Advice, anyone?

I have been offered an adult female ball python by a guy I don't know. He offered photos and I asked him to send, which he did, but I could not open either one as valid jpg images (and tried renaming to see if they were actually gif, tif, or bmp as the most common formats used).

According to him she is 4' long and 2200 grams, which would give me at least one breedable female for next season (Snyder won't be big enough). He also claims she's healthy and is willing to give a 7 day guarantee.

I don't know him from a hole in the wall, have never heard of him, and nothing comes up on the BOI. It seems this snake was his pet and he is desperate to get rid of her because otherwise his wife gets her in their divorce. He actually seems emphatic enough about it that I am concerned he might do something dumb (like set her free or something) to make sure his wife doesn't get her.

Even though he's not asking a lot for her (just over $100 shipped because he wants the money sent W.U. which would cost me money to send him), it still represents hours of work for me and I am not wealthy.

So, take the risk and pay for the snake, knowing he may just take off with my money, the snake may be ill or other than advertised or a male? Or play it safe and risk losing out on a big breedable normal female?

Thanks for your input! I'm going to have to answer him soon one way or the other.

How did this guy find you Marla through the forums?

I wouldn't do it. The guy is claiming the Ball is Axanthic....theres no way in hell even the dumbest of people would sell an Axanthic Ball for $100.....they go for LOTS more. If you can't find anything on him, I'd personally not feel comfortable doing the deal. I've been burned a couple of times and I guess its made me more wary and cautious of who I deal with.

That's true, David, but I figured that's more than likely just him trying to make the snake look more attractive to potential buyers. I'm not really looking at it as anything but a potentially breedable normal.

Paul, through another site. It doesn't really matter how, though, as I have never had any conversations with him on any topic other than this possible snake deal.

Well, if he is lying about the color of the animal how do you he isn't also lying about the size/age of the snake as well? You might end up with a 1/2 dead baby imported snake. Don't get caught up in emotions when it comes to things like this....I've heard of much more elaborate and believeable schemes to rip people off than what this guy is claiming. If it was me, I wouldn't do it.

OK, I just sent him an email saying if he will send me a photo of her that I can actually open or a scan of his driver's license that I can view or if he's willing to ship COD we might still be able to work it out. I also offered references in case he'll consider COD but is worried about sending his animal to an unknown person as I would be. I assumed I could probably get a couple of y'all to vouch for me on husbandry, and Alan and Chad to vouch for me as a customer. If he's not willing to do one of those 3 things, then I guess I'll just need to let this deal fall through.

Marla, just make sure you get a clear bill of sale from the guy if you do decide to do this. You don't want an angry soon-to-be ex-wife dragging you into what seems like a nasty divorce. Not to mention, if she contests the sale and a judge decides the sale isn't valid, the snake could be taken from you after you get it.

And that, ladies and herpers, is how Smynx got her title. :)

LOL. Well I do work in a law firm.

Sounds like too much trouble if you ask me.

Hehe - or maybe someone trying to unload a problematic import.

Well, it seems he was insulted by my request and says he wouldn't sell her to me now if I offered him $500 for her, so it seems to have become a moot point. He also went out of his way to mention that he was Christian, as though that made him more trustworthy than a Muslim, Jewish person, atheist, etc.

Here's the actual response:

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sry bout that!!! now it sounds like you are afraid of my word! i offered
you the snake at a givaway price!!!! now sry to say but you could not give me
$500 for her !!!!! im a christian and dont believe in wat you tried to do!
im not a criminal! no i wont send you any thing such as a drivers licence or
anything like that!!! my sanke is well worth over 250 i offered you a great
deal and you decided to pass!!! thanks anyway

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Wow, Marla. Sounds like you dodged a bullet there. You have to be suspicious of people who profess their innocence with such anger.

The guys a whacko....be thankful you didn't send your money to a nutjob like that.

He is wacky and sounds immature, but on the other hand that's part of why I think the snake might be better off elsewhere. I know, I know, you can't rescue every worthy snake, but it's that emotional maturity that made me think he might do something like set her loose to keep his wife from getting her. I responded to that email from him and told him I wasn't trying to insult him but I don't know him from Adam and don't have money to throw around and told him about getting burned in a different situation, and this was his response:

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HEY MARLA, LETS SETTLE DOWN!! i understand now were u are comin
from!!!!! if you dont wanna trust me that is fine!!!! my snake is what i say she
is nothin more nuthin less!!!!! if you want her you can have her if
not.....thank you very much for your time....................and god bless
you.......................

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LOL - what a friggin 'tard.

i am a moonie and i don't belive in wat he tried to did to!

Sounds like one to be glad you missed out on.

