Fire and Ice Dragons (Terri Sommella)

Well the saying of hind sight is always 20/20 is proven true yet again. In doing research here, I have come across many negative reviews of this breeder. My experience is similar to the others.

My story starts out Apr. 30th 2010 (I paypal'd her the cash this day). I was looking for quality breeders of bearded dragons (before I stumbled upon fauna) and ran across fireandicedragons.com. I was in awe at the color of her dragons and very much wanted one of them as my own. I went to her for sale page and noticed she had a clutch that would be hatching on 6-7-10. I emailed Terri to see what the process was to obtain one of the babies for the Phonton x Mia clutch. She explained the pricing on the dragons and I opted for a holdback quality. This came with a hefty price but I was willing to pay for that color of dragon.

Terri and I exchanged emails about what to expect and when the dragon would ship. Terri stated that with a hatch date around 6-7-10, the dragons should be ready to go around the end of June. The end of June rolls around and I havent heard from Terri. I sent her an email asking when I should expect the dragon and get the following reply:

frominfo@fireandicedragons.com
toJosh Davis <joshjtd@gmail.com>

dateWed, Jul 7, 2010 at 12:29 PM
subjectRe: order

hide details Jul 7 (12 days ago)

Hi Josh,

You are. This clutch is not big enough to ship at 4 weeks though. The clutch hatched over a period of 10 days as they were in 2 separate incubators so that had something to do with it. Anyway, as soon as your dragon is ready, we will ship asap. I need the bin space!!!

By the way, it was 107 here yesterday. Cross your fingers for a cooling wave.

Regards,

Terri

I was concerned after this email but understand things happen. She followed up by telling me that it would be another 4 weeks before the dragons would be the correct weight and size for shipping. Now if you have an animal that is only 5-6" in eight weeks, something is not right.

I asked Terri for a refund as I do not want an unhealthy dragon and she states she offers no refunds. So here is sit with no dragon, no $345, and no hope of getting any help as I am past the time to file a complaint with paypal. I also gather that Terri does not use fauna so this will serve no other purpose but to warn others that they should not do business with fire and ice dragons.

Have you made Terri Sommella aware of this thread?

Because the breeder does not want to ship a small dragon in extreme heat a boi thread was started? When it comes to shipping live animals, you have to wait for the right temperatures to ship.

The breeder also has a TOS on their site.
http://www.fireandicedragons.com/pricing.cfm

PAYMENT & SHIPPING

.....
Please note: No refunds are given on deposits for special order dragons or dragons held for International shipment before the dragon has shipped. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Chrisw

Because the breeder does not want to ship a small dragon in extreme heat a boi thread was started? When it comes to shipping live animals, you have to wait for the right temperatures to ship.

The breeder also has a TOS on their site.
http://www.fireandicedragons.com/pricing.cfm

PAYMENT & SHIPPING

.....
Please note: No refunds are given on deposits for special order dragons or dragons held for International shipment before the dragon has shipped. Thank you.

Please read the entire post before commenting. My issue is not that the reptile isn't here right now. I understand the weather putting a damper on shipping. I am not asking for her to endanger the animal.

If you read the post, you will see that the issue is that she is saying it will take 8+ weeks for the dragon to be atleast 10g and 5-6" in length. This is not a healthy animal.

I have suspicions as to why I am being told that the dragon will not be ready for another 4 weeks...

I forgot to add, be patient and wait for the weather to cool down so that they can ship the special ordered (quality holdback) dragon.

Also I was ordering from an already laid clutch. This was not a special order or and international shipping deal.

Josh,

Dragons grow at different paces. It's normal for babies to hit 6" at 8wks.

You mentioned the babies hatched sometime June... It's only about a month old.

Alot of breeders won't start selling their babies until they're atleast 8wks.

Have patience.

Then I will concede that I am in the wrong. I will ask to have the thread removed.

Unfortunately, this thread is here to stay.

I agree with shinezilla once posted the thread can not be removed.