Buyers beware!

[mainbutter]

and when I offered to pay for shipping he deterred me and said that it would cost me at least $50.00.

Shipping a snake does cost $50 or more.

[AjBalls]

As for the breeder that fix to the problem is bs! And I actually cannot believe that some of you on here agree with him. You are telling me that if I buy a snake from a breeder, not your local petsmart or petco, a breeder, and it dies a little over an hour later that I should have to wait a month, make another hour drive, look through the snakes again, and consider taking ANOTHER snake from him, not to mention take another hour drive back home?? Well at least I got the $7.00 admission fee paid for, right?? NO...whoever agrees with that is crazy, I'm sorry!! If I was a breeder, I would never do that to my client, you better believe that I am sending you another snake next day, free of charge, and free of shipping, garunteed to be alive, and free of mites and ticks. Like I said, I will post pictures of my tank setup, and the snake, and you all can judge for yourself.

How is it BS? He is offering to pay for your admission to the next show (more than I would do, I don't even pay mine). And he is offering you a new snake. That's basic guarantee/returns policy. Oh you have to wait an entire month. That's not so long. Would you rather have him ship the snake in 30 degree weather (based on the weather report at Harve de Grace)? I shipped a snake out a couple months ago and on the receiving end it was 50F-60F and the buyer said the snake arrived cold, even with a 40 hour heat pack.

You'd rather spend $50 to have the snake shipped than make a drive? I don't know about the gas prices over by you, but it's less than $2 here. It would probably cost less to drive both ways than to spend $50 on shipping where you snake will be tossed around in a freezing environment in the shipping process. Overnight at that. Not a one hour ride, OVERNIGHT more than 12 hours.

How about this. You send him an email asking him for pictures of available snakes. Pick one you like and tell him you want that one as a replacement. Then ask him for updates on that snake leading up until the show. Such as when it ate, what is ate, when it shed, etc etc. whatever you want to know. It's his responsibility to make it right. He has already by what he has said.

[broadude]

Please post the pics of the snake and your enclosure.

Also how did you treat for mites?


Guys, I am with the OP on this. He should not HAVE to wait for another snake. The seller didn't mention "too cold" for shipping as a reason according to the OP, but cost..which the OP had offered to pay.

There is another option...since they were both close enough to go to Havre de Grace..they could have met somewhere and the OP could have given the seller back his snake (OP you need to refridgerate the snake..NOT FREEZE to keep the body somewhat preserved).

Oddly enough..in the OP's post, he doesn't say that the seller doubts that the snake is dead only that the seller discouraged him from spending 50.00 for shipping. There was no mention about the weather, this is the excuse we are "giving" the seller... not the seller's excuse.

BTW: The OP had approached me about buying a snake...and I suggested he post his experience. I suggested that he post to keep myself from being scammed because after I heard his story, I offered to meet him somewhere and give him a free snake which he will be receiving today.

It's called CUSTOMER SERVICE for a reason.

[Bruce Whitehead]

This is getting messy quick.

Seems there is a lot of assumptions regarding the OPs actions, rather than questions being asked.

I cannot think of anything that would kill a snake that fast, unless it got either cooked or frozen on the trip home.

Some snakes are just more fragile, and maybe it just was a weak snake, that bit of stress gave it a heart attack... who knows.

------------

To the OP, if you can post your pics, and clear up if the seller gave you reasons for not shipping, that would help.

Did you treat the snake for mites? I am a bit fuzzy on that one. I read that you placed it on PT to check for mites.

If it is too cold for the seller to ship, and he stated that, then it would help. Did he offer you a refund in lieau of the snake being replaced?

If you are concerned that the snake came sick, then getting a replacement snake may not be the best response. A refund may be better.

I am sure that HdG has a vendors list posted in advance. Take the list, find a vendor, research them, and get your next snake with your refund from someone you feel confident with.

But if the snake was simply a weak snake (some are and snakes do die unexpectedly) then getting another from this person may be OK. But as noted that will involve providing some proof that the snake is actually dead.

Hope this works out well for all parties.

Bruce

Bruce

[monk90222]

If you did your research, did you ever think to bring a box, with heat packs for the ride home?
A hatchling that gets that cold/hot (bringing her out in 30 degree weather, waiting for the car to warm up, then the car heating up, then back out in the cold going into your house, then to a perfectly heated enclosure might have been too much for the snake to take.
A pre heated box (activate the heat packs when you get there, so its warm when you put the snake in)would have been a better idea.
just my $.02

Also shipping in cold weather is not a big deal, if done right, I know a boatload of breeders that ship every week of the year.

[ThyTempest]

Another option...what if this breeder just doesnt ship. Sounds like he is more of a sell at the shows type, and may not be certified to ship reptiles. Based on the vague info given, this is still potentially the case.

Until I get more clearer info, I am still siding with the breeder on this one.

