snakeg - aeterrabyte - Thomas Dorn - snakegenius - BEWARE

Buyers/Sellers Beware of this one.

Rather than posting it all out, I'm just here to make sure the word is spread about this person before any more animals come to harm.

Profile here:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/member.php?28269-snakeg

Link to original BOI thread:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=371684

Bring a drink and popcorn, you'll be there a while.

Holy cow. What a mess.

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Originally Posted by Don

Holy cow. What a mess.

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x2

Well that was an entertaining hour or so of reading. Good grief. I hope that poor snake gets some care one way or another.

You seem like a nice lady with nice snakes. I looked at your website. It's easy to jump to conclusions with out knowing the facts. In the other forum, the situation was presented in a way to make me seem at fault. For those of you on this forum, I want to say no body is at fault, it is just that the snake happened to be a bad specimen as confirmed by my vet. It developed a serious problem that as the vet said, was congenital. I am not a bad guy no body needs to beware of me. I did not sell any bad snakes to anyone. All that happened was I got a bad snake, and the seller is refusing to honor his advertisement.

The seller did not know the snake was going to develop this problem, and I also did noting that could have cause it.

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...ps102fd6ec.jpg

Sorry, but the simple facts are that the snake you got was perfectly fine for nearly 3 weeks.

And BTW you added an extra a into westgate on your "vet letter"...

Time and time again you have been presented an entire list of things that you have done that could have caused this. Your denial of logic and reason doesn't change the facts.

You aren't going to do any better on this site than you did on Fauna. The simple fact that nobody has come to your defense in the 78 pages on fauna speaks volumes.

Try not to get yourself banned here too.

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Originally Posted by snakeg

also did noting that could have cause it.

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For someone who is supposed to be pursuing a PhD in physics, you seem lacking in the abilities to understand basic snake husbandry. The snake ate fine for you, yet you forced water on it via tube feeding. Not only did that not appear to be necessary, there is no question that tube feeding any critter incorrectly can damage it. Prior to the tube feeding, you said in writing that the snake was fine. After the tube feeding, it exhibited problems.

I did not have to get through but the first page of the BOI thread to see that the person who purchased the snake obviously did something wrong and is clueless to bp care. A BP will not dehydrate overnight, silly, snakes in general get the majority of their water from their food, especially when you feed f/t. Why dont people ever own up to their own mistakes. And the crap about it possibly having birth defects due to spider x spider pairing is hilarious. So is the way of people anymore, no one wants to accept their own mistakes and think they should always get something... sad.

I am only to page #37 and already have a headache.
snakeg you screwed something up and only you know what you did. I know this because you are grasping at everything from IBD to anything else you can google.
You also have a problem with your vet, they are not going to say "Its the breeders fault" or lay blame on anything without running any tests. Just about EVERY vet is going to run at least a fecal because they are in the business of making money too;)


BTW I am still shocked at what some people will post online for all the "public" to be able to find and then get mad about it :rofl::rofl::rofl:

To me the worst part is the reckless and callous use by Mr. Dorn of the term IBD. He is very quick to spout that term without any proof. How would you like it if a buyer in an attempt to blackmail you posted multiple times that you sold a snake with IBD?

BTW where is "Westagate" located in Austin? I am wanting to give them a visit with a copy of your letter but I cant find them on google:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Ive read more and it is probably one of the most frustrating threads I have ever read. Every time someone proves the buyer did something to cause the condition, he ignores it and spews more crap out of his mouth. It had IBD, it is because it was spider x spider. There is so much wrong with every post the buyer has its not even funny. I love the part about the rack not being built, and the snake having no heat for a day. Yea, like that couldnt have caused an issue, plus a new rack?? Was not setup and running and tested prior to having animals in it? There could have easily have been any number of issues there. Just the tone of the buyers posts are "i dont give a crap". Always saying these things happen, I dont know what he will do with her, she will just be a pet, I know its alot of effort breeding... Sounds like he doesnt know crap, I really cant get over the tone, sound like someone you would just want to slap and say wake up fool!

