Quote Originally Posted by Spaniard View Post
Just another scenario to throw out there. Lets say you buy a snake which has an RI from both sources breeder and petstore. What do you think the odds are off having the petstore re-inburse you for the cost of the vet bills? Any reputable breeder that I know of will absorb vet expenses for any animal you recieve from them that has immediate health issues that were not a result of your care. Obviously we're going to a reputable breeder so we can avoid an unhealthy snake but sometimes stuff happens. I've seen breeders even offer to pay half the vet bills when people had animals for over a month that developed RI issues. There is just a lot more support you get from a breeder when stuff goes wrong and with tools like the BOI there is a lot of action you can take against them vs a petstore which will most often give you a too bad so sad response.
This is so true... it's part of the risky/vague return policy thing. A breeder will give you up front detail instructions on what to do if your animal is sick upon arrival and what they will do about it.
Petstores, using my local petco for example will only pay for vet bills if the animal is taken to one of their approved vets within a limited amount of time. If you take the snake to any other vet first they will not cover costs and it's not their problem anymore.