• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Bill Gillingham - Great Valley Serpentarium - Good guy!

D

Donnie Smith

Your Sick Uncle Morti
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
203
Reaction score
2
Points
0
Location
Louisville, KY
I just completed a deal with Bill Gillingham of Great Valley Serpentarium in Lodi, California for an adult female Tiger Ratsnake and I was more than pleased. His responses to my e-mails were all prompt and courteous. He answered all of my many questions both over e-mail and over the phone. He shipped exactly when he said he would and it arrived exactly when it was supposed to. The snake was well packed, well insulated, and in great shape. To top it all off, she is a beautiful animal.

It is deals like this one that help restore my jaded confidence in buying reptiles online. Bill is definitely one of the good guys. I highly recommend him.

-Donnie "Morti" Smith.
 
I'd have to agree. It's been said many times that what makes a good guy isn't just how he deals with day to day situations but how he deals with things when they don't go right.

Bill, decided to buy a pair of adult Albino Checkered Garters from me back in 2001 I think it was. Well, I'd been raising these guys since they were 3 grams and the female was pregnant at the time we'd agreed to the deal. Having never dealt with live birth before I wanted to keep them long enough to get the babies so that was our agreement. Bill sent me a deposit of $100 with the balance due when I shipped.

After what I would guess was about 70 days (I don't remember now) the female gave birth to 14 little ones and died the following day. At the time I was living day to day with money so couldn't refund Bill his money ASAP. I offered a trio of the babies for the $100 (A very good deal at the time) but understandably he didn't want babies.

It tok me another two months for me to get him paid back. I think I gave him an extra $10 to make up for credit card fees and while I'm syre he was pretty unhappy about the deal he was also very understanding and never got upset with nor threatening with me. I had a lot of respect for that because at the time I wouldn't have stayed as calm.

I also had a friend buy a mandrina from Bill that he was extreemly happy with. He ended up selling them cause he needed the money but here's that add if you wanna contact him:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9619&highlight=bill+gillingham
 
great valley

I've only done business with great valley one time, and it was great to deal with bill. He answered every single question, we exchanged emails often for about a week until I ordered a pair of his pakistani jeweled racers. I feel that support emails for the animals was beyond any of the other reptile dealers/breeders I have dealt with online.
 
Great Valley (Bill Gillingham) Good Guy!!!

Like one of the above posts states... Its how someone handles the deal when there is a problem is where you really find out what someone is made of.

Bill Gillingham of Great Valley Serpentarium passed that test with flying colors.

I don't need to get into the specifics but needless to say I am looking forward to doing business with him again.

Scott W. Goodwin
 
Great Valley Serpentarium

Hello. I've never bought reptiles from Bill, but agree he is a good guy. I lived in Sacramento in the early nineties and my friends and I used to go to his shop quite often to see what he had and buy supplies. His facility is top notch and he was always very courteous and helpful.

Take care & God bless,
Phil Frost
ZNJ Exotics
[email protected]
:)
 
I've known of and done business with Bill for almost 20 years. Do the deal, you'll be happy. He's a really good guy.
 
I bought a false water cobra and mangrove last year from Bill. Awesome animals. he spent alot of time on the phone helping me get the mangrove setup properly. I wouldn't hesitate to do buisness with him again.
 
I have sold, bought, and traded with Bill since about 1984. He is always a pleasure to deal with, and a very nifty herpetologist to boot. The mandurin ratsnake would still be a mystery if not for Bill. He's great.
 
Bill is a great guy!

Needed to resurrect this thread to keep people aware of one of the "good guys". I received a few albino prairie kings from Bill. They were in excellent condition and perfectly packed. This is someone I definitely would like to do business with again.
 
Let me start off by saying that I want to bring this up carefully as I am not pointing fingers by any means. And if this is inappropriate to post here, so be it and I will not state anything further.


I want to start off with some positive and say that I have seen the shop in person and the snakes seem to be very well cared for. The gentleman that helped me was very kind and seemed knowledgable.

I was concerned when I saw a sulcata being housed with a couple of box turtles. And on my second visit, I noticed he had many various sized sulcata hatchlings pretty well packed into a tank. I know the man there said that he had just gotten them in...so perhaps they just needed a quick place to put them to get them out of the shipping boxes.

The question I want to pose is this:
Has anyone here who has purchased reptiles from the Great Valley Serpentarium in Lodi, Ca ever had a problem with mites that could be linked to their snakes?


Kelly Johnson
 
Hi Kelly,
The 5 prairie kings I received were clean as can be! Not a mite in sight. I do quarantine, and on white paper, so believe me, I would see the little specks!
 
Hi Kelly,

I worked for Bill for about a year, and every once in a while mites do pop up for one reason or another (what can you expect with so many snakes, and we do take a few donations/rescues)..... but we're always quick to get rid of them, if you ever have any problems with Bill...... he'll make good on the situation, Bill's a great guy......... out of everyone in the reptile industry, I look up to him the most!

Matt
 
Thank you Matt and Karen for your information. It is very much appreciated.

I only asked because of a single personal experience, and many, many comments by folks locally that I used to talk to regularly. These things coupled together made me a bit suspicious.

I understand that when snakes are coming in and going out, there are bound to be mites introduced at some point or another. There really is no way of avoiding it. Perhaps I'll take a drive back down in a couple days and see what I can see.

Thanks again. Kelly
 
We just did a deal with Bill from great valley serpentarium for a albino and het albino radiated ratsnake, the animals both arrived in perfect condition, everything from communication to the animals was just perfect, another great deal.

-Amelia/Erik
 
Breeder Pastel

I recently sold a breeder Pastel male to Bill. He sent the funds as promised, which is getting rare now adays. He is a good guy in my book, I would sell to him again and would buy from him without hesitation.

Dave
 
recent purchase

I purchased and received on 07-13-2006 a pair of Bill Gillingham's Albino Prairie kings and a reallly clean male Pueblan.

Great packaging and friendly service.

Don't hesitate to buy from him.
 
Back
Top