The past week, a letter was distributed claiming that "Due to circumstances beyond our control ReptielRooms.com is closing its doors." Per a copy of this letter I have obtained, this was sent on the evening of January 22nd. The letter also stated "Most of your friendly mods and admin staff will be returning, but there will be new management in place [...]."

As you can see, this is not the case, a blatant lie to justify the theft or illegal use. Neither did the mangement or mods go with them, 1 person that i wanted removed did. The other moderators listed on that letter never consented to the use of their names or participated in this criminal act.

On January 23rd, ReptileRooms became the victim of both theft and destruction of data. The database was downloaded from and removed from the server, and some files critical to the functioning of the site were also deleted. The ReptileRooms forum data was then used to populate a new site started by the offenders with Reptile Rooms forums of the past years appearing on them. The number and locations of affected files makes it abundantly clear that this act was deliberate.

On January 24th, the stolen data was made available by the perpetrators and recovered. The last two days were spent restoring the majority of the data and missing files. The remaining data (namely the Steve Irwin memorial forum) will be restored very soon. We are unable to restore serveral days of lost posts and new stories uploads.

Even though account passwords are encrypted, I urge all the members to change their account passwords as a precaution.

The main offenders, Tux and Shrap, have been banned, as well as certain other possibly involved parties.

I am very grateful for the outpouring of support from our members and around the reptile community. Likewise, I am disappointed that trusted members of our community would commit these crimes.

* comment are welcome as post following this. Expressing your opinion is allow, but PLEASE keep them factual and not derogatory. I would also ask that all moderator on here post their position on the matter as this has shaken a lot of trust in the community and people are wanting to know where others stand

Some people may have noticed my name pop up as Admin/moderator since the site came back up.

I have had the same level of access to the server, for about the same amount of time, as Tux did. I've been an IRC mod and mod in the beardie forums for several months now.

I may not be very active, but all of my authority was granted by Cheri, not myself.

I had no clue any of this was going on until Cheri contacted me last Thursday. I then spent the better part of the next three days assessing the damage and restoring the site once Tux made the removed data and files available.

What was done can in no way be claimed to be accidental.

The decisions made during this crisis were entirely Cheri's, as I was not aware of who did what when or where, and frankly, I wasn't much interested: my priority was to restore this site, which is and will continue to be an irreplaceable asset to the reptile community. I will continue to do whatever Cheri and the community needs, as I am able, as long as Cheri desires.

Tux and Shrap really? Was Stormphyre part of it too or did I miss something else he did.

I think you know what my feelings are, Cheri, but I will condense for the others. I had sent something to Cheri via snail mail (around December 5, I found out) and I found I could not get in contact with her either by phone or by email. This distressed me because I knew that she had been ill and well, that was my concern.
then I get this message about RR closing. Talk about panic attack! Then I saw what Shrap and Tux created. It was a sad looking site. Definitely not worthy of even comment. I demanded to know where Cheri was, what happened, and selfishly inquired about my pictures. Not only did I not get a response, but I was booted because they knew my loyalties I'm sure, having been a chat mod some years before and had many a conversation with Shrap.
I'm sorry this happened. Sorry that avarice had become the idol of certain individuals that were considered friends. Even more sorry for those who have continued to be deluded by these people who will be doomed themselves eventually. Karma happens.

I'm loyal to Reptile Rooms. I asked them to remove me from the other site as soon as I found out what was going on, but it took a while for them to get around to it. I never saw the email that apparently had my name on it- I guess they took me off the list before sending it. There's also been rumors that I've been in their chat room. That is not true. I'm staying with Reptile Rooms.

I wasn't even invited or made aware of the new forum at all. I wasn't sent the email. I had to find out what was going on through the yahoo pagona group.

I stand by Cheri and Reptile Rooms 100%. I am sickened that people I trusted took advantage of her and tried to do such damage to what she's worked so hard to create. This site is an invaluable treasure to the reptile community.

