Buying an animal safely

See the animal before money changes hands. In person if you can, on a live video call if you genuinely cannot. Photos prove nothing about an animal that exists today — they can be old, borrowed, or of a different animal entirely.

Ask to see where the animal lives, not just the animal. A seller who will show you the space, the parents, and the other animals is telling you something a description cannot.

Ask for the animal's history in specifics: date of birth, what vaccinations and when, what worming and when, what the vet has seen and when. "Fully vetted" and "health guaranteed" are phrases, not records. On Scrlpets, records shown on an animal's page are what the owner has entered — we label them that way because we have not checked them ourselves.

Ask why they are selling this animal. There is no wrong answer, but there is a wrong reaction. Vagueness or irritation at a normal question is information.

Get it in writing. What is included, what happens if a vet finds a problem in the first week, and what the seller's return policy actually is. A verbal promise about a sick animal is worth what you can prove.

Walk away from: pressure to decide today, a deposit before you have seen the animal, a seller who will not video call, a price far below everything comparable, a request to pay by a method with no recourse, or a story that changes between messages.

Take the animal to your own vet within a few days of bringing them home, regardless of what the seller told you. That visit is the cheapest insurance in the whole process.