The dumbasses at Exclusive Dragons are using my photo of my Baird’s rat snake to sell one of theirs. I’ve sent e-mails to them and to the site’s webmaster. If it doesn’t disappear right quick they’ll be in serious trouble.

Reptile hobbyists take a perverse pleasure in stealing one another’s photos. Here’s a primer for mine. They’re all copyrighted: you don’t need a notice or a watermark for that. They’re also licensed under a Creative Commons Licence: that means that you can use them freely so long as you (1) identify me as the photographer and (2) don’t use them for commercial purposes. By using the photo in a classified ad without crediting me as the photographer, Exclusive Dragons broke both rules. But not only does Robin Moniz steal other people’s photos without credit, this individual also is using a photo of one snake to sell another, and that’s dishonest. Would you buy a reptile from such a person?

Besides, I believe I saw their snake for sale at the reptile expo in Kemptville this month, and it was hardly in “excellent” condition. I’ve been looking for a female Baird’s rat snake for years, and I passed that one up — what does that tell you?

Update, 9:48 PM: The offending ad has been removed (thanks Grant); I have screenshots if you’re interested.

Update, 10/25: Robin has apologized; she claims a mixup in photos on the hard drive (between photos-of and favourites-downloaded).