I was definitely told quite a few lies from a couple people that is already known who so no reason to say. In no way is it right to take something that is not yours to begin with. Why they believed it was ok to is beyond me. To purposely destroy a community thats sole purpose is to help the reptile community and taking it for personal gain makes me ashamed to even know them.

From what I gathered, a few wanted some changes done, but this is well beyond the changes that needed to be made.

I am very much relieved in seeing the site back to where it belongs and will continue to help keep ReptileRooms a helpful community to all reptile enthusiasts.

Yeah, I didn't get the email, but my husband's account. I'm still confused as to WHY anyone would have done this. It honestly just seems stupid to me. I don't see anything that they would've gained from it. I am with RR 100% I was away for a while getting married & over the holidays, so when I came back I was shocked. But I love this sight and am still recommending it to friends interested in the knowledge of reptiles.
Kara

They wanted to start their own forum because they didnt like the way this one was run, thats fine. Why do damage to this one though? We are a community as a whole so this is like stealing from a relative. If they wanted to start a forum and get members they should have just started it and asked people to join. Its not a bad think to be a member or more than one site. I don't see how harming this one was going to make people jump ship to theirs. It was still a big shock to me when I found out it was Tux. Not to slander or be rude, but I never really trusted Shrap. He just seemed to have an "I'm better than you" thing about him. That aside, I still didn't see this coming. There are only 2 other sites I visit as much as this one and I remain loyal to them.

Did not like the way it was run? that is strange as they were the ones running it while I had been off sick and we had more complaints and unhappy staff in that time than the prior 5 years togthers. The only thing they did not like, is I would not let a classified section be put on here so they could sell.

My loyalties shall remain with Cheri, and Reptile Rooms.

All this over that? Thats sad. I mean geez its not like there aren't a hundred other sites out there that let you sale stuff.

their website claims(among other things): "I began playing with some mailing list software that I was unfamiliar with and accidentally sent that rough draft out to about 1000 registered user names instead of sending it to myself..."
apparently my user name was one of the 1000, as i received the aforementioned e-mail January 23. i am still confused about the whole situation honestly. i don't like the whole pointing fingers game, but if someone has done something criminal then any bans or incurring punishment is more than justified. the situation is unfortunate, but i hope in the meantime everything is resolved and the future of reptilerooms is not at stake. i don't even post here often, but everything i know about my scaly pets is thanks to the generous members of reptilerooms. you have my continued support. thanks for keeping us in the know.

i never got an email......i would have cried.

Although i have been a on and off member for the last (I think) 3 years, I have never suspected that any of the mods/admins would do something like this has shocked and horrified me that people sink so low for self gain. This is dispite the fact that I may not have been welcome my all of the members and 1 admin in particular I never really got on with glad he's gone.

I wish you all the Best with the future and that this incident has been resolved. And I still remain loyal to RR and CheriS

It was a huge shock for me, alot of people were tricked and really trusted the admods doing it. Im with the reptilerooms all the way as well,

Cya in chat, Matt

THIS WAS MOVE BY A MODERATOR FROM THE GENERAL DISCUSSION FORUM WITH THE TITLE "I GOT AN EMAIL FROM SHARP" after discussiowith moderator and admin, it was decided to move it to this thread and let all address it here. THIS IS A COPY OF THE LETTER A MEMBER RECEIVED FROM SHRAP TYING TO EXCUSE HIS ACTIONS:

The circumstances around what happened at the Reptile Rooms concerning myself and tux needs to be clarified. So far it has been one series of lies after another. I was not even going to respond to them at first, but it has really gone too far now. I am now here to clear up what has happened.

Cheri and I had a problem concerning the chat room. I did not like the way she treated me during this exchange and I decided to resign my position as forum administrator at Reptile Rooms.

Around the same time Tux was doing an upgrade on the Reptile Rooms site. Cheri, still upset at me over the chat issue started venting on tux. Which resulted in tux getting fed up with her and deciding to resign his position at Reptile Rooms as well. At that point tux deleted all the upgrade work he had done on Reptile Rooms. After all, he was doing it for free. Tux then gave Cheri the back ups of the original site so she could have Reptile Rooms restored to its original self. No web sites on Cheri's server, or the server itself, were ever damaged by tux in any way.

