Not thrilled with LLL Reptile.

Living in Southern California I am a regular customer of LLL Reptile's stores and have nothing but good things to say. The stores are always clean and the animals are well taken care of. The staff really cares about not only the animals but the customers as well.

Hardly seems fair to base judgement on what happened "years ago". If you haven't checked them out recently maybe you should.

There are very few sellers out there that would guarantee health past 5 days. It's just the way it is. Having a snake die suddenly after 10 days, while tragic for the OP, is not unheard of, and hardly should be held representative of a business. An offer of a discount on another animal is more than most will offer. At least the OP is not on here totally bashing LLL Reptile, and I do understand his feelings about the loss of his snake.

I for one, will continue doing business with them. I even have an order ready to be picked up, so will be going there Saturday morning.

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Originally Posted by Saber402

Living in Southern California I am a regular customer of LLL Reptile's stores and have nothing but good things to say. The stores are always clean and the animals are well taken care of. The staff really cares about not only the animals but the customers as well.

Hardly seems fair to base judgement on what happened "years ago". If you haven't checked them out recently maybe you should.

There are very few sellers out there that would guarantee health past 5 days. It's just the way it is. Having a snake die suddenly after 10 days, while tragic for the OP, is not unheard of, and hardly should be held representative of a business. An offer of a discount on another animal is more than most will offer. At least the OP is not on here totally bashing LLL Reptile, and I do understand his feelings about the loss of his snake.

I for one, will continue doing business with them. I even have an order ready to be picked up, so will be going there Saturday morning.

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Why take a risk when I have two of the best breeders local to me? My local breeders would bend over backwards to help me, if I had an issue a week or two after getting an animal I know they'd make things right. That's like what Mike says about there is a difference between breeders and sellers.

If the snake died 10 days after on a person inexperienced it would be different than on somebody who has experience keeping reptiles. I order nick nack stuff from LLLreptile like PAM or something because it's cheaper and it's not an animal. I saw all that I needed to see when at the reptile show. I'm not going to get into any discussion but I have certain places that I would never purchase an animal from.

This is not a new issue with LLL - it seems that with every satisfied customer they have, there is also a story like Mike's.

The good news is that replacing or refunding sick animals is something they have a lot of experience in. The bad news is that after 10 days they probably won't do it willingly.

There is enough history on the BOI regarding their spotty health issues that members of this forum can determine whether this is part if a pattern or an anomaly.

Once you figure that out, send LLL a message and let them know that members of this forum will not tolerate them not making this right for IUD Mike.

Yeah this is the kind of stuff I hear time and again about LLL, and if I lived local to one of their shops, I may have a different opinion. But I made the decision a long time ago that if I were to order from them, it would be supplies, not live critters. Nothing against the business itself, but it would be more worth my patronage if less than half of the live animal reviews I see have an ending like this. Sorry to hear about your king, Mike, I hope you have better luck if you decide to try again with the species. They're cool animals.

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*waves* Hi Mike!

I'm really, truly sorry to hear the snake didn't do well for you. My understanding is that it was a pretty decently well established snake - the babies from that batch were all well started, and larger than the babies usually listed on our site, so you shouldn't have had trouble with it at all. Kings are a fun species to keep, and (normally) extremely hardy, which is why it is a surprise to hear about one so well started not doing well.

I was made aware of this thread this morning, and as I know Mike is a regular poster who does know his stuff when it comes to ball pythons, I'd actually really like to talk to Mike himself more about his setup and see if we can figure out what happened. Being great at caring for ball pythons doesn't necessarily mean it's an easy transition over to kingsnakes, and sometimes being so well versed in a single species can inadvertently make it more difficult to try new ones. Since the snake was hand picked in person, shed for you, and then ate for you, it makes the situation an odd one for us as well. This sort of thing really doesn't happen very often, which is why we'd be happy to discuss it further with Mike.

Mike, I'd appreciate it if you could PM me and we can try and work out what happened that way. I can talk to Kate once we figure out a few more details and see about getting you a little more credit, as losing a snake after such a short period of time does suck.

I hope to hear from you soon - Jen

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

They do breed as well...

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Lol. You took me too literally rob :p

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Originally Posted by John1982

I would be curious to know how old the animal was and if it had ever had a bowel movement. Occasionally animals are born not right on the inside and just perish young. Most reputable breeders won't release an animal until it is eating strong and passing solid waste. Seeing as your girl was small enough to to be offered a pinky mouse she couldn't have been old at all. I wonder if she had passed the early, albeit important, milestones of eating and sheeting. Sorry for your loss and hope the experience doesn't turn you off of other species. Kings are a hoot and a half to keep. Just start with a healthy specimen.

