Is she scamming people?

What's up with this woman? It's the one I got Ivan from. She told me multiple times after I bought him that he is just a normal ball python even though I thought that be might be something more. Regretfully I traded him back to her for an Xbox 360 controller, mainly because I needed the room for my 350g+ pastel poss het albino that's coming in the next few days, as soon as I get my paypal account verified. Now that she has him back she tried to convince me that he's a yellowbelly, which I don't buy at all because 100% of people who answered on here said he's just a reduced pattern normal. Also she said she missed him, but she's already got him on craigslist, trying to sell him as a het orange ghost along with a few others. She does not have paperwork on any of her so called het balls. Also the reason he would only eat mice is because that's all she's ever fed him and I wouldn't be surprised if all of her snakes will only eat mice. Also he was really skinny when I got him two months ago and she said the previous owner underfed him and kept him on a heat rock. The new pic looks recent so i'm thinking she lied and it was her and she's still keeping him on a heat rock even after admitting that they are very bad. So what's up with her? Is she scamming people or what? Here's a link to her ad. http://knoxville.craigslist.org/pet/2722126610.html

Obvious lies are just that: obvious. If you've got serious doubts about her business dealings, your gut instinct is generally right. Especially if you already verified that at least one of her animals wasn't what she said it was. :rolleyes:

What I don't understand is that you say he was skinny when you got him, but gave it back to her? :confused:

It's obvious she's scamming people. Maybe you should make it known on your local Craigslist. That's what I would do.

Yeah, sounds fishy to me. Sucks that you traded him back. I am very weary about snakes on craigslist. You can't trust anyone on there.

Wait... she sold Ivan to you as a normal but you were convinced her was more, so you sent him back because you're getting a new one, and NOW that she traded for him back, she says he's a YB to you, but she has him for sale as a het OG?

All the "selling same snake as a het that she told you was a normal" sounds like a scammer. But as far as you thinking it was more when you were told it was normal, that's you. Once she gets it back, she can be convinced it's anything at all, it's her snake. But when she's putting animals up for sale she needs to be honest in the genetics.

Sounds like she's shuffling several animals in selling and reselling them. Hopefully she's not scamming people with fake hets.

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Originally Posted by heathers*bps

What I don't understand is that you say he was skinny when you got him, but gave it back to her? :confused:

It's obvious she's scamming people. Maybe you should make it known on your local Craigslist. That's what I would do.

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I have, I keep reposting my reply ad but it gets deleted. And at the time I traded him back to her I believed that she rescued him from some idiot.

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Originally Posted by decensored

Yeah, sounds fishy to me. Sucks that you traded him back. I am very weary about snakes on craigslist. You can't trust anyone on there.

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Yes it does, at the time I didn't know he would flip him again just like that and believed that she rescued him from some idiot. I wish I would have kept him, I could have made room :(

A scammer? On Craigslist? Unbelieveable...:D

Just wash your hands of the whole situation. At the most, post an ad or craigslist to expose her but other than that, I'd lose touch with her. There's plenty of reputable breeders out there to get quality snakes from. If dinkers are what you are looking for then good luck, but if you want to be sure about genetics and want to guarantee you get what you pay for, stick to people with reputations you know and trust. especially with hets... (not that u were buying a het) u have to be extremely careful... just my 2 cents..

I hope you keep the pastel for longer than a month. not trying to offend you or come off as antagonistic, but if you're concerned about flippers, perhaps you should refrain from the back-and-forth trades.

edit: either way, yes whomever you purchased the snake from appears to be a scammer from even the most cursory inspection. I'd cut losses and lose her email address. best of luck.

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Originally Posted by wwmjkd

I hope you keep the pastel for longer than a month. not trying to offend you or come off as antagonistic, but if you're concerned about flippers, perhaps you should refrain from the back-and-forth trades.

edit: either way, yes whomever you purchased the snake from appears to be a scammer from even the most cursory inspection. I'd cut losses and lose her email address. best of luck.

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I only traded him back to her because I thought he was going to a good home and I needed to make room for my pastel. Also I had him for two months. I had intended to make some cool reduced pattern fire stuff. I do not plan to ever sell my female (first ball and first snake ever) or my pastel or any others that I buy. From now on the only ones that I will sell or trade are one's that I produce or if it's with a breeder with a good reputation. I will never again trust someone from craigslist. Unless i'm getting a rescue from craigslist from someone who has no idea what they're doing I won't be buying snakes off craigslist unless I know exactly what they are.

