Not thrilled with LLL Reptile.

[Coleslaw007]

I was visiting when Mike picked the snake up, I am personally the one who pointed her out to him. I can vouch that she *appeared* healthy at the time he picked her up. I can also vouch that Mike's setups are up to par. I personally have two kings, a mexican black (nigrita) and a Cali (californiae,) who are and have been thriving in my nearly identical setup, though neither came from LLL. I've purchased many supplies from LLL and have seen them at tons of shows in my area, so I recommended them. After this incident I've read up on their BOI history with live animals. I now seriously regret recommending them to him or pointing that snake out and am thankful I have never purchased anything live from them.

As far as the necropsy goes, I personally wouldn't be having one done in these circumstances. There is no way he'll be reimbursed the cost of one no matter what the findings, and she WAS a different species than the rest of his collection, therefore less likely to transmit something. I know that Mike is reasonably careful about exposing his current collection to new snakes and she definitely did not have mites, so the chances of his other snakes' exposure to anything they could catch is minimal. That said, I wouldn't want to risk getting another snake from them either on the offhand chance they could be harboring anything transmittable. Why risk?

As far as "suggesting disease or infection," well, the snake died out of the blue. I think suggests the possibility on it's own. These are not fragile snakes with advanced husbandry requirements. As Mike and others stated, he was only posting his experience so that others would be informed in the future were they considering making a live purchase from LLL. He could have been MUCH more negative about it. How many times have we seen that from others who had much less grounds to be?

I, for one know I will take this as a lesson and will not be purchasing anything live from LLL. I just no longer have faith in the health of their animals based on this and other accounts I have read. No one else has said it, but I also personally feel that a 24 hour health guarantee is a bit short of a time period and makes me feel as though *they* may not have complete faith in the health of their animals either. This is just my personal take on things, I do understand that the live animal business is a tricky one.