Hey, -- sorry for the long post --

I came across a few postings by someone who claims to be "getting rid of their collection" of pieds and albinos... I cant find the original post as I emailed a bunch of people today about snakes... but I believe the posting was on a website called "olx.com" (i just found it via a google search). Anyway I will post the e-mails here so you guys can tell me what you think. The posting itself seemed tgtbt but I thought I would give it a shot and see if he/she responded. Through our interactions a series of red flags came up to me...
Here is her first response:

"hello and thanks for the interest in my pythons, I have albino and
piebald ball pythons available to go out , They are hand raised and
with all papers,has been fully checked, captive breed and also tested
and have a good relationship with other pets and vet checked with up
to date vet records.they are ready to go for adoption with free snakes
box.I am looking for a good home and will meet up any requirements if
need to be shipped.their weights are 442g and 507g and each are a
little over 2ft. long, will come with a cites permit and 10months and
12months and 1year old respectively. They will be going out for free
adoption and a free box and all you need to pay is the shipping fee .
I am giving them for adoption because i am here for an assignment and
my job requires a lot of time so i immediately realized that they are
going to be lonely and as you know they are very delicate creatures
and need a lot of care and devotion and that is why i have decided to
give them out to a loving and caring home where they will be loved and
will be given all the time they need, so if you are interested.get
back lets see how they get home..Where are you located and How soon do
you want the snakes?, how many? and if needs To be shipped, then get
back to me with your full address and the address of the closest
airport to your location so that i should contact the shipping agency
right away for flight reservation.I am just looking for any reptiles
lover who will take good care of our pythons. They are well trained,
easy to handle. comes along with all accessories and will be able to
go to any body willing to take good care of them. They are great
eaters and eats regular,they eats well and eats on frozen foods. they
will be ready to live with any reptiles lover willing to take good
care of them, their parents where very healthy and they are and will
make a loving home pets for you Ok
Thanks and Waiting for the infos"


OK so I don't want to make hasty judgment on this especially regarding grammar and punctuation but I know in a lot of those scam e-mails that are saying "a long lost aunt of yours has left you a large sum of money in nigeria all you need to do is send us your bank info" LOL have significant spelling and punctuation errors so that was red flag #2 (besides that they were giving away snakes for just the shipping costs) Red flag #3 was how quickly she responded and how eager she was to get the transaction done... I'll attach the pictures she sent me too of the snakes- and they may just be pictures off the internet that she found who knows (one looks like it was taken in a pet store)....

first is an "albino female"

next is an "albino male"

and the next to are 2 pied babies



Ok so I responded to that e-mail saying I was in Los Angeles and asked where she was... here is her response:

"Hello
Thanks for contacting me back regarding my snake. am more than happy to have you as owner of my python , you assurance of taking care of my snake makes me happy and am willing to send them to you , i am located in MN where i will be shipping the snake to your location ,it will take only 3 to 4hours flight to your location , all you will have to do is pay just the transportation fee then you will have your snakes deliver at your home address , shipping the 4 pythons will cost 300$ , we can sent you the python today if and only if you can provide us with the below information and also pay the shipment fee

your full names
your house address
city/state
zip code
phone number
nearest airport to your home

as soon as i have the above information , i will proceed with shipping and delivery arrangement as soon as possible , after am done with shipping arrangement then i will do let you know on how to go about with payment , looking forward to read from you as soon as possible ."

.... SO anyone have any thoughts on how to proceed? I was thinking of responding saying that I have family in MN (I don't) and if they could see the snakes before she sent them... or asking her to send a really specific picture possibly of like her holding up three fingers while holding the snake or something.... I just wanted to see what you guys thought of all this!!!

<3 Andrea