Best Way to Replace My Dead Pin?

The Tucson show is coming up and that's when, in 2010, I purchased a female Pin. As the show is inching closer I'm deciding what would be the best way to replace my dead Pin.

I called the breeder the day it happened, only two months after the expo. The care for all my Ball pythons is the exact same and has much improved in the last three years of keeping Balls. He asked all questions about my husbandry and everything seemed correct. The day I bought her I was told she was a picky eater, but from dealing with several picky eating snakes before, I was confident enough that I could get her on food. The snake only took food once for me through assist feeding and I could not get her to eat anything after that. I tried every method I could think of. The snake was thoroughly checked over at the expo and in my home but showed no physical signs of illness.

I paid $180 for her and still have the recipe. I may call in again in August just to remind him about the incident so he knows I'll be there for the show looking for a replacement of my dead Pinstripe. When I called him around 10 months ago he said we could work something out and that he will be vending at the next Tucson Show.

So, if you were in this situation, how would you want your snake replaced? I mean, even if he gave me my money back which is fine, I would rather prefer another healthy, eating female hatchling morph. But I'd like to get opinions.. I'm not exactly sure how to deal with the situation as this is the first and only time I ever had a Ball die on me so suddenly. I'm still rather heated about the incident.

The business name on the recipe says Outback Reptiles, but I also have a card from them somewhere of their main business that they run (a motel I think). I'll have to find the card but I think it might've been Paradise something Motel.. They are located in Texas.
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If they are willing to work something out, just shoot them a reminder call, and get another one at the show.

For one- outback reptiles is not the most trustworthy of breeders if I'm recalling right. Now then, this is just my personal opinion.. You purchased a snake knowing full well it had eating problems. Did you ever force feed? It may have saved your snake if you had.

Personally, if you didn't want the responsibility of force feeding, or the risk of it not eating and dieing- why buy the snake? You took the risk when you purchased his animal, and if he replaces it then it's him going above and beyond for your mistake.

Just my .02

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Originally Posted by MMReptiles

For one- outback reptiles is not the most trustworthy of breeders if I'm recalling right. Now then, this is just my personal opinion.. You purchased a snake knowing full well it had eating problems. Did you ever force feed? It may have saved your snake if you had.

Personally, if you didn't want the responsibility of force feeding, or the risk of it not eating and dieing- why buy the snake? You took the risk when you purchased his animal, and if he replaces it then it's him going above and beyond for your mistake.

Just my .02

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x2 IMO
and also it died 2 months after purchase.
Most guarantees dont last that long. If the breeder is willing to work with you at all then thats very generous of them.
How many meals did the snake have before you got it?
If its a hatchling and is a picky eater, i wouldnt have bought it myself. but thats just me. I hope you find luck with the situation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MMReptiles

For one- outback reptiles is not the most trustworthy of breeders if I'm recalling right. Now then, this is just my personal opinion.. You purchased a snake knowing full well it had eating problems. Did you ever force feed? It may have saved your snake if you had.

Personally, if you didn't want the responsibility of force feeding, or the risk of it not eating and dieing- why buy the snake? You took the risk when you purchased his animal, and if he replaces it then it's him going above and beyond for your mistake.

Just my .02

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X3 imo as well!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MMReptiles

For one- outback reptiles is not the most trustworthy of breeders if I'm recalling right. Now then, this is just my personal opinion.. You purchased a snake knowing full well it had eating problems. Did you ever force feed? It may have saved your snake if you had.

Personally, if you didn't want the responsibility of force feeding, or the risk of it not eating and dieing- why buy the snake? You took the risk when you purchased his animal, and if he replaces it then it's him going above and beyond for your mistake.

Just my .02

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x4

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MMReptiles

For one- outback reptiles is not the most trustworthy of breeders if I'm recalling right. Now then, this is just my personal opinion.. You purchased a snake knowing full well it had eating problems. Did you ever force feed? It may have saved your snake if you had.

