BAD GUY-Matt Oakley

Hopefully this doesn't end up being a novel. But please take the time to read it.

I bought an Adult Female Blood Python off Matt roughly 2 months ago for 490 shipped. She arrived at the shipping address in a duct taped Produce box! There was NO heat, NO snake bag, NO insulation. Just a snake thrown in a box with some paper. This is not the right way to ship an animal! What should have took place was this girl should have been shipped in a properly insulated box without a heat pack. Not shipped in a box you’d find at the grocery store.

When contacted, Matt replied back saying that he thought I told him it was "hot enough" here and that the box she was shipped in was more than adequate. Anyone in the reptile business SHOULD KNOW BETTER than to do something like this. This was a very unprofessional move, especially for someone who claims to have over 4 years of experience on KS. I didn't see any of the other problems yet.....

This is said box upon arrival and opening....

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...e/P1010122.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...e/P1010124.jpg


Next issue...

She came in with an RI and easily 200 to 300 Mites, as well as stuck shed on her body and eyes. She got soak after soak after soak to kill the little things as well as getting rubbed down with Reptile Relief. Her cage was treated with PAM and in she went. I contacted Matt again and he refunded me 100 bucks for vet bills. I'll give him this much, that was a good gesture. It turned out to be too little too late though, especially since my vet bills alone amounted to over 100 bucks.

Now I'd had luck with Amikacin in the past with Bloods and decided to give it a go for 2 weeks to clear up the RI, didn't work.

We then ran a Culture and Sensitivity test on her and put her back on Amikacin as well as Fortaz for a month, THAT didn't work.

I contacted Matt and told him that we need to resolve this issue as she was going to be put down as she wasn't getting better despite mine and my vets best efforts. I told him that if he refunded the purchase price for the animal minus the shipping cost, that we would be square. He sold me this animal, she's gotta get put down, seems fair doesn't it?

Matt said that he had had the snake for over a year and she was healthy in his care....this snake says different.

We bickered back and forth for a few days over this, her being such a beautiful animal, I kept holding out on her, and thought to give her one more go...

I contacted my veterinarian and he thought trying one more drug class outside the Aminoglycoside and the Cephalosporin groups might be a last shot, we went with a Fluoroquinolone; Baytril. Since she was already doing terrible, what could it hurt?

We have her on 10 mg/kg q 24h with ZERO improvement. This is the highest dose and most frequent you can give this snake.

I already know Matt isn’t going to refund the price for her, nor does he want her back. Wonder why.....

I just hope that I can reach enough people with this information, to spare them the heartache and stress that this snake and Matt have caused me. I hope it reaches enough of you too, cause I’m out 500 dollars!

I hope you took the time to read this and take it to heart next time you consider buying from him.

Thank you

Frankly I am not too surprised, The lowest prices usually means lowest quality. Case in point.

This is not the lowest price for an animal like this though.

This is about average price actually.

For the price given for this animal.....this should not have happened.

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Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle

Frankly I am not too surprised, The lowest prices usually means lowest quality. Case in point.

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That's horrible. I hope you can save the poor girl, but from your post it seems unlikely :( Thank you for bringing this to light though, as I almost bought something from him not long ago.

I've always wondered this... since some carriers require that you become an "approved shipper" would it do any good to report someone that ships an animal so carelessly?

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Originally Posted by HerpKeeperVA

That's horrible. I hope you can save the poor girl, but from your post it seems unlikely :( Thank you for bringing this to light though, as I almost bought something from him not long ago.

I've always wondered this... since some carriers require that you become an "approved shipper" would it do any good to report someone that ships an animal so carelessly?

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If it came in FedEx, then he either violated the contract he signed when getting certified with FedEx or quite possibly he isn't certified.

If he shipped UPS through SYR, then it should be reported to them and hopefully they will prohibit him from using their service again. If he shipped direct through UPS then it was more than likely done without authorization from UPS. They haven't allowed snake shipments (other than those grandfathered in) in years as far as I am aware.

Piss poor packaging and sending sick animals. Two of the cornerstones of a reptile industry scumbag.

Sorry you have to go through this!

Jamie

He shipped through SYR

Thanks Jamie.

Well he contacted me after I sent him a message through Fauna this morning.

He said he will talk to me once he gets off work today.

I guess we will see what happens......

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Well he contacted me after I sent him a message through Fauna this morning.

He said he will talk to me once he gets off work today.

I guess we will see what happens......

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Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Well he contacted me after I sent him a message through Fauna this morning.

He said he will talk to me once he gets off work today.

I guess we will see what happens......

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I really hope he refunds the full price! I also wonder if you can contact SYR and tell them about this, and maybe get his account there banned :confuzd: Im not really too sure how those things work, but it couldn't hurt to send them this...

All that SYR asks is that you watch the video on how you SHOULD package something.

But don't get me wrong, SYR is a GREAT service and I know LOTS of people are benefitting from it.

You just need to do what is right, and not skimp on the quality of your packaging.