Breeding loan - What is fair compensation?

[JayCee]

I'm looking for opinions on what I should ask for compensation for a breeder loan that didn't go as planned.

The deal:

I loaned out 2 adult proven breeder female normals. They were to be bred to to a particular single codom morph male. When clutches hatched, I would get 2 female morphs, he kept the rest and the 2 original normal females.

I looked at it as a win win. He got 2 big (over 2,000 gm females) and I got to clear some space and get 2 morph females the next year (with the plan of keeping the one I liked best and selling the other).


The problem:

Even though our written contract specifically stated that the above females were only to be bred with the above male, they were bred to at least 2 other males. The first female laid 10 eggs (from what I'm told via email). Result, pastels and normals. I was told at this point that at least 3 males were introduced, one of which obviously being pastel (not the agreed upon male).

At this point I'm not too happy, as the female was not being paired as agreed upon in contract. He responds and tells that the 2nd female just laid 8 eggs. I ask what this one was paired with. I'm told 2 males (the agreed upon male and another). While the 2nd male wasn't what was agreed upon, I agree that I would take a female morph from that male as a substitute (they would be about the same $$ value).

I'm told via email that the 2nd female only produced normal babies. While possible, it is highly unlikely.

The story gets another twist, apparently the snakes were in the hands of a 3rd party while the hatching was going on.


The remedy:

I just got the 2 females back today. They have retained eyecaps but don't look as bad as I thought they might. They are not as big as when he got them, but not too terribly thin either.

The 3rd party involved apparently sold all the pastel & normal babies.

The person I loaned the snakes to says he plans to make it right, but what would most people on here consider "making it right" ??


What would people consider "fair compensation" in this situation?

[TheSnakeEye]

Wow what a bummer. This is why you never loan your snakes to people you arent close to. If they females are yours, I would have had him lend you the snakes. Or I would have visited his breeding facility frequently just to make sure everything was good. Retained eyecaps means they werent cared for properly, which means his snakes probably werent cared for properly which means they could aslo be terribly sick.

[J.Vandegrift]

What was the single codom you wanted them paired to? Unless it was a pretty high dollar codom it sounds like you were getting the short end of the stick right from the beginning to me (even if everything went as planned). I would just take it as a lesson learned and buy your own male for this year. Normal females that produce ten eggs are hard to come by. I'd keep both and make your own next year and don't deal with the person that you did the loan with again.

[wax32]

What would people consider "fair compensation" in this situation?

A lesson well learned...