In a recent episode of the Trap Talk Podcast, MorphMarket's new Owner & CEO, Darien Drollinger, sat down with hosts Michael Juarez (MJ) and David Levinson to discuss the current and future state of the platform. Darien highlighted MorphMarket's growth and his ambitious plans for the future while addressing some “hot-takes.” The interview emphasized the importance of collaboration and community engagement in driving ethical reptile trade practices.

Exciting developments lie ahead as MorphMarket continues to reshape the reptile industry.

In this episode of the Animals at Home podcast, host Dillon interviews the new MorphMarket owner, Darien Drollinger. This interview takes us on a journey through Darien’s entrepreneurial endeavors, beginning with the establishment and remarkable growth of Dubia.com, a leading feeder insect supplier in the USA. Darien discusses his recent acquisition of MorphMarket, shedding light on existing challenges, his strategic plans for improvement, and the exciting future that awaits the platform. This conversation unveils the vision of a dynamic and evolving MorphMarket under Darien's leadership.

Redline Shipping and Research Associates Laboratory are jumping in with MorphMarket to support legitimate reptile rescues with the BEST discounts in the industry!

These discounts are available to members of the Association of Reptile Rescues (ARRO). ARRO is a new reptile rescue network led and organized by the rescue community itself. Their accreditation process considers 501(c)(3) applicants who also demonstrate quality practices, ethics and outreach.

The growing set of Rescue Member Benefits now include:

• Redline Shipping: 60% off Fedex retail shipping to make rehoming and rescue-to-rescue transfers affordable.
• Research Associates Laboratory: 40% off retail on reptile health tests to maintain healthy environments with at risk animals.
• MorphMarket: Free membership for animal rehoming, professional web presence, inclusion as a rescue in our Vendor Directory and in expo listings.

Legitimate rescues play a critical role in helping animals that need a new home for any number of reasons. They are also crucial for providing education and outreach to the public. It is incumbent on all of us to support this work for the good of these animals and health of the industry. You can help by sharing this news with others.

Links:

• Application for Rescue Organizations to Join ARRO
• Directory of Approved Rescue Organizations
• Details about MorphMarket & ARRO

Let's face it: Shipping has become expensive. It's a good time to check and make sure you are getting the best rates, without compromising on quality.

That's why MorphMarket is excited to announce Redline Shipping as the official* shipping service of MorphMarket. Robyn Markland and the Redline team draw on decades of experience to provide the best service and the best discounts in the industry.

Sign up today at RedlineShipping.com and receive TWO deeply discounted shipments at 60% off retail rate when using coupon MORPH60 at checkout. There are no commitments or strings attached.

Why Redline? They make safe shipping of live reptiles, aquatics and inverts easy, secure and affordable. They have all the supplies and information you need to safely ship your live animals. The Redline customer service team is friendly yet professional. They are ready to problem solve and advocate for you to keep your package safe and secure at all times along its journey.

This is a great offer that all our users can benefit from.

* As a point of clarification, being the official shipper of MorphMarket does not mean that we now or in the future plan to limit our user's ability to use other shipping services. It just means we think they are a great service, recommend and promote them, just as we have with other services in the past.

MorphMarket is excited to announce a new program to support Reptile Rescues. This initiative which we have been planning for years that has finally become a reality via our partnership with the Association of Reptile Rescue Organizations (ARRO). ARRO is a new reptile network led by Sarah Grannis Stewart of Badgerland Rescue. MorphMarket will provide Basic+ Membership 100% free to organizations who meet and maintain eligibility requirements set forth by ARRO.

Full benefits include:

• Recognition as a trusted reptile rescue based on a variety of criteria as determined by the rescue community
• A professional-looking home page with all of your organization's information
• Branded presence in our Vendor Directory which helps people in your area locate you for adopting and surrendering animals
• Enhanced listing in our vendor lists for the Expos & Events you are attending
• Free listings for animals to be rehomed in the biggest reptile network in the world
• In the near future, alerts which go out to your followers for new listings
• Other benefits to be announced soon

We have also identified several opportunities to better accommodate rescues on MorphMarket involving application process, adoption details, and pickup options. These features will be useful to our other sellers as well. We will continue to work with our rescue partners to improve the system as it grows and evolves.

Rescues play a critical role in helping animals that need a new home for any number of reasons. They are also crucial for providing education and outreach to the public. It is incumbent on all of us to support this work for the good of these animals and health of the industry.

