gorF,
2 emporer scorpians,
and a Chinese Water Dragon named Willard (willy for short)
I have 2 children Alexzandra 3, and Trevor 10 months...
and my Boyfriend Clayton who claims I am a reptile...
and his dog...
Weve also got a ferret named Gaget, and a rat named sadie
I think thats everyone

My intrests are pretty much snakes and water dragons.... Im a stay at home mom, so between my kids and Herps, Im usually pretty busy, but happy... Im looking at getting licenced to become a reptile rescue... Right now I am a halfway houser for a local non licenced rescue... So far Ive kept all my rescues as pets(only 2 have been my personal rescues), but once I get established and experience, Ill be in charge of finding forever homes for displaced Herps...

Glad to hear of another rescue! Good luck with your license,, it is tough,, believe me know, lol. Are you looking into going 501c3? Once the word get s out you will be full in about 10 days, lol. I hope you like iguanas, it seems that they are the first thing to come in constantly besides the larger boas. Oh wait I cannot forget the red ear sliders, lol.
Do be careful not to get overloaded as burnout will become a huge problem. Good luck with everything, and we are all here to support incase you need any help!

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Welcome

Im not sure which way im going to go with the rescue yet... I thought Id first apply for NPO first, which would give me access to grants to get started... I know either way its going to take alot of time and money to get started and for now Ill just continue to rescue as an out of home project.... If anyone has some advice about starting and running a rescue, I would more than love to hear it lol... As for animals Id be takeing in such as turts torts and Iguanas... I will have a strict limit to how many of each I can take in, and potental surrenders will have to be evaluated to see if they really need to be rescued, or wether someone is just tired of careing for their pet...

Sounds like you have it on the right track. As far as grants from the government goes,,,, good luck, lol. You definately have to have the 501c3 to get those,,and even then they are really hard to get,, if not nearly impossible. You can go non profit with the secratary of state, it is not 501c3, but it does allow you to take donations, but they put a cap on the limit of the donation. To take something really large you have to be 501 with the IRS. (my favorite people, lol). I however have not experienced people who want to give a lot to reptiles. You see it all the time with furries though.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Yea, you got to remember that reptiles are evil little slimey animals (ROFL) thats why all the fuzzies get the donations... Yea the NPO and Grants are a pain in the butt... but there are a few grants that you can get with just a npo... There quite small, but anything helps... As far as becomeing licenced tho, where do I start?! Ive gotten so many conflicting information from state and county makes me want to scream... If you have some good resources.. would you please send them my way? And thank you all for being so warm and welcoming! Its nice to find a place where Ill fit in

Are you in the city of bellingham or do you live in the county?

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Im right between Bellingham and Ferndale... One side of my road is Bellingham, and the other Ferndale... Lol google north bellingham elementry... I am 3 blocks twords the axton rd from there...