Not thrilled with LLL Reptile.

[CD CONSTRICTORS]

Sorry for your experience Mike. I am not posting here to place blame on anyone in this thread- just how I would probably have dealt with the situation given my current collection.

I have also invested a great amount of money, and a lot of time in my collection. For this reason I would have spent whatever the cost on a necropsy to protect my entire collection having to assume the worst case scenario of an unexplained death of a snake in my collection. I have never had an animal die suddenly, or at all for that matter, so I cannot put myself in your shoes. $500 for a necropsy does seem expensive on the surface, but that figure is less than probably 75% of any one bp in my collection, so if I saved even one animal from a potentially deadly disease, that $500 would be money well spent.

I have vetted 2 bp's (both well established for months in my collection after QT).... one an adult 1.0 Clown at 1700g who got an infected scent gland while breeding. Cost me over $500 total in vet bills, traveling 70 miles each way twice to the vet and antibiotics- plus the time to treat him over 2 months with injections of Baytril and then Tazicef. The other was a 1.0 Pied at ~400g who either regurged, or deficated a rat pretty much undigested (it was too hard to tell). He was immediately placed back in QT!! That was a $250+ bill for an exam and fecal smears for parasites and Crypto. I did not figure the Pied had IBD as he did not exhibit any neurological symptoms associated with IBD. All fecal exams were fine and in the end I concluded his temps were a bit low to aid in good digestion, as checking his tub with my IR gun it was 2F lower than other tubs in the same rack?? Don't know why the temp was low in his tub when others in the same V18 rack were fine, but I moved him to one of the warmest slots in the rack after all tests were fine and he ate and pooped normally twice in QT.

Both animals were fine in the end, and my collection was not compromised at all.

I now have Dr. Bogan (a well known local herpetologist) from Gator Land here in FL on call to visit my facility for $150 plus mileage to check my entire collection if needed at any time. I have not had the need to call upon his services, but it is comforting to know he is available to do so. Any treatments would obviously add to the cost, but how can you beat a herpetologist checking your 70+ bp collection for a flat rate $150 plus mileage and a modest hourly rate??

I think your situation is unfortunate, but we all need to be prepared for the worst when something happens to an animal in our collection