Horrible Day.

On Tuesday I found an add on kingsnake for 2.2 possible het pied ball pythons. The price was right and my boyfriend Joey spoke to the breeder, and we decided to go for it. He said he was shipping some other snakes out Tuesday evening, so if there would be somebody around to sign for them on Wednesday morning, he could ship our group as well. Wednesday's my day off, so everything was working out perfectly.

He called a few hours later to verify the zip code with us and asked us if he could throw in an extra female pos. het pied because she was a little smaller than the others and he couldn't get her to eat anything but mice and didn't really have the time to work with her. We of course said yes. They were shipped Fedex and we started tracking the package.

Everything was fine until about 2 in the morning when I went to bed, setting the alarm so I'd be up for the delivery man Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning we checked by the front door after hearing a truck, but it wasn' them. I got on the internet to check the package, and it was in Memphis!! Apparently thunderstorms had shut down the airport after I went to bed and they weren't going to be delivered until Thursday morning!!

So needless Wednesday was mostly spent fretting and panicking. I called my work and told them that I would probably be late on Thursday because I needed to be around to sign for our snakes. I hate this job, but the people are nice and when I call in saying that I need an extra hour or two for "a snake thing", they understand. We called the breeder and informed him of the problem. He said he packed them really good, and was nervous, but said that they would probably be alright. We checked the weather in Memphis, and it was pretty warm, but rainy.

This morning the Fedex guy showed up right on time, but like EVERY time I've ever gotten snakes from Fedex, they just leave them by the door, don't knock, and don't bother to get a signature. :mad: I mean, we were right there listening for the truck, but still, that really bothers me.

The box felt cold to the touch right off the bat. We brought the box in and I opened it up, checking each cold snake bag. They felt cold but not TOO cold, limp, and pliable. I honestly thought they were alive.

I'm squeamish, and I was kind of hyperventilating, so Joey checked each of the five bags and shook his head. He called the breeder and informed him that none of them made it, and asked him how he wanted to proceed because none of us had ever been through something like this before. We all agreed that shipping the corpses back would be awful for everybody, so we'd just take a picture and email it to him then work on the refund.

I went to get the camera and while I was fishing for it, Joey yelled that we needed to get to the vet right away. He thought he might have seen one twitch and we just needed to be sure.

So a frantic phone call and one hectic drive later, we were at our vet's office. My hair was a mess, my shirt was on backwards, and I forgot socks, but we were there.

They took the poor babies back and informed us that ONE was definitely deceased. Just one, though! Two passed away shortly thereafter, but the biggest female was showing good muscle tone and a good heartbeat. They gave her a few injections of vitamins and liquids, but we still don't know the final verdict yet. The small mouse eater female had a very slow heartbeat and no muscle tone, but they were going to just keep her warm and it comes down to whether she's brain-dead or not. I've got my fingers crossed.

We called the breeder back to let him know what the vet said, and he just felt awful. He refunded us our money even though we told him we could wait to settle it until after we knew if the two females were going to make it or not, but he refunded it anyway and said to let him know what happens either way with the two possible survivors and to just keep them if they do pull through.

It was just an awful experience, those cold limp snake bags :( We haven't heard back from the vet yet, and I'm just a nervous wreck. I really hope that they make it, but I have a really bad feeling about the one that might be brain dead. Ugh, I hope they call soon.

Oh my god, that has to be horrible to go through. I hope it all works out okay.

Keep us posted.

Thanks, I hope so too! Joey's on the phone to the vet now, so I should hopefully know SOMETHING in the next few minutes...

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Originally Posted by Allysen

Thanks, I hope so too! Joey's on the phone to the vet now, so I should hopefully know SOMETHING in the next few minutes...

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That storm was horrible, I'm sorry for your losses.

Know anything yet?

I'm really sorry. Nice to see the breeder is being as nice as he is. Good luck on the other 2!

Well, the small mouse-eater didn't make it, but the big female did. Needless to say I think I'd be shot if I didn't name her "Lucky". Joey's on his way out to the vet's to pick her up and we're going to set her up in a nice quarantined hospital tub as soon as we get home.

I'm so sorry to hear this, this must really be a blow:mad: But it sounds like a great breeder to give you the full refund with no questions asked, FedEx is really starting to make me mad. I had paid for 10:30 next day and he arrived a few hours late, which was very stressful and nerve racking. I can see why more and more breeders are doing delta dash. I hope that your survivor does well!

Oh my, that must have been awful. Good to hear that one has made it though! Keep us posted on her progress, and good luck.

My heart goes out to you. I am sorry to hear about the ones that didn't make it. But very glad at least one has made it. Hope she continues to thrive! Keep us updated on how she does.

Wow I can't believe this happened. I am glad to hear that one did make it. I hope she begins thriving very soon.
:hug:

I'm sad to hear about the ones that didn't make but I'm glad to hear the breeder did the right thing. Best of luck with the girl who made it.

That's terrible! I'm sorry that happend.

I would be on the phone with FedEx's corporate office immediatly and i'd give them more than hell!
It's not like they've never shipped live animals! Heck they even advertise that they do! Obviously FedEx is to blame for making the delivery a day late and not taking care of the temperature the snaked needed.

I have had a few bad run-ins with FedEx and always, always, always use UPS now.

Very sorry to hear about what happend :( I hope the ones that make it have a quick recovery!

