What would you do in this situation?

[farmer1911 45ACP]

In the 6th of july I purchased a breeder male from lets call him seller A. When he arrived he didnt have mites or RI and seemed healthy just a little skinny. He was a 2015 and 564 grams but some people like to keep their males small so I shrugged it off, about a week after he arrived he defacted a greenish goo I assumed it was just from the stress of a new environment but now realize it was because he was living off his fat stores. In the 2 months I have had him he has not eaten at all. I have tried multple prey items (I took a 3 hour round trip just to get colored mice for him) and changed to a smaller tub and still no interest. He is now 506 grams and losing weight weekly. Now I know that balls will go off feed and have had a couple of my females go off feed for almost a year without any effects, but this guy is starting to get a little to skinny since his spine is almost starting to show and as a last resort I may have to force feed him. Seller A didnt produce him but purchased him from Seller B. I found seller B's ad and in the ad it stated him as a asf/mouse feeder and his weight was 730 grams in January! Which means he lost 166 grams in the care of seller A most likely from not feeding and seller A just bred him and then sold him before he starved to death. So now I need to try to find asfs for him, which are pretty uncommon in my OA. On aug. 21st I contacted Seller A asking for a honest and sincere answer to "Was he feeding before he shipped him to me", I have yet to get a reply and am starting to think of what I should do, I hate bashing people and that is why the name is redacted but at the same time I hate getting cheated and not being told I was sold a non feeder that is burnt out and losing weight, especially becuase this male was very important in my breeding projects. Does anybody have any ideas on what appropriate action I should take if any at all?
Thank You

[tttaylorrr]

IMO if you do not hear from "Seller A" within 5-7 days, put them on blast. you might not be comfortable with it, but it may save someone else the hassle of dealing with this same seller down the road, and that's a victory in my book. any breeder/seller worth their salt in this hobby should answer quickly and honestly. i'd consider the lack of response as a worst-case scenario: the snake was flipped due to not eating, and this should be known.

i've never been in this situation so i have no first-hand experience, but this is what i would do.

[bcr229]

Was the snake advertised as an ASF eater by Seller A? Often those animals are heavily discounted since not everyone has access to ASF feeders.

Did you ask what prey the snake was eating (rats, asf, mice, f/t, etc?) before you bought it?

[Merriah]

I don't know what to tell you. Those symptoms are strange. I just want to provide some support. It sounds like that animal was abused before you got him. You are a saint for trying so hard to make him better.
I feel for you, as my very first snake (bought from a major pet company) died within 2 weeks. I did not have enough experience to know that something was wrong. I got up one morning and he was dead.
I now have a super healthy snake named Harvey and he is a certified therapy snake. He swims at the beach with kids, he visits kids in the hospital, and he is a regular at the dog park. Just telling you this to put a smile on your face.
Your situation is terrible and I would be very upset with the seller.
You have all of my support.
Merriah and Harvey

[farmer1911 45ACP]

Was the snake advertised as an ASF eater by Seller A? Often those animals are heavily discounted since not everyone has access to ASF feeders.

Did you ask what prey the snake was eating (rats, asf, mice, f/t, etc?) before you bought it?

This is reply before I bought him"He eats live mice and usually takes two bi weekly." I find that hard to believe now considering he most likely never fed for the seller.

[farmer1911 45ACP]

Was the snake advertised as an ASF eater by Seller A? Often those animals are heavily discounted since not everyone has access to ASF feeders.

Did you ask what prey the snake was eating (rats, asf, mice, f/t, etc?) before you bought it?

and since he was a mouser I paid full price for him. He was also pinnacle in one of my projects that I just bought 3 extra breeder females for so now. I am out the money I spent, a breeder male, and a breeding project and instead have a snake who is on the verge of starving himself to death. If the seller doesn't reply than I will post a BOI on fuana and see what Seller A does to make it right. I hate the fact that I will always answer any of my customers questions or problems and always go above and beyond for them just to be cheated when I buy something.

[KayLynn]

As a precaution I'd also get a fecal done. If he doesn't eat anything you offer soon, force feeding might be what you need to do.

The albino that I adopted (rescued) was in almost this same state when he came to me, with a boatload of old scars to boot. I offered asf's, live rats and mice, f/t, and he just wouldn't eat anything. I had to force feed him twice before his brain caught up with him and he ate on his own, but when he came to me he was also full of coccidia and had a pretty nasty burn. I had to treat that stuff for a bit before I started offering, and before I ended up force feeding. Exhaust your food options before you try force feeding, run a fecal if you haven't already.

And like tttaylorrr said, if you don't hear from this guy soon, put him on blast. No excuse for a snake to be in that condition at all, especially when they're already kind of hard to starve.

[bcr229]

Have you asked Seller A how he kept the snake? Tub versus tank, enclosure size, substrate used, hide versus none, etc?

Have you tried offering live ASF? I have three ASF feeders. They don't take mice. Tried, didn't work, though many will hit both but not rats.

Also some snakes just don't respond well to the stress of moving so it make take them longer than six weeks to settle and start to eat even if they had been good feeders.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Obviously the animal is a picky feeder and while it lost weight all that might be relative and there is no way to prove whether the animal lost weight because he was not feeding with seller A or because of something else, depending on whether the animal was bred and are heavily he was bred that kind of weight loss is possible (as an example I had a male losing 200 grams during breeding season and doing so every season while other maintained their weight)

So as far as it goes it would be hard to prove anything or get any type of compensation, you are not out of anything you just need to find way to get him to eat, remember when you buy an adult even one that feed for you that does not mean you will be able to use him in your projects right away, in my experience it's been more of a 50/50 (50% going into the projects right away, 50% stop eating on arrival and take 6 months to a year to adjust). You are dealing with live animals they go on their schedule not yours.

Now as far as the animal not eating for you, it's something you run into a lot more with mature animals, they seem to take longer to adjust, if you don't already have him in a V18 or 15 quarts tub with aspen or coco coir chips and an hide.

And green in bowel movement is due to bile, it's not necessary because an animal is starving, the opposite is true to.

[farmer1911 45ACP]

Obviously the animal is a picky feeder and while it lost weight all that might be relative and there is no way to prove whether the animal lost weight because he was not feeding with seller A or because of something else, depending on whether the animal was bred and are heavily he was bred that kind of weight loss is possible (as an example I had a male losing 200 grams during breeding season and doing so every season while other maintained their weight)

So as far as it goes it would be hard to prove anything or get any type of compensation, you are not out of anything you just need to find way to get him to eat, remember when you buy an adult even one that feed for you that does not mean you will be able to use him in your projects right away, in my experience it's been more of a 50/50 (50% going into the projects right away, 50% stop eating on arrival and take 6 months to a year to adjust). You are dealing with live animals they go on their schedule not yours.

Now as far as the animal not eating for you, it's something you run into a lot more with mature animals, they seem to take longer to adjust, if you don't already have him in a V18 or 15 quarts tub with aspen or coco coir chips and an hide.

And green in bowel movement is due to bile, it's not necessary because an animal is starving, the opposite is true to.

I dont expect any compensation. I know that they go on a fast with the stress of moving it is more or less how much he lossed and how skinny he is that worries me and seller A not disclosing the information which all I want is an honest answer not money or credit.He is in a 15qt with repti chip and a hide and small water dish. I am picking up some asfs tonight so we will see.
Thanks