"And obviously if that small amount of stress comparable to a vet check up will cause her to fall ill she is defective and just further justification for my refund or chargeback with ever ends up happing."

Good Lord, "defective"?????? Obviously this person does not think of his animals as animals or pets or a living organism but as a product, like a computer or a chair. Now that I think about it, this is exactly what bothers me the most about his posts, no heart.

And this is the vet:

http://www.westgatepetandbird.com/si...60_Welcome.pml

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Originally Posted by snakeg

I am not a bad guy no body needs to beware of me.

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Are you high? Someone with an IP address in your location using your email, who also spells the word terabyte wrong in their screen name is all over the web trying to manufacture scheduled drugs. I'd be more worried about the DEA knocking at your door.

I think the comment about being unable to find the vet on Google was in response to the fact the the Vet's office *coughcough* misspelled their very own company name on their letter.....that has no letter head....of course....

I feel so sorry for this critter. The seller has good guy after good guy thread written, I am thinking that all his snakes probably led comfortable, cared for lives. Then, this poor snake arrives a Thomas' house. It was fine for weeks. Then one ill fated day, for whatever reason (perhaps it had to do with those substances mentioned in the previous post?) Thomas forces open the snake's mouth, shoves a tube down and administers what he says was water. To justify his actions as reasonable, he said that a minute after this procedure was complete the snake urinated, which shows how ignorant he is of snake anatomy and husbandry.
The snake who everyone agreed was fine up until that point immediately began having problems.
That is what bothered me most. I did not like the buyer's contempt for the readers, often calling them morons. I did not like the way he tried to hang his error on the seller. I did not like his attitude with the seller, he repeatedly tried to shove the concept of a chargeback with his seller just the way he shoved a tube into the poor snake. I did not like his threats about legal action when public information was posted. I did not like any of these things, but most of all, I was appalled and what has happened to this beautiful little snake. This snake just wanted to hang out, eat rodents, live the good life. Through no fault of its own, it was unlucky enough to arrive at the House of Dorn, and has paid dearly.

Don't bother looking at my site and my animals, because it'll be a cold day in hades before I'll send an animal to its death at your place.

I posted this because at the root of it, I don't want to see another animal fall into your "care". You are exactly the type of person who burns their rep to the ground on one site, then heads to another and starts posting under a different name. This time, they get to see you coming and sidestep you.

The astute will notice on the alleged letter from the vet that he says "suddenly within 7-10 days of purchase". I think just about any vet would say that, if that were the timeframe they were given. That's an awfully specific time frame NOT for it to have come off the chart where notes are recorded as the client gives the backstory.

Why would Thomas have told the vet 7-10 days? Easy. Because he knew that if he gave the vet the real amount of time that lapsed, he'd have been on the hook. Can't have the vet telling you that you're at fault when you need to produce a letter that says otherwise to show to thousands of people ...

And yes, Nick. I do think there are times he's been under the influence, if not about 99% of this entire convo. It makes my cop sense tingle.

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Originally Posted by snakeg

You seem like a nice lady with nice snakes. I looked at your website. It's easy to jump to conclusions with out knowing the facts. In the other forum, the situation was presented in a way to make me seem at fault. For those of you on this forum, I want to say no body is at fault, it is just that the snake happened to be a bad specimen as confirmed by my vet. It developed a serious problem that as the vet said, was congenital. I am not a bad guy no body needs to beware of me. I did not sell any bad snakes to anyone. All that happened was I got a bad snake, and the seller is refusing to honor his advertisement.

The seller did not know the snake was going to develop this problem, and I also did noting that could have cause it.

