Screwed over at the reptile shop.

[Coins]

About 5 or 6 weeks ago I decided to finally buy my first ball python. I researched it a lot before I picked him up. I went with a lot of advice I found on here on setting up a habitat, not buying from PetSmart, etc. I decided it was really important for me to buy a captive bred snake as well. Looking around my local area (St. Louis) I was able to find a shop that had exotic reptiles. I called beforehand to verify that these baby balls they had were indeed captive bred, which the person on the phone said they were. When I bought the snake, I asked again and it was reiterated that these were indeed, captive bred. Fast forward 5 weeks....

I notice a couple days after feeding that he is swelling up almost sausage like. I take off of work a half day and take him to the reptile vet where I live. He examines the snake and says, yeah..this little guy is sick for sure. The vet helps him regurgitate his food that was not digested and then had to help the snake pass his bowels and urates. After manually doing this for the snake the swelling was gone. Fecal exam proved negative. I took the snake home Friday and the only advice the vet could give me was to keep an eye on him and to try feeding him again Sunday.

Today my wife and I decide to go look at geckos at the shop I had originally bought our snake. This is the first time Ive been back to this shop as its sort of a drive and Im trying to save gas. I look to see how many of the baby balls are left and notice there is one left and theres a sign on the enclosure that says these snakes have been marked down to 25 dollars. I paid 40. I ask why the price reduction and Im told that wild caught reptiles are hard to sell....

She then goes on to tell me that several of the snakes from that batch that they received have been brought back dead or dying. Symptoms....you guessed it. They swell up and die. She showed me one of the live ones that had been returned and the area by the vent looked ready to burst. I told her what the vet did so she tried to help the snake pass its bowels and urates. The snake passed and the swelling went away. While we were discussing the issue that the snake was sold to me as a captive bred (she even admitted that the employee probably lied, she seemed to imply he was shady) A CUSTOMER CAME IN WITH A DEAD PYTHON. Guess what...it was from the same group and it swelled up and died.

My first question is...what is wrong with these snakes. I dont want to return mine as Im quite attached to him. Has anyone seen this before?

Second question...I was told to call back Tuesday and talk to the owner who will refund me the money for the snake. However, since I was lied to I feel that he should also refund me 70 dollars for the vet visit. I would not have bought this snake had it been advertised correctly as wild caught. Is it too much to ask for store credit for that?

Third question...if my snake keeps swelling up obviously he has some kind of deformity or sickness and should probably be put down. I do not want him to be put down inhumanely and if it comes to that, I want the breeder to tell me how he will put the snake down when I return it, or to pay for a vet to put it down humanely.

Am I asking for too much? How would anyone else here handle this situation? I appreciate your responses.

Edit: My snakes vent area is already beginning to swell up again.

[edie]

I can't tell you what is wrong with your snake but heres what I think..

You should get the money back that you paid for the snake - but I would not get store credit from there since they obviously lie to customers and who knows if any of their other animals have illnesses.

If the breeder is not a vet than I would not trust them putting the animal to sleep (who knows what they are going to do with it) - and what breeder are you talking about? I thought these animals were wild caught.

[darkangel]

Well this is a sucky situation for sure... I had a similar experience with my first ball, who I suspect died of IBD and displayed many of the symptoms associated with it. Your first question... I have no idea. Only a vet could tell you that for certain. Is your vet a reptile vet? Your second question... I understand why you believe he should pay for the vet visit, but I don't think it's gonna happen. If he takes back the snake refunds you the money, his responsibility ends there unless there was some prior guarantee. It would be very easy for him to just say he misspoke. Your third question... If the snake was put down by the breeder it would probably be in a freezer.

You said you were wanting to keep him bc you're attached. What you might want to ask yourself is whether you're prepared to keep trying to pay expensive vet bills for an animal whose siblings are dead or having the same problems.

I had a horrible first experience buying from a chain pet store that ultimately led to its death. I wish I had not bought on an impulse and gotten a healthy snake from a breeder. Things may improve with your snake, but who knows...

[Coins]

I can't tell you what is wrong with your snake but heres what I think..

You should get the money back that you paid for the snake - but I would not get store credit from there since they obviously lie to customers and who knows if any of their other animals have illnesses.

If the breeder is not a vet than I would not trust them putting the animal to sleep (who knows what they are going to do with it) - and what breeder are you talking about? I thought these animals were wild caught.

The guy breeds snakes as well. The salesperson told me that the baby balls were captive bred. Tonight I found out that he purchased these babies caught from the wild.

[butters!]

i live in st louis and it sounds like you went to the exotic arc off bayless? if so they have 2 tanks with ball pythons.1 tank is captive hatched and the other tank is captive bred.i bought one of the captive hatched for 25 and it didnt eat for a few weeks and was very under weight.in that batch of captive hatched there was a few that looked really bad and there was a few that looked great.i picked one that wasnt looking so good just as a experiment/rescue and the few weeks ive had her shes done great.one question,do you buy your feeder mice there?i noticed someone buying a few yesterday and there was 3 dead mice in the tub.you might have gotten a sick or infected mouse.there is another exotic pet store that only sells captive bred animals and if any of those dont eat it becomes cobra food so your pretty much garunteed a healthy snake from there.the 2 ive gotten from there have been excellent.its called exotic pets and its off kingston and telegraph pretty close to the jb bridge.

[edie]

The guy breeds snakes as well. The salesperson told me that the baby balls were captive bred. Tonight I found out that he purchased these babies caught from the wild.

I understand that - but the breeder did not produce these animals and if they were not quarantined before being put for sale than it does not seem like this is a very competent breeder and I would not trust them doing anything with the snake - if the breeder does not even know about quarantining animals before selling them to the public than you can bet that he will not humanely put an animal to sleep - I don't even know if you can get the proper medicines to put an animal to sleep unless you are a vet.

[butters!]

do you remember wat tank you picked from?was it on the counter or was it in the tank near the floor across from the counter?

[Coins]

i live in st louis and it sounds like you went to the exotic arc off bayless? if so they have 2 tanks with ball pythons.1 tank is captive hatched and the other tank is captive bred.i bought one of the captive hatched for 25 and it didnt eat for a few weeks and was very under weight.in that batch of captive hatched there was a few that looked really bad and there was a few that looked great.i picked one that wasnt looking so good just as a experiment/rescue and the few weeks ive had her shes done great.one question,do you buy your feeder mice there?i noticed someone buying a few yesterday and there was 3 dead mice in the tub.you might have gotten a sick or infected mouse.there is another exotic pet store that only sells captive bred animals and if any of those dont eat it becomes cobra food so your pretty much garunteed a healthy snake from there.the 2 ive gotten from there have been excellent.its called exotic pets and its off kingston and telegraph pretty close to the jb bridge.

Yes, I bought the snake from Exotic ARC. When I bought the snake there was only one tank that had them listed at 40 dollars. Today there are two tanks..one marked captive and one marked wild caught. Funny how you knew right off the bat where it was.

[Coins]

I understand that - but the breeder did not produce these animals and if they were not quarantined before being put for sale than it does not seem like this is a very competent breeder and I would not trust them doing anything with the snake - if the breeder does not even know about quarantining animals before selling them to the public than you can bet that he will not humanely put an animal to sleep - I don't even know if you can get the proper medicines to put an animal to sleep unless you are a vet.

Yeah, Im not sure of they were quarantined or not. I do not want to put the animal to sleep myself, I will pay a vet to do it if he is just going to put him in a freezer.

[butters!]

so witch tank did you buy from?