Personally, if you didn't want the responsibility of force feeding, or the risk of it not eating and dieing- why buy the snake? You took the risk when you purchased his animal, and if he replaces it then it's him going above and beyond for your mistake.

Just my .02

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x5

Not to sound like an a - hole, but yea they Kinda warned you.
Also, as mentioned above, most warranties I have seen are for 15 days, and from time to time I see a 30 day one. So it's not their obligation to refund the money or do an 'exchange'. If they said they'll break a deal with you be thankful and accept it (a 50% would be more than awesome in this case).

But, as a vendor, I think they failed, selling a 'sick' snake.



Just give it a go, Hope you can get a new healthy one for a great price.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MMReptiles

For one- outback reptiles is not the most trustworthy of breeders if I'm recalling right. Now then, this is just my personal opinion.. You purchased a snake knowing full well it had eating problems. Did you ever force feed? It may have saved your snake if you had.

Personally, if you didn't want the responsibility of force feeding, or the risk of it not eating and dieing- why buy the snake? You took the risk when you purchased his animal, and if he replaces it then it's him going above and beyond for your mistake.

Just my .02

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It's not the Outback Reptiles most people know about, they were more of a smaller breeding biz.

Force feed as in....? Putting a F/T rodent in the snake's mouth/throat? That I did, first time worked but the few times after that I wasn't successful.

I did want to take the full responsibility of the snake even if it meant getting the snake to eat since I had done this plenty of times before. You do have a point and I appreciate your post. I am truly happy that he agreed to work something out with me. I suppose I am just a little fired up about what had happened because my dad had given me the money that went toward the snake, just means a lot to me when my dad is involved in the purchase of my animals or anything for that matter.

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Originally Posted by mues155

x2 IMO
and also it died 2 months after purchase.
Most guarantees dont last that long. If the breeder is willing to work with you at all then thats very generous of them.
How many meals did the snake have before you got it?
If its a hatchling and is a picky eater, i wouldnt have bought it myself. but thats just me. I hope you find luck with the situation.

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I'm actually very glad you mentioned about guarantees. I don't recall him giving me a however-many-day guarantee, but that is a reasonable piece of information that I completely overlooked.

The snake was said to already be 4 months old? if I remember correctly. I don't recall being told how many meals it previously had but I was told that she favored rats.

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Originally Posted by Munizfire

x5

Not to sound like an a - hole, but yea they Kinda warned you.
Also, as mentioned above, most warranties I have seen are for 15 days, and from time to time I see a 30 day one. So it's not their obligation to refund the money or do an 'exchange'. If they said they'll break a deal with you be thankful and accept it (a 50% would be more than awesome in this case).

But, as a vendor, I think they failed, selling a 'sick' snake.



Just give it a go, Hope you can get a new healthy one for a great price.

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Yes they did warn me, and unfortunately things do happen. Even if it is a small deal I would be more than happy to get some of the money I spent replaced. Seeing $180 wasted just picked at brain a bit.

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

Yes they did warn me, and unfortunately things do happen. Even if it is a small deal I would be more than happy to get some of the money I spent replaced. Seeing $180 wasted just picked at brain a bit.

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Thats kind of what investing in an animal is about though.
Animals can die and money can be lost just like that. honestly if $180 makes you upset you probably shouldnt buy anything more expensive than that pinstripe in the future.
I have about $4,500 in my snakes. If one of my $1,200 snakes dies i would be upset yes but i know that it can happen. its a risk that all pet owners take i think.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

Force feed as in....? Putting a F/T rodent in the snake's mouth/throat? That I did, first time worked but the few times after that I wasn't successful.

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That is assist feeding. Force feeding is actually putting the mouse entirely down the snake's throat and holding it's mouth shut so it can't regurge. The breeder saved my ball as a hatchling through force feeding, he eventually caught on to the "this is food" thing.