Can a breeder refuse a refund?

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Originally Posted by JoshSloane

Five days is a long time for any breeder to even consider a refund, so your friend is extremely lucky she is getting half back. At 250g and 2 years that sounds like a sickly animal that shouldn't have been purchased in the first place. Proving that the animal had a preexisting condition before sale would be difficult, costly and time consuming.

If your friend wants to she can start a thread on the BOI portion of Faunaclassifieds to air complaints and receive feedback.

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How is 5 days a long time for a breeder to consider a refund? I'd think it's short if anything. I could totally see getting a ball python, looking it over once and then trying to leave it alone in it's enclosure for at least a week to let it get acclimated. I kind of feel like it's a pretty low likelyhood that the buyer had any wrongdoing. I mean what could an owner do in 5 days that would be their fault and cause the death of an animal? I'd figure most thing would be visible by just seeing a picture of the body. If I sold a snake and it died within 5 days I'd probably ask for a picture(s) to ensure that physical harm didn't happen and that it was the snake I sold, and then issue a refund.

Of course though it doesn't matter what anyone else would or would not do, I'd say the best bet is to take what they'd give you and just move on. I'd agree with the post on BOI and that the snake shouldn't have been purchased. I know the buyer was misled, but if I was buying a snake and I got one that was vastly different weight, then I'd be talking to the seller asap.

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Originally Posted by SCWood

She didn't know. She was told a completely different size and when she got her she noticed how small she was and weighed her. She was also never handled and so my friend is convinced stress played a huge part in the death

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Just out of curiosity, why didn't she complain or try for a refund in the first place?

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Originally Posted by bks2100

How is 5 days a long time for a breeder to consider a refund? I'd think it's short if anything. I could totally see getting a ball python, looking it over once and then trying to leave it alone in it's enclosure for at least a week to let it get acclimated. I kind of feel like it's a pretty low likelyhood that the buyer had any wrongdoing. I mean what could an owner do in 5 days that would be their fault and cause the death of an animal? I'd figure most thing would be visible by just seeing a picture of the body. If I sold a snake and it died within 5 days I'd probably ask for a picture(s) to ensure that physical harm didn't happen and that it was the snake I sold, and then issue a refund.

Of course though it doesn't matter what anyone else would or would not do, I'd say the best bet is to take what they'd give you and just move on. I'd agree with the post on BOI and that the snake shouldn't have been purchased. I know the buyer was misled, but if I was buying a snake and I got one that was vastly different weight, then I'd be talking to the seller asap.



Just out of curiosity, why didn't she complain or try for a refund in the first place?

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Because she fell in love with her and thought she could help her. She didn't know she was too far gone

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In the breeding world, 5 days is an exceptionally long time. Most breeders I know only guarantee live arrival and that's it. Years back I used to offer a three day guarantee and most other breeders thought I was insane for doing so. The fact of the matter is that once the animal reaches its destination, the breeder has zero control over how the animal is handled, housed or treated. As we have seen over and over on these forums, rookie snake keepers can sometimes have outlandishly wrong ideas about how to properly care for and handle an animal.

That being said, I absolutely believe that breeders should be responsible for providing a healthy and thriving animal for purchase.

Your friend is SOL. Take half and learn from the experience. I'm not going to speculate who's fault it is.

Since your friend saw the animal in person and still moved forward with purchasing the animal, means either she was uneducated about how large the BPs should be at that age or just ignored the warning signs.

Kids, this is why you do research, research and research. Whether you do the research into the breeder you're buying from or the animal you're going to buy.

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In this situation it sounds like the seller may have sold a sick animal, and there should be warnings posted about them in the appropriate places. That being said, I agree that 5 days is a long time, especially with sensitive animals like reptiles. I think that your friend should have contacted the seller the moment they realized the wrong size of the animal. My earlier thought of accepting the half money back and never doing business with that seller agin still stands. I only now add what other have said about starting threads to warn others. Another note, I would not, for any reason accept a new animal from that seller, just the money back they offered.


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I'd let her know to always google the name of the breeder. I'm hesitant to buy from anyone that doesn't have reviews. Also always ask age and weight and it's eating habits before buying. I won a BP in an auction and found out afterwards that it was a year old and only 300g. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bought it. I would tell her to leave a review on Fauna BOI.

they can refuse to refund but stupid from a business point of view but if it was only 350g and 2 that's really really worrying anyway that's the weight of off my 8month old normal morph

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Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

I'd let her know to always google the name of the breeder. I'm hesitant to buy from anyone that doesn't have reviews. Also always ask age and weight and it's eating habits before buying. I won a BP in an auction and found out afterwards that it was a year old and only 300g. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bought it. I would tell her to leave a review on Fauna BOI.

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But if the animal was not as advertizes that is the breeders wrong and not a miscare from the buyer. Though the good thing to do was to talk to the breeder, it does not change that the snake could not have completely changed size from somwthing done on arrival.

I dont know how breeder in the herp community do it, but thats a one way sur way to get bad rep.

Im sad for the snake but as said above, take the money, and never go there again. Bext time theres a problem say it to the breeder. If then they dont take responsability, you might have something to go against them but right now you only have what you say. A necropsy is also an option (thats the first thought I had)

Yes, the breeder is definitely wrong for having incorrectly advertised the animal, as well as for having an underfed and likely malnourished animal that clearly wasn't fit for sale. However, the buyer needed to refuse the sale immediately when she first saw the animal in person. I know that she fell in love with her, but you cant keep the animal and get your money back at the same time.