Updating your profile and contact details
How to edit your display name, bio, location, avatar, social links, contact preferences, and notification settings.
Getting to your profile settings
All profile settings live under Account → Settings → Profile. From there you can edit everything about how you appear to other users — your name, avatar, bio, location, social links, and contact preferences. Changes save immediately and appear on your public profile within seconds.
Display name and username
Your display name is what appears on your listings and profile page. It can be anything — your real name, your operation name, a nickname. It's separate from your username, which is your permanent URL handle. Display names can be changed anytime. Usernames can be changed once every 90 days — go to Account → Settings → Account to do this.
Your bio
The bio section is one of the highest-impact parts of your profile for building buyer trust. Use it to tell potential buyers who you are: how long you've been keeping, what you specialise in, your animal welfare philosophy, and where you're based. Two to four sentences is plenty. Bios that mention specific species, years of experience, and care standards consistently get more inquiries than blank or generic bios.
Important note
Write your bio in first person and keep it honest. Buyers are good at detecting stock phrases. Specific details ("12 years keeping coastal carpet pythons, BIAZA member") outperform vague claims ("experienced breeder").
Location
Setting your location lets buyers filter by proximity and understand shipping logistics before reaching out. Herpify uses your city-level location — your exact street address is never shown. Use the location search field to find your nearest city or town. If you're in a rural area, use the nearest large town.
Contact preferences
Under Contact Preferences, you can choose how you prefer buyers to reach you: email only, phone, on-platform messages, or any of the above. This preference is shown on your profile and influences which contact methods buyers see first. If you're getting too many low-quality inquiries via one channel, adjusting your preference can help.
Notification settings
Control which emails you receive under Account → Settings → Notifications. You can toggle off marketing emails while keeping transactional emails (new inquiry, new message, listing expiring) active. You cannot turn off emails related to account security or compliance.
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Social links and website
If you have a website, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, or Twitter/X presence, add the links in your profile. These appear as icons on your public profile and help buyers validate that you're a real, active person in the hobby. They're especially valuable for newer accounts that haven't yet accumulated reviews.