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...ps102fd6ec.jpg

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I didnt read the BOI, only this thread. The only things that make my Spidey senses are the mistakes in this letter. As others have said, WestAgate vs. West gate. Also Dr. Lusk refers to the snake as 'Yellow', Yellow and yellow. I would think he would keep it consistent throughout the whole letter. Also im not sure on this but isnt the masters degree usually listed first? It says "Dr. Richard Lusk, DVM, MS" and im pretty sure it should say "Dr. Richard Lusk, MS, DVM." Here its listed like i said:
http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/pro...rgetid=profile

I know its possible for even doctors to make typos so the 'Yellow' vs. yellow thing is understandable; however, spelling your own office name wrong seems a bit silly. :rolleyes:

Mike it is fairly common for assistants to type up a letter for a signature, so those could be the assistant's mistakes, not corrected by the Doc.

I do not know if this has been done yet but I have sent a message to the clinic, with the letter attached, asking if they can confirm the letter came from their office. I stated I knew no info about the animal or owner could be released, but just wanted to confirm the letter itself due to the lack of letterhead and the spelling error in the offices name itself.

No idea if they will reply to me, or if anyone else has been able to confirm with them that this letter did indeed come from their office.

Wow. And I didn't even read all of it.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

Too much to read on that now seems like a giant cluster tho

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I didnt read the BOI, only this thread. The only things that make my Spidey senses are the mistakes in this letter. As others have said, WestAgate vs. West gate. Also Dr. Lusk refers to the snake as 'Yellow', Yellow and yellow. I would think he would keep it consistent throughout the whole letter. Also im not sure on this but isnt the masters degree usually listed first? It says "Dr. Richard Lusk, DVM, MS" and im pretty sure it should say "Dr. Richard Lusk, MS, DVM." Here its listed like i said:
http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/pro...rgetid=profile

I know its possible for even doctors to make typos so the 'Yellow' vs. yellow thing is understandable; however, spelling your own office name wrong seems a bit silly. :rolleyes:

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I'll provide a brief synopsis, then.

Buyer buys snake. Has snake for almost three weeks. Snake eats two (or three?) times while in his care, and he tells seller he is happy with snake. The day after the last feeding, the buyer takes it upon himself to "place water into the snake's mouth" because he thinks the animal needs this for whatever reason. fwiw, snake is in shed, so that could account for the crinkly dry look, especially if his humidity is too low. The day after this treatment, the animal begins displaying neurological issues which the buyer documents by producing several videos that show him flipping the snake around continually, stressing her out even more. He's refusing to believe that something this far in, coincidentally right after he did the water, could possibly be his fault, instead choosing to drag his poor seller through the mud and claim the animal has IBD, etc. There is more, but this is just the paraphrased, condensed version for those who don't want to slog through the fauna book.

Putting something down snakes throat would cause problems if he hit something wrong ya idk if he is experienced at doing that to snakes but I know with people when you put a tube down the throat you make sure your not shaking or bumping anything cuz that's a fragile section on any animal. Sad snake had to suffer thru it all

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Originally Posted by Shadera

I posted this because at the root of it, I don't want to see another animal fall into your "care". You are exactly the type of person who burns their rep to the ground on one site, then heads to another and starts posting under a different name. This time, they get to see you coming and sidestep you.

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I totally agree. And since Thomas has been banned over on Fauna for three days, I'm sure he will be along after a while to check in here and try to justify his abuse of the snake, his total innocence of any misdoings, his continued attempt to crucify a perfectly good seller, and his insistence that if our opinion of what has occurred differs from his whatsoever, it is because he is an intelligent PhD candidate and we are all wrong, and how could we not see that he is the bearer of the Truth?.

This is why I really like dealing with people face to face and close to home.;)

That snakes looks like it has terrible terrible spider wobble that probably developed after the stress of shipping and less than ideal husbandry...

Did you see how hard it was breathing? It was totally stressed out, its just a baby.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

its just a baby.

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Nope it was an omelet in that video:rolleye2:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

This is why I really like dealing with people face to face and close to home.;)

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FWIW< this guy doesn't live all that far from you.

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Originally Posted by Shadera

FWIW< this guy doesn't live all that far from you.

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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:;)

It's hilarious until it happens to you I guess.

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Originally Posted by Shadera

It's hilarious until it happens to you I guess.