Tux and I began talking, and based on things Cheri had told us and other people, we felt there was a possibility that Reptile Rooms may close. With that in mind, we decided if it does close we were going to send a mass email out to the 19000 members of the Reptile Rooms.

I drew up an email, the contents of which were a very rough draft of what we were going to send out in case Reptile Rooms closed. I began playing with some mailing list software that I was unfamiliar with and accidentally sent that rough draft out to about 1000 registered user names instead of sending it to myself and tux. I stopped the mailing list program once I realized they were actually being sent out to registered user names and not us. No mass email was supposed to be sent out unless Reptile Rooms closed. It was a total accident.

That folks, is exactly what went on. Anyone saying any different are either not fully aware of what was going on or are blatantly lying for their own personal reasons.

All I did is quit because I got treated like crap and decided to start my own site. I guess I should have just accepted being cussed at and belittled by Cheri for something I didnt do? I dont think so.

Take care,

Sammy

Yeah, I got the email inviting me to their new site... and now knowing what went on, I'm not happy. As I've been a part of starting a new forum, I know what REAL unhappiness looks like... and that wasn't it. I'm staying here.

As this letter said, I also was not going to comment on some things..... but he is right, it went to far with the stealing and deleting RR files off our server.......... but maybe now is the time for the rest to come out.

Myself and I am sure the other moderators will stand behind all we have said. There are no lies told here, we are not the ones that did this or have to lie to not be in trouble, Shrap and Tux did and have already changed their story so many times I was not sure which one was going to be their defense, I do thank them for making it public so my attorney was able to read it, he got a good chuckle out of the "accident"

I nor anyone else every got a resignation from shrap, he stormed off again, quit IRC...but we were so use to it, no one really thought much about it, we knew how he can get sometimes and marked it up to that again. The has left and come back multiple times when he was not getting his way.

Not so, critical files were removed, and strangly appeared on Shraps site for a few days until an attorney was contacted who also has been there and a member of my family. Plus with the email that he sent out, it is even dated the day before the site was taken down when files were deleted
[14:09] <shrap> well as I promised you and your son I have removed and DELETED everything from your site I had access to
[14:09] <shrap> that is all I can do

Copyright violations and he was well aware of that. Yes, we did get the files back, again a few days after they stole them, moved them to Shrap's newly made site that was really all reptile rooms information, post, userbase. They sat there for a few days and only retuned after they were aware a cease order was issued. Also many files were disabled, it took over 30 hours of work to restore that, this was not done by me, but by someone well experienced in the database and files that run this site and did not care who did what to whom, only to repair a site and get it restored after felony vandalism. There were also artilces and some post that were lost. Tux was not the desiger of this site, it existed for years before he even came here early last year. The work was not his, nor given to him although he did ask for it just before stealing it. He did replace the redhat on the server the end of Febeuary 2007, with RHEL and was well compensated for that, more than he requested.
Jan 19, 2007

[20:43] <Tux> i know you dont know me from a home in the wall and it probably seems fishy that im being so forthcomming but you make quite an impact with help and such that i want to repay the favor
[20:44] <Tux> hole not home
Feb 26, 2007

[2[23:49] <CheriS> sorry to bug ya
[23:49] <CheriS> and I really think you need to give me your paypal
[23:50] <CheriS> this is far more than you ever could have thought was involved and I would like to give something that you can spend on Miles and sarah for doing without you for so much
[23:50] <tux> your not gettin my paypal, its called building up a favor lol
[23:51] <tux> what u can do is help me get herpfeeders off the ground when im ready, now thats giving back
[23:51] <CheriS> Rick, you name it and its yours if without my power
[23:52] <CheriS> but... I still would like to sent a little something so you can treat Miles and Sarah

I did send approximately $700 in new clothes (tags on them and quality name brands) to them for their baby, many other items for the child and his wife. Shipping to Canada on the box I believe was $27 regular ground. That can give you an idea of the amount in it. I did give him free hosting on the server for a few sites he had, his herpfeeder as requested plus another for his computer business and email server too. He also got the free ads that you all have seen running on the top of this site all this time. That was more than he requested, so he was paid and then some, for somthing be had offered to do to repay". Tux had no legal right to anything he stoled or moved to Shraps more than welcome arms. Even had he received nothing like Shrap has claimed in this letter, he still would not have had a legal right to do what he did.

