Bad Guy Matt Shrimplin Leopard Gecko Paradise

I am posting to warn about the business practices and nasty attitude of a breeder that has been advertising on a few well known reptile sites.

4 Months ago, I purchased 2 leopard geckos from him that were sold as HEALTHY. When they arrived it was evident that they were burnt out breeders and very very thin, too thin in fact to safely have been shipped, as a result both subsequently died. I contacted Matt, and informed him of their unhealthy weight after they arrived, he admitted that they had been stockpiled in a group of his other breeders due to space constraints.

The first one died with in a month after arriving, the second one hung on a bit longer. After the second girl died, I contacted Matt to tell him, he never replied, I contacted him again 2 days ago, and and he accused me of harassing him (after 2 emails). I contacted a moderator of the board we were using for communication and she directed me to leave appropriate feed back here and on the site we were at.

It is my personal belief that as a breeder, you are responsible for the condition of the animals you sell, and it IS irresponsible to ship unhealthy animals.
Good business practices dictate that you do not offend your customers, and work to resolve problems that arise.
I didn't ask for financial compensation, but I would have appreciated an apology and acknowledgment of his mistake.
It's a sad when any creature dies, but it's a shame when it is needless due to irresponsibility.

Below are the email transactions and dates.

Thank you, Danielle Banker



sent by Daniellebluetoo 11.16.08
Just thought I'd let you know........
That the two very thin females I bought from you a few months back both passed away. The first one with in a month after she arrived, and the second one just today. They were too thin to be shipped and were never able to fully recover, even after intensive hand feeding of both live prey and a slurry mix, worming and other intensive care measures.

Thank you, Danielle Banker
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.JerseryGirlGeckos.com




11.27.08

sent by daniellebluetoo
hi Matt,
I emailed you a few weeks back, I had expected to hear back from you to resolve this matter. Here are our last 2 emails to refresh your memory of our transaction.

Please feel free to email me either here or [email protected]

Thank you, Danielle

- Show quoted text -
On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 9:46 AM, Danielle Banker <[email protected]> wrote:
Thanks, Will do!
Danielle


On 7/27/08, Matt Shrimplin <[email protected]> wrote:

Danielle,
Thanks for your quick payment! I will be shipping the two SHT females tomorrow, Monday, for delivery through UPS next day air on Tuesday before 10:30am. I will place a cold pack with the geckos to protect them from the heat. The UPS tracking number that I will be using is: J1999634802. Please, email me when the geckos arrive so I know that they arrived safely. Thanks for your business.
Take Care,
-Matt Shrimplin


Danielle Banker
to Matt

show details Jul 29
ALright, they just got here, STUPID UPS, didn't even ring the bell!.....They look good, active right out of the delicups, they do look a bit thin, from breeding I would suppose, have they produced for you this yr?, What are they bred too, the one girl looks gravid still.

Thanks, Danielle



Matt Shrimplin
Jul 30
Repy
Danielle,
Thanks for letting me know that the geckos arrived safely. Due to lack of space they were with my other SHT breeders. If they are pregnant it was by my male SHT on my breeder page. They should turn out pretty nice.
Take Care,
-Matt



11.27.08
Re: No reply?
What do you mean RESOLVE THIS MATTER? You bought geckos from me 4 months ago. I'm sorry, but there are no guarantees. All I can tell you is that my geckos are healthy and eating well when they are shipped. I can't control what or how people take care of the geckos once they are out of my care. If you don't stop emailing me I will be forced to contact the Gecko Forums about the fact that you are harrassing me!
-Matt

Danielle- Did Matt provide you with photos of the geckos before you purchased them? Did you take photos of them after their arrival to you? If so, can you post those pics here?

Also, in your email to Matt after the geckos arrived, you stated:

They look good, active right out of the delicups, they do look a bit thin, from breeding I would suppose, have they produced for you this yr?

Click to expand...

I'm just wondering why, if the geckos were so very skinny, that you did not stress this more in your email to Matt. One more question: did you ever take the geckos to see a vet?

no, I don't have pics, I didn't think I would need them. I can say that the pics I saw advertised of them were NOT an accurate representation of their condition when they arrived to me.

I am not one to generally raise issues or rock a boat, which I guess is why I didn't stress more about their condition when I emailed him.

I have been out of work since early august, I am also a single parent, I simply couldn't afford a vet visit. The last office and exam fee I paid for a gecko cost me over 200$.


Of course I know there are no guarantees, when you buy animals let alone online. BUT I have to say I have bought dozens of leopard geckos over the last 2 yrs, most online, and have NEVER been sent a thin or sick gecko.
Thats not to say I have not had problems, but every single breeder that I have dealt with other wise has always bent near over backwards to resolve any issues!!!!

Like I mentioned, I didn't ask for my $ back, I believe it IS too late for that, but an acknowledgment and an apology would be nice. Also the nasty attitude and threats were completely unwarranted.

$ aside, I believe what this breeder did was wrong, both to the geckos and myself. This is why I am posting.

Danielle-

I was just hoping you had some pics. When I buy a geckos I always save the pic off the breeders website or the pic they send me. And of course I, like most other geckophiles, take tons of photos of our newly acquired geckos. I figured if you had any then now would be a good time to post them.

Like I mentioned, I didn't ask for my $ back, I believe it IS too late for that, but an acknowledgment and an apology would be nice. Also the nasty attitude and threats were completely unwarranted.

Click to expand...

In your email you asked him for a resolution so I just thought you were looking for some type of compensation.