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I know where he lives.
Lets just say it wouldn't be the first snake I went and took back for someone.
I have thought about it all day but if I get involved now the other Rob wont have a legal leg to stand on should it have to go that far.

Thomas if you read this I've seen your thread on Fauna. I've heard nothing but good things about the person you complained about. I've also seen the video of that poor snake you received from him. Honestly it looked like she had some head wobble which is common in the Spider gene. Plus your husbandry...looked rather sloppy. And was flipping her around like that necessary? Whatever was wrong with her happened in YOUR care. That's really all there is to say on that matter. I read all Rob's responses to you. They speak volumes of what type of person he is. I would definitely consider doing business with him.:)

Thomas you're a real piece of work. So glad you decided to purchase another animal other than my firefly, was this the purhase instead??? I feel sorry for Rob, looking at the whole situation this could have very well been me in this situation. Who knows where that could have gone as I am new to the hobby, but on second thought your stories have more holes than swiss cheese. Swallow your pride own up to your own mistakes and deal with the cosequences!!!!!

Now, people have dug up all your info and contacted your professors etc and it could quite possibly ruin everything you have ever worked for!!!!!! You will ALWAYS HAVE THIS DARK MARK on your file now!!! I belive youre on page 2-3 now of google when searching youre name!!! Wonder how long till your on page one. Remember, prespective employers, grad schools etc will search you and you pop up w this crap!!!! No person in thier right mind would ever hire you after this!!!!!

I wish i lived in texas i would buy the snake off you just to know that it will no longer be in your hands any longer, i read only 2 pages and i can see your both and idiot and a lier. If i thought the snake could survive being shipped again i would have it shipped here why don't you just see if someone by you in texas can take the snake off your hands. If you really cared about the snakes well being then you wouldn't be trying to ship it back to the breeder, that is probably one of the most stressful things you could do to the animal. And please don't another snake and if you do maybe you should look into an easier animal to take care off like a gaboon or a bushmaster, don't bother doing research on them they are really easy to take care of just make sure you handle them alot when your alone.

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Originally Posted by Ihaveworms

maybe you should look into an easier animal to take care off like a gaboon or a bushmaster, don't bother doing research on them they are really easy to take care of just make sure you handle them alot when your alone.

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No.

Thomas has some problems he needs to address. I believe he hurt that snake when he tried to tube it, as least that is where the problems seemed to start. He is supercilious and stuck up, in my opinion. And what he did to Rob was despicable. But even in fun, this is not an appropriate answer to his issues. He needs to man up and get better, with people skills and with his snake husbandry.

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Originally Posted by Lucille

No.

Thomas has some problems he needs to address. I believe he hurt that snake when he tried to tube it, as least that is where the problems seemed to start. He is supercilious and stuck up, in my opinion. And what he did to Rob was despicable. But even in fun, this is not an appropriate answer to his issues. He needs to man up and get better, with people skills and with his snake husbandry.

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i'm sorry i'm a very sarcastic person and sometimes it doesnt come through text. i did not literally mean he should get into hots it was my pelite way of saying kill yourself. i am new to bp but not animals and i can not stand when people don't put the animals first i saw his "setup video" horrible. 3,000 in snakes 25 dollars at a yard sale for equipment. terrible

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Originally Posted by Ihaveworms

i'm sorry i'm a very sarcastic person and sometimes it doesnt come through text. i did not literally mean he should get into hots it was my pelite way of saying kill yourself. i am new to bp but not animals and i can not stand when people don't put the animals first i saw his "setup video" horrible. 3,000 in snakes 25 dollars at a yard sale for equipment. terrible

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There is a polite way of telling someone to kill themselves? :confusd:

Anyway...I'm still a newb to the snake community but what I see here is something that could've been absolutely avoided had the OP just chilled out and owned up to his mistake. I'm sure he's not the first person to have possibly done harm to an animal while intending to help. I feel like if he'd just owned up to that and not tried to cover his behind this would have never gotten so out of hand. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride, own your mistakes, and know when you are wrong and really just need to shut up and listen. OP, I don't know how they do things in the Physics world, but surely someone in the academic world knows better than to make baseless assumptions rather than to listen to the mountain of evidence to the contrary.

