Do you, or anyone reading this, have any advice on how to build said mutual trust? Like how do I convince a stranger to implant me with a strange device that gets bad rep in movies and things.
That’s a difficult thing to answer… I don’t know your (possible) piercers, and it might depend on them a lot. It might of course help if a friend of yours is already a customer there, but if that’s not the case… hmm.
I’d say, first, pick the one who does a bit more unusual stuff. Dunno if a bodmod-artist is somewhere close to you, or someone doing silicone implants, transdermal piercings, microdermals, surface bars, such things. Someone doing that might be more willing than someone just piercing earlobes and belly buttons 
If you can, try to make an appointment - it’s good if you have some private time to talk, and with an appointment, chances are good your piercer is not in a hurry but can actually take time to listen to your arguments. If you make an appointment by phone, don’t tell them it’s for a chip implant (they might just turn you down immediately), but say you want to have some consultation on a bodymod / piercing (I mean, he will pierce your skin, so that’s quite true).
Bring everything you can - don’t open up your package, but maybe you can show him some pictures of the device the chips come in, show him it’s sterile and safe, maybe tell him what you want to use it for (so it’s unlikely you sue him for “ohmygod he implanted a tracking chip in my brain”). Tell him about your self-install concerns as well - this might show that you appreciate his work, and know that sterile work is not something you could easily do at home, and that you take things seriously.
But still - depending on the person who’s finally standing in front of you, it might or might not work.
If they refuse to do it, politely ask for the reason - maybe you can invalidate it, and if not, you can think about it before visiting the next piercer, and prepare for that special point. And you might ask them if they can recommend someone who might do it - at least in Germany, piercers and bodymodders network a lot, so if one is specialized in something, he will be easily recommended by his colleagues (as long as he is good in his job, of course^^).
Thanks for the advice, making an appointment is something I didn’t actually think about.
Travel restrictions are a pain right now, but I still think New Orleans would be worth a check. Calls usually don’t work out too well, but you could give them a try. Otherwise just go there with a few shops in mind and ask “will you help me with this or do you know any other piercers around who will?”
I might do that. I always forget that new orleans is only a few hours away. That’s a lot better then driving 12 hours round trip. But I did just discover a few more shops that I missed in the local area, so I’ll check them out first.
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Another follow-up question, how are you presenting it? Pretend you just called me, what do you say? Maybe we can help out with phrasing the question…
Well I haven’t called yet, I’ve only gone in person, but I usually start off with asking if they know about/ or do implants, then go through and explain what they are and what the installation process is. Assuming the person isn’t a dick and says no as soon as I ask about something “not on the menu”. Which only happened once out of like the 5-6 parlors I went to.
It might be a long shot but it might also be worth double checking if you or a friend have any relatives or other friend that may be willing.
For example, my dad is the head athletic trainer for my college so he was friends with the college teams physician. Ended up striking a deal where my dad did my x series with the physician supervising.
I also found that my friends dad has a surgeon friend and I might have to ask them about my titan
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That was actually my initial plan. I had everything lined up, but covid hit and my friend graduated, and now he’s busy and lives quite a bit away.
Damn, that’s a bummer. Unfortunately I don’t have much other experience so good luck on your hunt!
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Know any vet techs? In all seriousness they install x series type implants all the time. They’d just have to be willing to brush up on the anatomy of your install location I’d think. Wouldn’t be my first choice but might not be terrible as a last resort.
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For my first implant, I tried to hit up a vet instead of going to a tattoo parlor (because, like you said, they do that all day every day, and they’re doctors). The vet was a guy I had known well for 15 year, because he was taking care of all my cats. He told me in no uncertain terms: “Yeah, I could do it. It’s completely trivial. But I won’t, because even though I know you well, I value my license more than I value you.”
Approaching a vet (possibly with a waiver) is an excellent idea 
Have you reached out to the Discord yet @Ikea?
The only installers I know in FL are in Orlando and Tampa, which if I remember from the “where is everyone” thread was a bit far for you still.
I know there’s a few people on the DT discord in the SouthEast that travel often-ish (Dunno about pandemic travel though) that have done installs for themselves and/or others
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here in Austria I asked a surgeon and he said yes - I have also an offical bill with “chip implantation” on it. He made also small cosmetic operations. He implanted the payment chip and the flexSIID
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What I did is I showed up to their store with the product in hand and let them take a look at it and after looking at where I wanted it and the size of it they decided to do it but when I called them they told me no. So I recommend you try the same thing and see if they might change their mind once it’s in front of them
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The problem with Florida is the body piercing laws.
Subparagraph 381.0075(11)(a)5, Florida Statutes, states that body piercing salons must use only jewelry that is made of implant grade, high-quality stainless steel, solid gold of at least 14K weight, niobium, titanium, platinum, a dense, low-porosity plastic, or silver and that is free of nicks, scratches, or irregular surfaces for new piercings.
Flex implants would qualify in Florida 
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