Quote Originally Posted by j_h_smith View Post
I've only bought 2 snakes over the internet. Both times, I ask for a specific picture, one that usually isn't taken. This serves 2 purposes. First and foremost, it shows the seller actually has the animal in his possession and secondly if I'm buying, the seller should be able to grant my wish of a particular picture. I usally ask for a picture of the vent area, a picture of the left or right side of the animal's face, if it's a lizard, I ask for pictures of their feet. The tip of the tail or some other strange view of the animal.

Just one man's opinion,
Jim Smith
Your post brings up two great points that I haven't really thought of, unless dealing with someone less known.

Making sure the animal is actually in their possession! I've had it happen when I was inquiring about a pastel het clown over craigslist, and the seller gave me pictures of a different ball python every time! I tucked tail and ran from that one of course. But great point.

Second good point is making sure every part of the animal that should be in health is actually healthy. Pictures can sometimes hide things like this, like a kink, stuck shed, a prolapse, missing toes or tail, and that would obviously create a problem between seller and buyer.

Thanks everyone for your opinions so far.