That being said I really dislike 'witch hunts' and attempts to screw with his life beyond what's necessary to get the snake out of his care and ensure this never happens again. I've seen these things turn ugly.

I guess my position falls somewhere in the middle of these two vastly different opinions above: I do not wish death on this person, yet feel that since harm was done both to the seller and the critter, perhaps some consequences are appropriate.

I just want the snake to get in the hands of someone that can actually help it out i don't actually want him to die (bad juju). If someone lives by him he should give it up atleast to get it back on its feet ( please don't make a cheesy joke about snakes not having feet)

It's funny he says he's been keeping snakes for 2 years and he's experienced.. He says that he only has ball pythons. Here is a quote from him..

"12-26-2012, 11:06 PM #127
aeterrabyte
Banned

Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: austin, tx
Posts: 239
Name : Thomas Dorn

Trader Rating: (1)
No i have never had mites. I just have ball pythons. No mites ever. No illnesses besides some minor scale rot when I first started."


Another quote.. " But in my 2 years of keeping snakes I have learned quite a few things."

Yet he has threads on here that he has started where he doesn't know what the bulge in the lower part of the body is (needing to poop), he's worried that a 100 gram baby hasn't pooped yet, AND a recently recovered snake that had scale rot.. I wonder if this is the one and only case of sickness he claims in the other forum? The one that happened when he first started out? But he only has ball pythons and has been keeping snakes for 2 years.. If there were other snakes aside from the large group he just bought in the last month, which came from different people and are being "quarantined" in the same rack, what happened to them in the last 2 years? Wouldn't you know the signs of a snake that's ready to defecate if you'd been keeping them that long? Wouldn't you know that they don't poop very often? Especially babies that absorb most of their food?


As for the rest if the fauna thread, I read the entire thing and I don't believe a word he says. I believe the killer bee was fine those 19 days in his possession (as he previously stated it was) until he force fed it water a day after it had eaten on its own. I believe something must have happened to cause the wobble to get worse. The way he's treating it in the videos does not help. He's exasperating the issue. We all know how the spider wobble works. She also could have aspirated some water which would have made her worse. He claims he put the water only in her mouth.. Well, the trachea is IN the mouth.. Which is why tube feeding, if absolutely necessary, must be done in the stomach.. The snake wasn't dehydrated but if it had been, doing this would not have helped at all. In severe cases of dehydration there are a few steps to follow including soaking, raising humidity, and administering fluids either under the skin via injection, or tiny amounts tubed into the stomach. I also have to wonder if she suffered from CSS or HSS. He could have overheated her. He admitted having an issue with his rack and overheating some other snakes but claimed she was not in that rack. He also admitted that she was not on consistent heat the first couple days.

What do you believe? Especially after reading the entire thread, seeing everything unfold, and knowing the snake was fine and eating well for over 2 weeks..

Non of this was necessary for this snake. Looking at his threads here it looks like he's just googling and asking on forums, then trying stupid stuff on his own and causing damage.

Since 1995 I've probably only physically seen any one of my snakes drinking water maybe a couple dozen times. Does that worry me? No. I know they get much of their moisture from food. I know they prefer to take a drink right after a meal. I know they are nocturnal and usually drink when I'm not watching. Etc..

Oh I could go on but it's frustrating.

All of this combined with all the dirt the fauna members were able to pull up on him leads me to believe this is not someone I'd ever want to do business with.

You really need to take the time to read the entire thread. It's something. Wow.

I was shocked by that 'rack'.. It's so crude and he also had a role of heat tape on both sides on the first level of tubs.. I was surprised no one else commented on it!

