The Serpentarium- Lodi, Ca

Another aspect of research that goes into obtaining a new animal that is often overlooked IMO, is fair-market-value research. Basically, scowering the net and shows for prices in order to determine what you should be paying for whatever it is that you want.

Doing this in this case, I feel, would have gone a long way towards preventing any confusion as to the animal's origins. Wild caught Red Tail Green Rats go for around $50-75 retail depending on where you get them.......true CBB specimens will fetch upwards of $150-200 for a hatchling, much more for established adults. Even if a seller is not altogether thorough in describing the origins of their livestock, their price can usually give you a hint as to the truth.

Originally Posted by DavidBeard

Another aspect of research that goes into obtaining a new animal that is often overlooked IMO, is fair-market-value research. Basically, scowering the net and shows for prices in order to determine what you should be paying for whatever it is that you want.

Doing this in this case, I feel, would have gone a long way towards preventing any confusion as to the animal's origins. Wild caught Red Tail Green Rats go for around $50-75 retail depending on where you get them.......true CBB specimens will fetch upwards of $150-200 for a hatchling, much more for established adults. Even if a seller is not altogether thorough in describing the origins of their livestock, their price can usually give you a hint as to the truth.

To the left, since neither you nor I were there, it could easily have gone something like this.

Robert tell Brandon that he's a professional and he can certainly get him what he wants and at the best price around. He's been doing this for years (three or four but he won't be specific) and knows what he's doing.

Brandon, enamored of Roberts vast store of knowledge, after all the Serpentarium is kinda neat, even if Robert had almost nothing to do with it being that way (something else he'll not be telling prospective victims, er customers) being as how he 'took over' from the guy who really made it what it is, falls prey to what we have all seen and occasionally been victim too, he WANTED to believe everything Robert said because he wanted to like Robert. Brandon sort of wished he could make his hobby into his life like Robert has, well buying into it is much akin to making it, just without the sweat and blood and effort and so he took him at his word.

THEN, when the snake came he poor ol Brandon, who is very guilty of sticking his foot in his mouth, believed what Robert told him about the blisters, then believed him again, and this is sort of fuzzy, when Robert told Brandon he could bring the snake back and have it killed ( I do find this rather hard to believe as a solo statement, perhaps part of a long explanation of possible outcomes) but that was the only way he'd be getting a refund and so Brandon gets mad, goes to GBU and starts this thread.

That's every bit as possible a scenario as the one you describe mr. beard.

Originally Posted by Brandonadam209

Beware of this place, bought a Red Tail Green Rat Snake from Robert who owns the "Museum" which was supposed to be "Captive Bred" Instead he is a Wild Caught Snake from Asia. Which means death is likely in his future in captivity. When I got him from The Serpentarium he was covered in red bumpy scabs, Robert said it will go away no big deal. It ended up being a combo of Blisters, parasites, and a upper respiratory infection. I asked Robert to give me a refund to pay for the snakes Vet care, and he said no. Only a refund if I give him the snake to be euthanized, and or sent back the shipper where his fate would be clear, ending in death... No compassion from this guy. I would not be on here right now but having been lied to, not to mention payed more for a Captive Born animal, and last but not least the care of the snake was left up to me whatever finances needed to try and bring him back to a healthy state.....

Originally Posted by Brandonadam209

It was sarcasm. I never thought anyone would take that seriously. To the car commit this is not a car this is not $20,000.00, it is $100.00 and there is greater principals with living creatures than with a car. Especially, when your representing your name and business.
I admit I am a newbie, I did however, research hours about the species and for the care and husbandry. I probably was over my head somewhat but I'm confident in my ability as a fast learner. If I was given a healthy gonyo I feel I wouldn't be on here right now. Especially if I was given a captive bred gonyo. There were a total of four bumps not two when I received him. Being the professional Robert claims to be; he should have never given me the option to take the snake home. If this is an example of were he gets his special order reptiles his standards are low. We all know that his standards are not low so what else could it be? He simply took advantage of me being naive in this industry.

Are these two highlighted statements talking about the same thing on that animal? Maybe I missed something here.....

Wow, thats some pretty solid deductive ability you have there Wes, and not in the least bit biased or subjective.