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Originally Posted by sho220

A scammer? On Craigslist? Unbelieveable...:D

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On the bright side, she didn't lure Evan to her house and murder him.

Craigslist is full of psychos.

I haven't figured out why it's allowed to stay up.

Craigslist is "allowed" because just like every group of people in the universe, there's always a few bad apples.

It's rather like saying that hmmm... say... reptile keepers are all irresponsible jerks who release their pets when they get tired of them, so we should shut down all reptile keeping.

As far as murderers using craigslist, before craigslist, they used dating sites, before internet they used newspaper ads, before newspapers they usedthe old fashioned "find your victim by looking". Murderers are not created by the convienance of craigslist, they simply use whatever is available, same as scammers and same as good people who want to sell items or meet new people.

As far as the OP, I'm glad you didn't get scammed, since you got the snake you wanted, then traded him back for something else you wanted. Hopefully you have more deals where you don't lose out and hopefully that snake goes into a good home that doesn't get tired of him and get rid of him.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Craigslist is "allowed" because just like every group of people in the universe, there's always a few bad apples.

It's rather like saying that hmmm... say... reptile keepers are all irresponsible jerks who release their pets when they get tired of them, so we should shut down all reptile keeping.

As far as murderers using craigslist, before craigslist, they used dating sites, before internet they used newspaper ads, before newspapers they usedthe old fashioned "find your victim by looking". Murderers are not created by the convienance of craigslist, they simply use whatever is available, same as scammers and same as good people who want to sell items or meet new people.

As far as the OP, I'm glad you didn't get scammed, since you got the snake you wanted, then traded him back for something else you wanted. Hopefully you have more deals where you don't lose out and hopefully that snake goes into a good home that doesn't get tired of him and get rid of him.

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It still creeps me out.
My parents have no internet and my mom is always asking me to list stuff on there for her.

She wanted me to use *my* contact info for the items.

I did not.

I wasn't aware of the dating sites being used that way because I've never been to any of them.

It never ceases to amaze me what people are capable of doing, given half a chance.

Just recently somebody had, supposedly, a lot of high end morphs to sell on CL really cheap but he wouldn't send photos or info or even a list of what he had available.

You were just supposed to show up at his place [in a really "bad" part of town] with lots of cash and pick out your snakes.

There's no way I would've gone there.

It just "smelled funny".

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Originally Posted by evan385

I only traded him back to her because I thought he was going to a good home and I needed to make room for my pastel. Also I had him for two months. I had intended to make some cool reduced pattern fire stuff. I do not plan to ever sell my female (first ball and first snake ever) or my pastel or any others that I buy. From now on the only ones that I will sell or trade are one's that I produce or if it's with a breeder with a good reputation. I will never again trust someone from craigslist. Unless i'm getting a rescue from craigslist from someone who has no idea what they're doing I won't be buying snakes off craigslist unless I know exactly what they are.

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Sounds to me like you don't really have your mind made up on what you want or what direction you want to take your projects in. It is very easy to take the first deal that comes in this hobby. You should really sit back and ask yourself what YOU would like to produce. Then when you have kicked the thought around for a few days or weeks, how ever long it takes for you to genuinely decide what you want to do, shop the market for an animal that is the best quality possible(not the best price, that is what kills our market). Remember, irrational decisions involving animals(or anything living for that matter) will just end them up in another rescue situation. BTW, there are plenty of repuatable breeders that have everything you are looking for in this hobby. Steer clear of craigslist and deal with somebody respectful. BTW, making the decision you have(buying a snake then trading it for an xbox almost immediately), really makes you a bad candidate for rescues in my opinion. If you are planning on rescuing animals make sure you have room for them. You can't rescue an animal unless you have the time and space to nurse them back to health. Just saying.

This is why I'm sticking with co-doms, and why I dont have a facebook account.

Yeah I won't be getting any more snakes until I have the room for them and i've thought about what I want to produce. I got the pastel because he is possible het albino and I would really like to produce some pastel albinos. My main goal beyond bumblebees is killerbees so rather than buy an adult female spider i'm going to buy two female bumblebees and a female albino and raise them up, once i've thought about it and decided if that is what I really want to produce. I would love to have kept him but since my main goal is bumblebees, killerbees, and pastel albinos I made room for the pastel. Also I was mistaken on the identity of the snake in question. He had pink belly when she got him from me, and she showed my pictures of him shedding and a side by side picture of him next to the snake I thought was him in her ad. She said she is keeping him.