Admission into ARRO requires a 501c3 status, as well as other considerations involving practices, ethics and educational outreach. Approval is determined by ARRO and not by MorphMarket. We believe the rescue community is in the best position to police itself.

Directions on how to join ARRO and gain these benefits are found here.

Rescues which are currently part of the Association of Reptile Rescue Organizations can be found in our Vendor Directory.

Please help us by sharing this news with others in the community!

USARK is THE organization which uniquely advocates for our freedom to responsibly keep Reptiles & Amphibians.

At Tinley Park NARBC in February, MorphMarket auctioned off a first of its kind home page advertisement to raise money for our industry. Bob Vu of Bob's Balls donated $6500 because he understands how important USARK is to our hobby and future. For that reason we are featuring his store on our home page for this next month.

Bob is a proud member of USARK. Let his support be an example to all of us! Numbers count. Please become a member today.

For many years, MorphMarket was a side-project run by one guy.

Today, this site is run by a team of individuals who are dedicated to advancing the herpetoculture community. The new services we are building are only possible thanks to your support.

But who are these folks? Please take a moment to meet the team!

Many legitimate reptile breeders accounts have been frozen by PayPal in the last month. This is allegedly due to complaints from PayPal corporate regarding higher than average fraud rates in this sector. We are continuing to monitor this situation.

While we are not discouraging the use of PayPal at this time, if you are a breeder you may want to perform more frequent withdrawals of your balance to a non-linked account in the event that your account becomes frozen.

For MorphMarket subscription payments, we will continue to accept PayPal on our website. If any users need to make payments for annual plans with another method, as in the past you may contact our support team, and we will invoice you with Square. In the next month or two we plan to add alternative subscription payment options onto the site for greater convenience.

While we recognize that PayPal has traditionally offered great buyer protection, other payment methods such as credit cards provide good protection as well. Due to the recent events, some reputable breeders may not be accepting PayPal, but this is not a reason in itself to distrust them. As always we recommend that you do your own research on any seller: read reviews on MorphMarket and consult others that you trust.

At MorphMarket we pride ourselves in offering the best online platform both for buyers and sellers. If you have any concerns about making a payment or suspect someone is not being a responsible seller, please contact our support team.

In the coming months we will be investigating the best payment methods for animal transactions for the reptile community, so stay tuned.

Thanks to Brian Carter, Shawn Gray, and others for their input.

Here at MorphMarket, we’re always striving to make sure all our users, buyers and sellers alike, are honest in their business dealings. We’re also keenly aware that a person’s overall ethics and morals regarding animal husbandry and conservation play a critical role in our community. It is our responsibility to take care of the animals we bring into our homes, as well as respect and care for the natural environment around us. Doing so is not only critical to the animals and the environment, but also in protecting our rights to continue keeping them.

Because this is so important, we’ve composed two articles: a document expressing our position on these issues, and also a code of ethics which we will soon require all our users to agree to. It is on each of us, as individuals and as a community, to work together to protect the animals we love, and our rights to keep them.

We are excited to announce USARK Membership Badges for sellers. These new Store Badges recognize USARK members with 100% authenticity, because our data is synced directly from the USARK database each night.

For our system to recognize your membership, ensure that you have added to your MorphMarket account (under User Settings) the same email address which you used to purchase your USARK membership. This email does not have to be set to your primary, but it does have to be verified.

Membership in the US Association of Reptile Keepers is critical to our industry. USARK fights against powerful lobby groups who want to take away your rights to responsibly keep reptiles and amphibians.

We know that there are people who have quietly supported USARK for many years. This is admirable, but please consider how publicly supporting USARK is even better. These badges are not just about you -- they are about our unity behind USARK. Your display of membership will help raise awareness about the importance of supporting this organization, because others will see that you are supporting. This compounds your contributions.

We also know that many have provided support to USARK in ways other than membership. Please consider that USARK needs not only financial support, but also membership numbers. Numbers reflect the amount of individual support behind USARK in a way that is similar to names on a petition. The groups that we are up against are massive, so we need to make every one of our votes count.

To recognize your contributions, USARK is willing to grant credit for items donated to USARK auctions within the past year towards an annual membership. To apply contact [email protected]

If you do not have a membership and wish to support USARK, please visit usark.org. Bronze memberships are only $40/year.

Badges are updated nightly, so please allow a day for changes to take effect.

In the future, we plan to add User Badges which will include a similar badge to recognize support from Buyers.