Never been in this situation... Advice please!

So being just a small scale hobbyist I don't deal with hundreds of shippings. On March 16th I received a het Lavender Albino ball that arrived with a URI. Took him to the vets, treated as perscribed, no results. Second vet visit, more money, more aggressive treatments, still no results. I just found him dead. My question is, I have never been in this kind of situation before. All the animals I have received are either healthy or sometimes a snake will have a mild RI from stress that is easily solved. Do I tell the person I bought this snake from? Do I ask for a refund (he wasnt cheap)? What would you personally do here? Thanks. This just sucks big time. :(

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Originally Posted by MiamiRoyalPythons

So being just a small scale hobbyist I don't deal with hundreds of shippings. On March 16th I received a het Lavender Albino ball that arrived with a URI. Took him to the vets, treated as perscribed, no results. Second vet visit, more money, more aggressive treatments, still no results. I just found him dead. My question is, I have never been in this kind of situation before. All the animals I have received are either healthy or sometimes a snake will have a mild RI from stress that is easily solved. Do I tell the person I bought this snake from? Do I ask for a refund (he wasnt cheap)? What would you personally do here? Thanks. This just sucks big time. :(

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did you inform the seller that it had an RI when you recieved it?

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Originally Posted by snakeman13

did you inform the seller that it had an RI when you recieved it?

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Yes of course. She said it had no signs of a RI when it left her house.

You might need to look at the policy of the person you bought it from! Did they know the snake arrived sick? And I'm sorry for your loss!

Honestly, if the seller said the snake had no sign of RI but you did tell them about immediately, there may be something you can do but you won't get a full refund..

You should have arranged a long term plan with the seller immediately. Either ship it back the following week and allow them to cure it, then if it died, you get full refund.. Or, send them copies of the vet diagnosis that same week you received the snake, then all follow up paperwork, with an agreement for compensation.

If you did none of this other than just tell the seller, you are probably out of luck. If diagnosis was not made within mere days and treatment begun, that's even worse because you can't prove the snake arrived sick. The seller can say it had time to get sick with you.

Depending on these circumstances, you may be able to ask for a partial refund or replacement animal. Immediate communication, diagnosis, and treatment, is the key to not getting jipped in these cases.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Just wanted to give an update -

I contacted the seller and informed her of the snakes passing. She was very nice and issued an immediate refund for the purchase price. She said her funds are a little tight right now but she has eggs in the bator and will let me have a hatchling to compensate for some of the vet bills. It really went 100% better than I ever expected it would, she was extremely cordial and I would not mind working with her again :gj:

Glad things went well.

People are usually cool if you talk to them! Glad it ended well, at least as well as it could with the snake passing.

Regards,

B

That's awesome :) I'm glad she was so willing to refund you. That's how people keep a good name.

im sorry to hear about that. yea most of the true breeders will keep there word and replace them if they do get sick. hope all gets better.

The thing is, you don't get an RI from being shipped. If the snake was sick the day you got it, it was sick when it was shipped.

The little voice in my head says maybe there's more to the story than meets the eye.

Who's the seller?

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Originally Posted by wilomn

The thing is, you don't get an RI from being shipped. If the snake was sick the day you got it, it was sick when it was shipped.

The little voice in my head says maybe there's more to the story than meets the eye.

Who's the seller?

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Is that so? I was under the impression that a RI could occor during times of intense stress (shipping). Could the snake have just been harboring the illness until stressed, then it took over? I purchased him from All American Exotics, they seem to have a pretty good name.

It's possible but unlikely.

Did you have a necropsy done?

I've been lucky and have never that happen either, and I'm really worried about what would happen if I wound up in that situation. But I'm real sorry about your snake, and I'm glad the breeder was able to make it right.

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Originally Posted by MiamiRoyalPythons

Is that so? I was under the impression that a RI could occor during times of intense stress (shipping). Could the snake have just been harboring the illness until stressed, then it took over? I purchased him from All American Exotics, they seem to have a pretty good name.

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You are shipping kind of early in the season. And I find cold animals are way more stressed after shipping, and often require treatment for intestinal flagellates. While animals I get locally or ship in nice weather settle in immediately.

But this was from north FL to south FL? I suppose it could get cold, but I'd think that was pretty safe bet.

No necropsy done - far too expensive for me right now, especially since the breeder has made a formal effort to reimburse most of my cost.

And yes, he came to me from north FL and I'm in south FL. He arrived warm, just wheezing and had the bubbles/mucus in his mouth.

Still kind of sucks, it's always the sick ones you grow closer too. He was my only snake with a name right now. I called him Bubbles.