If Matt did indeed sell geckos that were thin from breeding, that's one thing. However, leopard geckos don't just never eat and starve themselves because they were thin when they were shipped. These are hardy animals, and they bounce back pretty well from stressful situations (such as shipping). Do you have any other leopard geckos or did you at the same time you had the two in question?

I'll look, but I usually only take pics if I'm going to post, and I wasn't going to post pics of thin geckos, i was hoping I could fatten then up a bit first.

I also lost my job right after I got them, so I was kinda in a state of panic and overwhelmed with job hunting, so taking pics wasn't a priority.

NO, no compensation, I would have mentioned that in the first email if that were the case. I use the word "resolution" alot, ( I work with children) and in this context it meant just what I said.

I have many other leopard geckos, and did at the time, I am VERY stringent about my animal husbandry practices I use ammonia when I clean and soak hides dishes ect as this is the ONLY thing I know of that kills crypto, even bleach doesn't do it! ALWAYS quarantine new geckos, usually for several months!!!! THese girls NEVER left quarentine.

I've never had a gecko that was shipped to me die like that.

I've HAD first yr breeders drop weight during breeding, but always they bounce back, because they ARE hardy creatures, and given the right temps, hides, feeders ect, they make a full recovery.

This is why I think they were just too thin to handle shipping stress. They did NOT eat well after they arrived, I was hand feeding them daily.

Kelli, I KNOW I haven't had the # of years or # of geckos that you have, so I can only speak for MY experience and what I believe happened.

I had/have crested geckos, but they are kept separately, in my sons room.

KelliH said:

Danielle-

I was just hoping you had some pics. When I buy a geckos I always save the pic off the breeders website or the pic they send me. And of course I, like most other geckophiles, take tons of photos of our newly acquired geckos. I figured if you had any then now would be a good time to post them.



In your email you asked him for a resolution so I just thought you were looking for some type of compensation.

If Matt did indeed sell geckos that were thin from breeding, that's one thing. However, leopard geckos don't just never eat and starve themselves because they were thin when they were shipped. These are hardy animals, and they bounce back pretty well from stressful situations (such as shipping). Do you have any other leopard geckos or did you at the same time you had the two in question?

Click to expand...

I thought I would add to this thread, as I bought from Matt a couple of months ago. This is not ment to be a positve or negative endorsment of him, it is just some facts. I purchased an SHTCTB with 85% ct that was labeled as x grams (55 I think) and produced by TUG. I paid, he shipped, then I got an e-mail stating that the female, while being housed with a male raptor for an extended period of time had been bitten in the head the night before. When she arrived she was under weight by seven grams or so. Needless to say I was a bit annoyed by the fact she was being bred the night before shipping and that she was under the stated weight. To his credit though, he included her TUG papers as requested, she healed up just fine, and I paid virtually nothing for her. If I had to do the whole deal over again, I would, because she is a stellar animal (70 grams now). He was friendly in his communications and checked on her status after she shipped.
As far as a guarantee goes, that's always something to check on. I guarantee all my animals are healthy and if you do have a problem four months later I'll switch it out for you or give you a credit for something else later on. Unfortunately, that's not the case for everybody and due to these animals hardiness, it can take a few months for them to die. If you're still looking for a gecko, I'll send you one for free if you pay the shipping. I hate to see people have a bad experience and leave the hobby.
Brent Bohannon

Hi Danielle-

It's good that you followed responsible quarantine procedures. I'm sorry you lost those two girls. Some advice for you... if you ever find yourself in a situation like this in the future, let the seller know immediately that you are not happy with the geckos, in an email. Also take photos of the animals. I feel really bad for you but I'm just not sure that after four months that Matt Shrimplin has any responsibility for those geckos. That being said I do feel he was a bit rude to you in his email reply and could have handled the situation more professionally. Best of luck with your geckos.

Thanks Kelli and Brent,

Brent,
I'm glad your experience turned out on a positive note, what you explain though does NOT sound like the practices of an ethical breeder to me.
Thanks for your offer, I won't be leaving the hobby any time soon But if you PM me your site, I will def. take a look at what you've got, I LOVE to give good guys my business!!

Kelli,
No your right, and I've never asked to be reimbursed, it is certainly too late for any such thing. Morally and ethically though that is a different matter, Matt did and said things that just aren't things you do if you want to maintain a positive reputation. Good thing for quarantine, I can only assume that those girls were over stressed by shipping while too thin, but it *could* have been anything that over took their immune systems DUE to the above mentioned stresses. Either way, I believe that had they not been thin when shipped they would have been able to handle it.

I have dealt with many breeders since falling in love with this cool reptile a few years ago, some small like myself, and some as large as Miss Kelli H. here this is the first time I've EVER had an issue!!! One bad apple won't spoil the bunch for me!

I have dealt with many breeders since falling in love with this cool reptile a few years ago, some small like myself, and some as large as Miss Kelli H. here this is the first time I've EVER had an issue!!! One bad apple won't spoil the bunch for me!

Click to expand...

We've all had bad experiences in this business/hobby... some more than others. It's real easy to get jaded but I'm glad to hear you'll be around for awhile ;-)
See ya on the forums.

As much as hindsite is 20/20

Leopard geckos should be purchased on site. Not through a so called breeder. This is one kind of a herp that is so readily available through many different sources that it pays to get in your car, and see what you are buying.

If it does become necessary to purchase over the net, there are many very well qualified breeders who will fill your needs with the confidence that what you are paying for is what you will receive.. JERRY