I'm so sorry that happened!! :( But I am glad that one made it, and hopefully she will fully recover from it. Definitely keep us posted on her progress.

Allysen,

Very sad day, but two good things, one lived and the breeder deserves a :gj: for his immediate 110% response!

Rich

That is terrible. I am very sorry to hear about that. I hope the 2 females make it and are ok.

omg thats so sad i really hope the two pull through my prayers are ith you:please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please::plea se::please::please::please:

Good luck with your girl and I'm also glad the breeder did right by you. Every breeders worst nightmare.

Spoil that girl rotten, no doubt.

~Kat

So sorry you had to go through this but thankful that the breeder is a good person. I would freak if that happened to me :( I have had packages delivered late to me from fed ex lately. Last one was an hour late. They are slacking..

Thanks everybody for your kind words, it's really cheered me up.

We got Lucky home and I finally got to see her. She's absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Her head is just one big blush, and her sides are absolutely yellow. She seems very alert and active, and she allowed me to hold her for a few minutes while Joey was setting up her hospital tub. We gave her the entire guest room because it's so low traffic, and set up a space heater to bump the ambient temperature. She has an elevated basking spot as well. I really hope she pulls through, the vet said that it seems very hopeful, she's strong, and as long as she doesn't develop any major infections, she should be alright.

I'll post some pictures of her later, I snapped a few quick ones before putting her in her quiet warm tub and leaving her alone. I'm so thankful she survived so far, and the breeder is just wonderful. The other snakes that he had shipped also got delayed, but they are all alright, thankfully. He even told us that he might still have a possible het pied male available, and if he does, he'll ship him to us without charge.

Sorry to hear about your snakes. I worry so much while waiting on live animals!!:(

EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NEVER DEALT WITH THE SHIPMENT OF LIVE ANIMALS, I DO WORK IN THE SHIPPING BUSINESS.
I AM A SHIPPING MANGER AT A MAJOR MFG CO. IN NE OHIO. FROM MY EXPERIENCES FED EX IS TRASH. UPS IS SO MUCH BETTER WHEN IT COMES TO VERIFYING DELIVERY AND ACTUALLY MEETING ON-TIME SHIPMENTS. MY CONDOLENCES GO OUT TO YOU AND WISH YOU NOTHING BUT LUCK WITH "LUCKY":gj:
WE NEED PICS!!!!!!!:bow:

That really sucks. Another reason I'm so hesitant to ship (or receive) live animals. I hope you and the breeder are able to work something out.

I am so happy to hear the big girl should make it!! I hope to never experience something like that. UPS just delivered a $250 camera that was SUPPOSE to be signed for but they left it at my front door...but thats nothing compared to a live animal especially precious snakes!!

I just read this and I'm sorry. I wont you to know however it sounds like the breeder is A+ Refunding the money with out question or hesitation even if they made it is a stand up person in my book.

Please post their name and website so people can know that they handled this problem with shineing colors and deserves peoples business.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I just read this and I'm sorry. I wont you to know however it sounds like the breeder is A+ Refunding the money with out question or hesitation even if they made it is a stand up person in my book.

Please post their name and website so people can know that they handled this problem with shineing colors and deserves peoples business.

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As with Ed, I just read this as well.

I also second a request as to who that is, because that is stand up business in this hobby!

That is horrible. Stuff like this makes me very nervous as I am expecting an animal in this week.

Its refreshing to know, however, that the seller is doing the right thing. Even though most of the snakes did not make it, the seller is doing what he can to make things right. Thats stand up in my book! :gj:

I agree, the seller should be named here in the post.

Really sorry to hear about the loss :(
hope you get your plans back on track.

UPS doesn't allow snake shipping, for those touting their reliability. I prefer UPS, but for snakes we are pretty much down to FedEx or DeltaDash.
That's wonderful to hear about the seller making good right away. Glad to hear one of them survived. It's no one's fault that the storm delayed everything, that storm was a nasty one.

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Originally Posted by Karbon

I have had a few bad run-ins with FedEx and always, always, always use UPS now.

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The only problem with this is that if UPS finds out you're shipping snakes, they can and will refuse the shipment and won't compensate anyone if a problem occurs. FedEx is the only door to door shipper that I know of that will take snakes (as long as you're an approved shipper).

I'm glad to hear that the one girl is doing well! Look forward to seeing pictures of her!

I despise Fedex. They are always late and in one case decided to keep a package "out for delivery" on their truck for 8 days before delivering it to me. I had to call them 5 times before they decided to deliver my package which fortunately wasn't a live animal.

I've a pastel and spider delivered via Fedex and both arrived very late. I thought the spider was dead when it arrived it was so cold.

Just last month I ordered a lens and Fedex had it out for delivery then decided not to deliver it and kept it another 3 days before finally showing up.

UPS is always time for me, but they aren't delicate with the boxes.

Glad to hear at least one was OK.

The one thing I really hate about this hobby is all the stress involved with missing and late packages.

FedEx delayed shipment of one of my snakes because a plane was broken down. When I made it clear it was a live animal shipment, they found the package and got it to me that evening.

I've also had one package shipped to me via UPS get delivered to a house several blocks away. The UPS rep insisted the package was delivered, and they couldn't do anything about it. After a lot of pushing, they got in touch with the driver and found my package.

I'd drive 100 miles to sell or buy a snake, rather than putting them in the hands of FedEx or UPS, but sometimes it's unavoidable.