I wasn't going to post again (unless asked to), but I cannot ignore the misleading information that is being expressed. It is said that we (The Serpentarium) sold Brandon UVB lights for his snake. That is completely false, and exemplifies the fact that customers often lie in situations like this. Our staff is rigorously trained on all the animals and products that we offer and I can guarantee that not a single one of them (even our newest employees) would ever recommend UVB lights for that particular snake (or 95% of the snakes we offer for sale for that matter). It is actually against our policy (written into our employee manuals) that pressure sales and or false sales are strictly prohibited.

Furthermore, I believe that I did my very best to show Brandon empathy, for him, the snake and the entire situation at hand, both in person and here. However, you can only do so much for an irate customer who's threatening you and making unreasonable demands (e.g. wanting a refund AND the snake, wanting a shopping spree, etc.). I don't see how I could have possibly taken advantage of you, Brandon. You're simply reaching for something instead of taking accountability for your own part in this issue.


Wilomn,

To answer your question if whether or not I saw the snake before I sold it; technically I did not. And that is because it was a special order, which we require payment to be made first. However, when it arrived I was not happy with its condition and expressed this to Brandon by pointing out the two small bumps on its back while he visually inspected it himself. I told him that they may go away but to definitely keep us posted. Regardless, I was and am still open to a full refund and have apologized for the inconvenience this has caused. I normally do not ever purchase wild caught animals and only made this exception because of how persistent he was with this particular species.

We are completely capable of caring for the snake ourselves, but he refuses to return. He claims because we said we would euthanize it. That makes no sense. Why would I just "throw away" money or the snake? What I told him was that we would either send the animal back to whom we purchased it from (which is NOT an importer, but one of the most prominent names in the reptile industry), or, if (and only if) it did not respond to our care that we would ultimately euthanize it. Any twisting of words is simply an attempt at trying to make us look evil.

To your other comment about how long I've been "doing this" (I assume you're referring to my reptile experience in general); I have been keeping and breeding various reptile species since 1997.

And now to your most recent comment about me "having nothing to do with how neat the store is." We have EVERYTHING to do with the store's current setup, style, theme, customer service and overall business model - which was completely changed from the previous owner's ways. To say that there has been no blood, sweat or tears on our part with this business clearly shows that you are not familiar with the new Serpentarium and what it has become since we purchased it.

You making such speculations does very little to help the situation for anyone involved and is irrelevant to the topic.


SIDE NOTE: GBU opened a pet shop just a couple of minutes away from The serpentarium and unfortunately chooses to jump on ANY opportunity at bashing The Serpentarium simply because they feel that we are competition. Their posts clearly show this, and that in itself says enough about them.

Marcus,

Perhaps you didn't read the entire post(?), but the matter of the snake being WC or CB is a moot point, as it is not in question. Brandon believes I told him that it was CB, yet I did not. It was a misunderstanding that I apologized for and offered a full refund. I never claimed it to be CB, nor would I ever lie to a customer. I also tried to steer him away from a Red Tail Green Rat Snake more than once, but he insisted.


Regards,

Robert Coral
The Serpentarium
www.SnakeMuseum.com

Robers, you honestly do not remember saying to me that you could get me a Wild Caught for cheap, but they are prone to more problems in captivity? As I answered to you, to get the captive bred.

Brandon could you please address the fact that you claimed the snake was covered in scabs and then admitted that there were 4?

As much as you want to take back what you said to me that day Robert, you can't we were both disgruntled. When I mentioned return the first words that came out of your mouth were "Okay Ill return it, were gonna euthanize it" Real blunt like. I question that as not a good thing, and you said okay well I will send it back to the shipper, I will be out 80 bucks either way."

Originally Posted by TheSerpentarium

SIDE NOTE: GBU opened a pet shop just a couple of minutes away from The serpentarium and unfortunately chooses to jump on ANY opportunity at bashing The Serpentarium simply because they feel that we are competition. Their posts clearly show this, and that in itself says enough about them.

Before this topic spirals off into oblivion, I want to take a moment and apologize for the statement I made above (in bold). What I said was uncalled for, and I'm sorry. I never mean to say anything bad about anyone else as it is unfair to do so. So I take it back.

The way each of us conducts our businesses speaks for itself.

I hope this apology deters any further spiraling of this topic.

Sincerely,

Robert Coral
The Serpentarium
www.SnakeMuseum.com

Originally Posted by Lucille

Brandon could you please address the fact that you claimed the snake was covered in scabs and then admitted that there were 4?

Well I guess I need to word some things a little more clear. I didn't expect this to get into so much detail. I would have explained, elaborated so much more if I knew this.