Oh and Thomas, you really need to retract your accusations of IBD in Robs collection.. We all know that killer bee does not have IBD and I'm willing to bet a huge part of the reason Rob didn't compensate you at all was because of that.. I saw him post many times to this effect..

I've seen it time and time again on the BOI.. Had you owned up, been a man and admitted where you KNEW you were wrong, apologized, you could have saved some face in this community. Seriously..

Wether it could have been proven that you did anything to cause the snakes wobble to get worse or not is not the issue now. You could have stuck to you guns on that one but you know it's not IBD and you refused to acknowledge that...

I personally think that snake is fine now. I think she's freaking out because you continue to mess with her and stress her out. These things make the wobble worse. It's like how a spider with minimal wobble will suddenly get worse at feeding time due to the excitement. I still believe you did something wrong to make her get this way initially, but I also believe that she should be fine now if you'd just leave her alone and take care of her like you would any other pet you cared about..

If you got into this for breeding and money only, you're in for a huge surprise, and I feel sorry for the animals in your possession..

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Originally Posted by Flikky

I was shocked by that 'rack'.. It's so crude and he also had a role of heat tape on both sides on the first level of tubs.. I was surprised no one else commented on it!

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Someone did comment on it on the fauna thread. Thomas claimed it was so he can fit 2 smaller tubs in the same slot. It makes no sense because there is no heat gradient.

It was also proven he's using stolen pics on his website. Another breeder was made aware and came on to say he wanted his pic removed..

A search of his IP and email addy pulled up some fun stuff..

I finally finished reading the fauna thread after God knows how long.
And I agree with everybody except the buyer (Thomas). He's the Energizer Train Wreck.... It just keeps going and going and going....
The breeder was at NO fault other than selling 'Yellow' to Thomas.

To Thomas/aeterrabyte/snakeg
I won't rehash what everyone else has already dissected. Because they are absolutely correct.
But I will say your 2 years of 'experience' is worth jack. There are first time owners on here who are more knowledgeable than you.
And what was with the IBD nonsense? Ball Pythons rarely get IBD. And if they did, they wouldn't last a week.
And I find it hilarious that you use http://www.anapsid.org/ as a source for reptile information.
Anapsid/Melissa Kaplan gives the worst information possible! Not a reliable resource at all. (i.e. removing eye caps with adhesive tape)
She's a joke to the Reptile Community....

And you say that you have no reputation that is at stake because you haven't sold anything yet and that no future buyer of yours will ever remember this incident?
The bad guy thread on fauna and on here are permanent. This information will not go away. If someone wanted to inquire about you, these threads will pop up when they search your name.
According to your website, you are currently or soon to be breeding some snakes. Seems to me that you will be attempting to sell some animals in the near future.
I would be very worried about your reputation because they are currently in the negatives.

I agree.

The snake is at least back in Rob's capable hands now.

Thomas is perma-banned from fauna due to his creating other accounts to circumvent a temporary ban, giving himself good feedback, etc.

It appears he is going to be more active over here now and thinks no one will know.

Just thought you guys would like to know what sort of person is in your midst. (Heads up, mods!)

I think Tommy wildly speculated about the the source of the snake's ills, but that was obvious to any reader. I don't think the seller will lose any business. However, shame on those who dug dirt and flung it outside of the forum, true or not. That was totally unnecessary. Just because you have the power to do something doesn't make it right. Anybody can take bully to the next level.

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Originally Posted by danojeno

I think Tommy wildly speculated about the the source of the snake's ills, but that was obvious to any reader. I don't think the seller will lose any business. However, shame on those who dug dirt and flung it outside of the forum, true or not. That was totally unnecessary. Just because you have the power to do something doesn't make it right. Anybody can take bully to the next level.

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What is wrong with informing the "virtual world" about the crooked thief or what he/she looks like in the real world?
Personally I live in Texas and would like to know everything I can about people I deal with. All of my deals are face to face and if there is dirt on you and we meet I am going to do at least two things. 1- I will embarrass the hell out of you 2- I might get back in my truck and drive off. Regardless its no deal :gj: