BabyBlueEyes (Elmira)@ JMcornsnakes- Negative Experience

Originally Posted by shed'n my skin

Perhaps the questions on who bred it and what proof there was about hets would have been better to ask before you sent the money, unless the breeeder you are buying from has such a great reputation that you can skip this step... Your best bet is to try to contact the previous owner?

Yup, I absolutely take responsibility for not inquiring in advance about the snake's origins. Won't make that mistake again. Elmira and I have exchanged several emails today, and I have repeatedly asked her to please put me in touch with the guy she bought it from, but she refuses to respond to that particular request.

Originally Posted by ophidile

Oh, sorry! I'd forgotten that part and was just going from the one where you said:

I thought a plasma was lavender + blood :X (and, of course, technically it wouldn't be "het" plasma if it's already a lavender but... well you know)

My bad, I meant lava het plasma stripe.

Sorry to hear it- if she did get it from another cs member she should give you that info. I don't see any reason not to tell you who she got the snake from. It would help to clear things up. Have you had any discussion with her about returning the snake for a refund since you are not satisfied?

I agree with Jen. Hadn't thought about returning the snake, but the hard time the seller is giving you about telling you who bred it leads me to believe you might not have much luck with a return.

I can see why you trusted her though since she has been in the reptile business for a few years not just a short time. Although ball python "hets" give you the potential to lose more money I am sure Martin's time is valuable and if it is sold as a specific "het" it should be backed up genetically.

My hunch was correct- this snake is NOT het lava, blood, stripe. It appears that it is het charcoal, blood, stripe, though this has not been 100% verified.

Elmira finally told me who the previous owner was and I contacted her. Ali (Zulu3), the previous owner, was very helpful and said she'd contact the breeder to inquire about the hets. The breeder John Finsterwald (Zorro) responded saying he never bred that combo and that if the snake is indeed originally from him it is a lavender het charcoal, blood, stripe.

John also went out of his way to get in touch with me to give me this info himself which is very nice and certainly appreciated. I also found out that he had given Elmira this info already last week, but she chose not to share it with me.

So in conclusion, regarding the hets question- I think that Elmira truly believed she was selling a lavender het lava, blood, stripe and I don't think she intentionally sought to mislead me. Why she thought it was het lava and not charcoal I don't know. Once I questioned her about the hets she got so defensive that she was unwilling to make an effort to find out for me. It took almost three weeks until I finally had my suspicions confirmed, thanks to the help of the previous owner and the breeder.

Originally Posted by martin-bernstein

My hunch was correct- this snake is NOT het lava, blood, stripe. It appears that it is het charcoal, blood, stripe, though this has not been 100% verified.

Elmira finally told me who the previous owner was and I contacted her. Ali (Zulu3), the previous owner, was very helpful and said she'd contact the breeder to inquire about the hets. The breeder John Finsterwald (Zorro) responded saying he never bred that combo and that if the snake is indeed originally from him it is a lavender het charcoal, blood, stripe.

John also went out of his way to get in touch with me to give me this info himself which is very nice and certainly appreciated. I also found out that he had given Elmira this info already last week, but she chose not to share it with me.

So in conclusion, regarding the hets question- I think that Elmira truly believed she was selling a lavender het lava, blood, stripe and I don't think she intentionally sought to mislead me. Why she thought it was het lava and not charcoal I don't know. Once I questioned her about the hets she got so defensive that she was unwilling to make an effort to find out for me. It took almost three weeks until I finally had my suspicions confirmed, thanks to the help of the previous owner and the breeder.

I'm not sure I agree with you on this one, but there is no way of knowing for sure. I have a hard time believing that she wouldn't ask about the bloodlines or who bred it especially if it is a rare combo of genes. The defensiveness is kind of a red flag to me! Why get defensive about it? It's not like she bred the snakes so there is no way of knowing unless she has information from the previous owners/breeder. To me someone that doesn't have the time or foresight to make sure of the genetics of the animals they are selling is not worth giving my money to.

I'm glad you were able to figure this out on your own without Elmira's help!

Sorry to hear the snake isn't het lava after all, though I can't say I'm shocked at this point. I'm glad the previous owner/breeder were willing to help you out where the seller wasn't!!

Even though it probably was just a mistake, it sounds like she handled things incredibly poorly and is someone I'd avoid. So thanks for giving us the heads up.

Well, I'm glad I didn't buy that snake, since I have three of his clutchmates! And they are very nice, BTW. Once he starts eating fuzzies, he'll take right off and grow for you. His sister Iris is 110g and his brother Jacinto is not far behind!

Though I'm really disappointed with the way this transaction went and with the way Elmira handled herself, I'm not entirely unhappy about the hets. Luckily I have a chacoal female, a pewter female and a few poss het charcoal blood females, so he won't be a complete mismatch in future breedings.

Thanks for your support guys!