Bought "unpaired" BP got Surprise Eggs - Not Happy!

I purchased a female Mojave a little over a month ago and before I purchased her I specifically asked if she had been bred recently. The seller said she had a clutch last season and hadn't been paired since. She hadn't eaten since I got her, but I have had that happen with a few other BPs I have had shipped to me, so I didn't think anything of it.

Well 2 days ago I open her tub to check on her and she is coiled around 5 eggs and 1 slug. Normally I would be happy about something like this, but I had bought her to bred with a Black Head male that will be ready to breed around November. Now I'll have to wait until next season. I emailed the seller without mentioning that they had told me they hadn't paired her recently and told them about the surprise eggs and asked if they knew what she had been paired with and they replied that they thought they had bred her to an Enchi. So that would rule out sperm retention.

My question is what should I do about confronting the sellers about this? Should I ask for a refund of some kind? I am now looking at having to care for 5 hatchlings that I didn't plan on, and hopefully eventually finding good homes for them. I'll also have to wait a year or so to try for the pairing I wanted. Has anyone else had this happen to them?

I understand being frustrated about delaying your breeding plan but you now have free snakes. If you were gonna breed it was inevitable that you would care for hatchings so i don't think I would be so angry.

If it were me I wouldn't do anything with the breeder and just be happy to have a free clutch.

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Originally Posted by KMG

I understand being frustrated about delaying your breeding plan but you now have free snakes. If you were gonna breed it was inevitable that you would care for hatchings so i don't think I would be so angry.

If it were me I wouldn't do anything with the breeder and just be happy to have a free clutch.

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This. If you have the room to care for the soon to be hatchlings then embrace it. Mochis look pretty sweet in any case. If she was bred to an enchi then I would not complain at all.

I can understand being a little frustrated, but it's only a one season delay, and what if your male ended up not being ready in time after all? And now you might just find you want to hold back a girl or 2 from a basically free clutch. The only real downside I see here is maybe having to scramble a bit to get an incubator ready. I almost wonder if she was paired but the previous owner never saw a lock and figured she could be sold as unpaired.

Their isnt anything that says you have to incubate the clutch to term. If you dont want the hatchlings yet then just destroy the eggs, its not that big of a deal.

Even if she hadnt been paired their is no guarantee she would have laid on your schedule anyway. Seems like most females tend to ovulate around the same time year after year, so even if she hadnt gone now its still likely she wouldnt have ovulated until late next year for you anyway.

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I'd cross my fingers and hope for a mochi female.

That makes about as much sense as being upset over winning $1000.00 because you have to pay taxes on the winnings.

If you truly want a female that hasn't been bred, the only way I know of is to buy hatchlings and raise them yourself because sperm retention is a very real thing that has been expericed by many people. It can be aggravating being lied to, but it's possible that they just forgot or got her confused with another animal. Or maybe they had paired her up without observing any breeding so didn't think any had taken place.

In my experience, many adult females will not breed their first year anyway because it takes them time to settle in. (some will, some won't, there are no guarantees) Seems to me that you're ahead of the game by having a female that is proven and she should be all ready to go for next year.

I had the exact same thing happen to me.

I purchased a large normal female and the day she arrived, she was ovulating and later laid 10 eggs! But it turned out to be a pretty good experience, I learned a lot and got some really cool pastels out of it and made a little extra money, even traded one of the babies for an adult male spider.

My opinion, keep the eggs, you could hatch out something really cool and/or earn a little cash back later.

It also doesn't mean you can't start another project for this season with different morphs ;-)

I think I might email the seller in this case just to let them know I didn't appreciate the surprise factor, as what I have is not what was advertised. That being said, a free clutch is a free clutch. Sure, it pushes your plans back a bit, but everything I've come to understand about BP's is that instant gratification isn't a thing in the hobby. I was pretty eager to get started on some mojave projects, too, but the snake I purchased was only a baby. At least you'll only need to wait one year, I'll be sitting on my girl for around three.

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Originally Posted by D_ONE

So that would rule out sperm retention.

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Not necessarily. They originally told you she hadn't been bred this year. Then they said they think she might have been bred to an enchi.

You're getting different answers each time you ask, so it sounds like whoever you bought from may not be tracking their snakes' activities very well.

I don't see reason to be upset with the seller. I am thinking if they knew it was about to lay they would have kept the eggs and sold the snake after. Perhaps you should keep the eggs, ger her feeding again, sell the snake for most of your money back, and buy another mojo female to breed to the black head?


As mentioned, free eggs...

Thanks everyone for the opinions on this. After reading them, I feel a little better about the whole thing. I am choosing to believe this was an accident on the sellers part and hope to get a Mochi or two out of it! I think a better word for what I was feeling was disappointed. I actually still had my incubator out from a clutch a couple months earlier and as was mentioned, I was expecting to take care of some hatchlings anyway. So that part wasn't the biggest issue. I just really like the Black Head Mojaves and was looking forward to having one this season, which I know may not have happened anyway.

I like the idea of getting her back on feed and after the clutch has been hatched, and selling her and the hatchlings for another Mojave to give it a shot. My Black Head isn't proven yet of course, but I have him paired with a Champagne female and he is locked with her right now. As far as I can tell if I can get a Black Head Champagne, it may be a World's First which would be sweet!