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She was a baby. I didn't weigh her but she was small. She definitely had a bowel movement bc she pissed/crapped on me lol.
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Originally Posted by LLLReptile

*waves* Hi Mike!

I'm really, truly sorry to hear the snake didn't do well for you. My understanding is that it was a pretty decently well established snake - the babies from that batch were all well started, and larger than the babies usually listed on our site, so you shouldn't have had trouble with it at all. Kings are a fun species to keep, and (normally) extremely hardy, which is why it is a surprise to hear about one so well started not doing well.

I was made aware of this thread this morning, and as I know Mike is a regular poster who does know his stuff when it comes to ball pythons, I'd actually really like to talk to Mike himself more about his setup and see if we can figure out what happened. Being great at caring for ball pythons doesn't necessarily mean it's an easy transition over to kingsnakes, and sometimes being so well versed in a single species can inadvertently make it more difficult to try new ones. Since the snake was hand picked in person, shed for you, and then ate for you, it makes the situation an odd one for us as well. This sort of thing really doesn't happen very often, which is why we'd be happy to discuss it further with Mike.

Mike, I'd appreciate it if you could PM me and we can try and work out what happened that way. I can talk to Kate once we figure out a few more details and see about getting you a little more credit, as losing a snake after such a short period of time does suck.

I hope to hear from you soon - Jen

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I find this post sorta contradictory like the email I got... :rollseyes:

I don't have any additional pertinent info that I would be able to provide for you, so I don't see a point in pm-ing you. I described her care in the email and here. I don't have any else to add lol. I always leave my new additions be as much as I can to let them settle in so I wasn't checking on her every day. If it had been a month or two I would be able to give you some more feed back on care routines and what not, but it was only 10 days.

I appreciate it a lot Jen but like I said, I'm not really interested in more credit, I would have just been happy with a refund. But policy is policy and I understand that. It wouldn't be fair for you to give me a refund but not someone else. Nothing personal against you Jen, I'm just not interested in another animal from LLL. Thanks for taking the time to respond though.


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Sorry to hear about your loss in such a short amount of time. :(

I have, and would again, buy supplies from LLL. I'm local to one of their stores, so it's no big deal for me to hop over there. However, I wouldn't purchase animals from them. Their animals have looked to be in pretty good condition when I've been to the stores, looked clean and well cared for, but I still wouldn't buy animals. It's my personal preference. I've seen and heard too many sad stories about animals purchased from stores (in general, not targeting LLL individually). It isn't worth the risk to me.

Sorry to hear about loosing your snake. I have gotten all my reptiles from them with no issue, I live really close to their Escondido location so I am always seeing something that catches my eye when I stop in for supplies.

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Originally Posted by LLLReptile

I was made aware of this thread this morning, and as I know Mike is a regular poster who does know his stuff when it comes to ball pythons, I'd actually really like to talk to Mike himself more about his setup and see if we can figure out what happened. Being great at caring for ball pythons doesn't necessarily mean it's an easy transition over to kingsnakes, and sometimes being so well versed in a single species can inadvertently make it more difficult to try new ones. Since the snake was hand picked in person, shed for you, and then ate for you, it makes the situation an odd one for us as well. This sort of thing really doesn't happen very often, which is why we'd be happy to discuss it further with Mike.

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I find this response an interesting assumption..........................

Mike, in all fairness to LLL, IF you were to privately talk to them and hash things out, and IF they were to offer you a replacement animal, then you should give them that opportunity to rectify the situation. A lot of breeders will offer replacement animals before they offer cash back. Then again, being that this hobby attracts a lot of the underbelly of society as well, there would also be a lot of people that you would never hear back from.

The buyers don't dictate terms of sale, and if the seller is willing to go outside of their terms, you should take their offer. You may rather just have your money back, but IF they are willing to give you a replacement animal, it could be a great one(though if I were you, IF a replacement animal is offered, I would strongly insist on one that they had bred and raised rather than from a "batch" they had recently purchased). You could possibly also use any credit towards purchase of supplies, so you wouldn't have to be weary of another animal. If you flat out refuse any of their resolutions, then you are partly to blame for making it a difficult situation.

I don't blame Jenn for wanting you to take it to PM or e-mail, as that is where it should be discussed...and maybe discussing it with her will have a different result than with whomever you discussed it before.

For the record, I think LLL should rectify the situation....I just don't necessarily believe a refund is the first or only solution.