Sounds like a total nutcase to me. And an uneducated one at that. People who use their religion as a shield kind of scare me, but that's another thread/topic/forum entirely.

It looks like a scam to me. First off...the guy writes/talks like a kid. Second...if he were truly THAT anxious to get rid of the snake, he would be willing to work with someone. You're worried about the snake being in the hands of an incompetent, immature idiot.....but I'd be willing to bet there's no snake at all.

If the snake is exactly what he claims it to be-Axanthic-then he is the stupidest person to ever walk the planet. Stay away from this deal....trust me, you're better off without it.

ALL YOUR SNAKE ARE BELONG TO US!!!!

Good thing you stayed away from him. I smell a rat(no pun intended) :lol:

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Originally Posted by Smynx

Sounds like a total nutcase to me. And an uneducated one at that. People who use their religion as a shield kind of scare me, but that's another thread/topic/forum entirely.

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Word!

Oh, Marla...I would post this on the BOI so that nobody else gets burned by this guy.

Also, call his bluff on this whole thing.....tell him that you can have someone come out and check the snake out for you and request his address. That should either get him to shut up or admit hes being dishonest.

You know what this reminds me of....is those telemarketing scams where they call people (usually retired and vulnerable people) and tell them they have won a GREAT free vacation worth thousands of dollars...and all they have to do is send in a few hundred dollars to cover the taxes on all the stuff they just won. And if the person dares to question or refuse, the telemarketer gets ANGRY at them! I've actually had it happen to me once...I couldn't decide if I were more offended or more amused.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

You know what this reminds me of....is those telemarketing scams where they call people (usually retired and vulnerable people) and tell them they have won a GREAT free vacation worth thousands of dollars...and all they have to do is send in a few hundred dollars to cover the taxes on all the stuff they just won. And if the person dares to question or refuse, the telemarketer gets ANGRY at them! I've actually had it happen to me once...I couldn't decide if I were more offended or more amused.

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LOL...I was thinking the same thing! :D

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Originally Posted by DavidBeard

Oh, Marla...I would post this on the BOI so that nobody else gets burned by this guy.

Also, call his bluff on this whole thing.....tell him that you can have someone come out and check the snake out for you and request his address. That should either get him to shut up or admit hes being dishonest.

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Dave, that's why I had asked you first if you would be willing to check out the snake for me. If you had said, "She's not axanthic, but she seems healthy enough and she's about as big as he says," then I'd have felt good about going ahead with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

ALL YOUR SNAKE ARE BELONG TO US!!!!

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LOL :lol:

(humming now, ... "are belong to us us us us...")

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marla

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DavidBeard

Oh, Marla...I would post this on the BOI so that nobody else gets burned by this guy.

Also, call his bluff on this whole thing.....tell him that you can have someone come out and check the snake out for you and request his address. That should either get him to shut up or admit hes being dishonest.

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Dave, that's why I had asked you first if you would be willing to check out the snake for me. If you had said, "She's not axanthic, but she seems healthy enough and she's about as big as he says," then I'd have felt good about going ahead with it.

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I would've gladly gone and done it too, if he was a bit closer, lol. ;)

And I appreciate that. If you're ever considering a snake in the Atlanta area, you know I've got your back. :) I'd rather have any newbie's word from here backing this guy up than no one at all, but I'd feel best about it if it were one of the experienced herpers like you.

Why thank you kindly, ma'am! :D

I don't know whether that makes me feel old or flattered. I'm going to go with flattered. :) By the way, any big plans for your b-day? A new herp or two?

Sounds kinda like what happened to me with Devon..

I was called by my good friend Leslie who said her sister's friend was selling his RTB. Or...so he thought it was a RTB. Thanks to David, we cleared that up. Anyway, he was asking less than $50 for it because he needed to lower his collection fast. So I talked it over with Leslie, who said she kinda knew the guy and that I should get it out of his hands, as he wasn't taking fantastic care of it. But then, he wanted $50 for it. I agreed and he was nice enough to let me see it and hold it before taking any money. Then he tells me he found out it was some rare phase and he wanted $75 for it. Well...it is no rare phase. It's a columbian (thanks David!) and it had mites. So I gave him $50 for it and said I'd give him the $25 when I had it..

Come to find out the guy just got out of jail for attempted murder...but lucky me, he understands I'm 14 and have no money. Although Leslie is still on high security for me. She comes over every day like "Did he stop by? DO I NEED TO KILL HIM?!?" So...just goes to show you...watch out for yucky peoples. I talk too much!

Thank goodness David was able to help you watch out for that particular scammer. Sounds like you, Leslie, and Leslie's sister need to make some new friends.

I luv David! :D
I'm not friends with him...I'm actually avoiding him at all costs. I don't have friends. LMAO.