[joepythons]

Okay, let me clear this up....first of all I am somewhat new to reptiles, I am not claiming to be an expert, but I am deff not new, I have been around reptiles and people who own reptiles all of my life. The word "quarantine" means a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease. Although I do not own any other sankes or reptiles for that matter, I was not worried about spreading anything to any other snakes obviously, however I am not going to put a brand new snake into my already preped tank with forest floor cypress mulch beeding, hides, water bowl, and all kinds of artificial plants, with mites only for me to a few days later have to throw out all the bedding and go through the whole hassle of treating mites to a brand new enclousure...its better to be safe than sorry, so you put the snake in another enclosure with white paper towels to see the mites if any, two old hides, a waterbowl, and proper heat just to make sure. Believe me my husbandry is great and if you saw pictures of my enclosure you would agree, I did my research, trust that!! As for the breeder that fix to the problem is bs! And I actually cannot believe that some of you on here agree with him. You are telling me that if I buy a snake from a breeder, not your local petsmart or petco, a breeder, and it dies a little over an hour later that I should have to wait a month, make another hour drive, look through the snakes again, and consider taking ANOTHER snake from him, not to mention take another hour drive back home?? Well at least I got the $7.00 admission fee paid for, right?? NO...whoever agrees with that is crazy, I'm sorry!! If I was a breeder, I would never do that to my client, you better believe that I am sending you another snake next day, free of charge, and free of shipping, garunteed to be alive, and free of mites and ticks. Like I said, I will post pictures of my tank setup, and the snake, and you all can judge for yourself.

Umm just because you place a snake into another tank with paper towels to look for mites is not enough to prevent mites from getting into your other tank.Infact mite eggs can be on the snake and hatch out later in your other setup.I am sorry you feel we are wrong for saying he is correct by doing what he is willing to do for you.No breeder or flipper is going to pay the extra shipping cost to replace a $7 snake(or whatever you paid for it).I am sorry to be blunt but i think you are slaming him for no good reason.To see how others feel take your story to www.faunaclassifieds.com, to see what they think.There is allready a thread asking if anyone has dealt with him and i placed a link to 1 positive post on him.

[broadude]

Umm just because you place a snake into another tank with paper towels to look for mites is not enough to prevent mites from getting into your other tank.Infact mite eggs can be on the snake and hatch out later in your other setup.I am sorry you feel we are wrong for saying he is correct by doing what he is willing to do for you.No breeder or flipper is going to pay the extra shipping cost to replace a $7 snake(or whatever you paid for it).I am sorry to be blunt but i think you are slaming him for no good reason.To see how others feel take your story to www.faunaclassifieds.com, to see what they think.There is allready a thread asking if anyone has dealt with him and i placed a link to 1 positive post on him.

The OP offered to pay shipping himself.

One positive post 2 years ago is no indication of his business practices now, and he was sellling Corns..these are BPs...how do we even know it's the same person (a lot of newbies have been stealing/copying names of the more established breeders)? I did ask him to post it on Fauna where people had more experience getting to the heart of a matter and could read the posts more carefully...sorry to be so blunt.

Slamming... If I brought a snake and it died as soon as I got it home, I would certainly have questions. If the snake was too "weak" to make the trip without dying, the breeder should know what kind of stock he has (imo) I would want to know!

I have made a mistake shipping and the snakes arrived very cold..they are still alive to this day and they were cold for longer than it's "assumed" that the snake in question was cold.

On the other hand...it would have to get close to 100 degrees for the snake to die of heat and I don't think that is what happened here. I do wish he had posted the pics of the dead snake at the SAME time as this thread, it may have given a different viewpoint on his concerns.

From the answers some have given,...a lot of us are learning who NOT to buy from.

[greghall]

Sometimes reptiles die for no reason what so ever.he will replace the animal then what elese can he do.was it captive born? Or hacthed? There were some real nice captive bred male normals there for $20 from a very reputable dealer,i know it died & you are upset you but just be glad it was'nt a pied or something high dollar!! There is no real gurrentee on reptiles from most people.

[joepythons]

The OP offered to pay shipping himself.

One positive post 2 years ago is no indication of his business practices now, and he was sellling Corns..these are BPs...how do we even know it's the same person (a lot of newbies have been stealing/copying names of the more established breeders)? I did ask him to post it on Fauna where people had more experience getting to the heart of a matter and could read the posts more carefully...sorry to be so blunt.

Slamming... If I brought a snake and it died as soon as I got it home, I would certainly have questions. If the snake was too "weak" to make the trip without dying, the breeder should know what kind of stock he has (imo) I would want to know!

I have made a mistake shipping and the snakes arrived very cold..they are still alive to this day and they were cold for longer than it's "assumed" that the snake in question was cold.

On the other hand...it would have to get close to 100 degrees for the snake to die of heat and I don't think that is what happened here. I do wish he had posted the pics of the dead snake at the SAME time as this thread, it may have given a different viewpoint on his concerns.

From the answers some have given,...a lot of us are learning who NOT to buy from.

Umm the ONLY reason i posted that link to the positive thread from 2007 was so everyone had a idea who you were asking about.Now let me point out something,WHY are you asking about the seller and NOT the person whom bought this snake? Now the seller has offered to replace the snake at the NEXT show so i think everything has been taken care of in my opinion.If the creater of this thread does not want to wait until then i think we are not getting the WHOLE story here.I would like to hear from the other person and get his side.