Me Venting? yes, I was frustrated that Shrap took off again in a temper tantrum, and I was sick of the bickering. All the juggling for control or wanting classified they could sell in was driving me crazy! Reptile Rooms was a public service, not their base for sales. It got so any discussion with either was the same, we where suppose to be a team, but two parties seemed to be always trying to remove one of the other or blame the other and then storming off in a fit and not speaking:

[13:52] <shrap> I am not even sure that back in early december that me and him were even talking to each other yet
[13:52] <shrap> cause we didnt even talk for about 3 months after that blow up in the mod forum

[00:11] <Tux> then y not let him go
[00:11] <Tux> what did he do that no1 else could
[00:14] <Tux> LOL
[00:14] <Tux> he gets in moods
[00:15] <Tux> he had a go at me
[00:15] <Tux> i laughed at him for it
[00:24] <Tux> reclaim the site


[22:33] <shrap> I did nothing wrong
[22:33] <shrap> I did not know what was going on until it happened
[22:33] <CheriS> you have rr info on your site....and it has been stolen
[22:33] <CheriS> I would like that back
[22:33] <shrap> I know it is there
[22:56] <shrap> we had MAJOR fights int he mod forum
[22:57] <shrap> I wondered why he buddied up to me out of nowhere


[23:30] <shrap> like the email and posts being moved/deleted and now you telling me the server was trashed and everything being in my name
[23:33] <shrap> I knew I never should have trusted him
[23:33] <shrap> It was just too much of a change in too short of a time


Bull, only a fool would believe that anyone would close a site with this much data and activity. Even if I could not afford it or physically do it, several people have asked to buy it, but I always refused. You do not "close" something work several thousands of dollars ( i guess you just steal it) Even on the remote possibility it was closed, they still were not entitled to email anyone from data that they stole......... thats just desperate excuses.



anyone that knows how this works on PHPbb, knows that was NO accident, its an effort to get into that program and very cleary marked mail all users. He tired to lie to me and blame it on Tux, telling me he had no idea of it till it was "shown to him", a few times he lied about that. There was no accident and there would have been none sent out if Reptile Rooms stolen files where not in his possession the day before our site was destoryed and the files deleted off the server. None of which were ever Tux's to take, Shraps to receive or have "accidents" with. This was ALL purposely done and it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why or see through the lies

[23:05] <CheriS> Due to circumstances beyond our control ReptielRooms.com is closing its doors. However, we have preserved all the old posts and user names and will be continuing the site at http://www.**********.com You will not have to re-register. Your user name, post count and all your posts will be in place waiting for you to log in.
[23:05] <shrap> yeah i seen it
[23:05] <shrap> after it went out

[23:14] <shrap> I honestly thought at first that he was using the site as test for yours.... until I was shown that email

Shrap started several sites over the years we knew him, they all bombed, its more than just throwing up a website or stealing one. He was never treated bad, he thinks he is when he can not have what he wants, even if it is someone elses and as this shows, will go to any extreme to get it. But honestly, I never imagined he would buddy up with someone that disliked him so much or Tux who did not care for him to steal what they envied and do something that was illegal and can send them both to prison.

For the record, there has been police reports filed and civil actions for damages on state and federal levels, they (Tux and Shrap) broke many laws in both state jurisdiction and Federal. For awhile I was not sure that Shrap had not been conned and used, but this letter from him, proves he was not.

Was Clemintine_3 part of this becuase I noticed he was banned?