Heavy parasite load found in ball python from Ed Clark

Bruce, I think it's a good idea you stop posting for a while and maybe hang out with your Jedi "friends"... You're not helping Ed at all, you're making it worse IMO.



Monica Wilkoski

Okay just so the rest of us little nobodies can learn....hands up folks...who does multiple fecals on EVERY single snake that enters their collection?

There almost seems this underlying message from some of you, that those of us that have small collections, breed on a small scale are barely worth considering...gawd help the poor "pet snake owner"....they'd get no respect it seems (hello Rodney Dangerfield). Look most of us started out as simple pet snake owners, a lot of you likely sell off some of your snakes as beloved pets. How about we stop with the elitist crap. Some pet snakes are extremely well kept, some small collections are extremely well tended and some big breeders/importers/jobbers ought to be ashamed of the level of supposed care they give their snakes. It's not about numbers and who you are, it's about in the end the care you give, the knowledge you strive to gather so you can continue to grow and be better. It's about the snakes not the ego's!

So what if a customer comes back a year later with a query, a concern, a fear? Are some of you too "big" to answer? Is Ed so very busy and so very important that he couldn't have dealt with Emily on a herper to herper basis and likely this BOI thread would have never occurred? I'm a nobody in this business and likely never will be more than I am but I'm watching and I'm learning folks. So far the lesson of this thread for me personally is I'd rather never produce and sell a snake, than treat a customer in the manner I've watched Emily being treated by Ed. It won't matter how many pretty snakes I produce, if I can't be a honest, upfront person....nothing much else counts, at least in my "noobie" little brain.

Originally Posted by frankykeno

Okay just so the rest of us little nobodies can learn....hands up folks...who does multiple fecals on EVERY single snake that enters their collection?

There almost seems this underlying message from some of you, that those of us that have small collections, breed on a small scale are barely worth considering...gawd help the poor "pet snake owner"....they'd get no respect it seems (hello Rodney Dangerfield). Look most of us started out as simple pet snake owners, a lot of you likely sell off some of your snakes as beloved pets. How about we stop with the elitist crap. Some pet snakes are extremely well kept, some small collections are extremely well tended and some big breeders/importers/jobbers ought to be ashamed of the level of supposed care they give their snakes. It's not about numbers and who you are, it's about in the end the care you give, the knowledge you strive to gather so you can continue to grow and be better. It's about the snakes not the ego's!

So what if a customer comes back a year later with a query, a concern, a fear? Are some of you too "big" to answer? Is Ed so very busy and so very important that he couldn't have dealt with Emily on a herper to herper basis and likely this BOI thread would have never occurred? I'm a nobody in this business and likely never will be more than I am but I'm watching and I'm learning folks. So far the lesson of this thread for me personally is I'd rather never produce and sell a snake, than treat a customer in the manner I've watched Emily being treated by Ed. It won't matter how many pretty snakes I produce, if I can't be a honest, upfront person....nothing much else counts, at least in my "noobie" little brain.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

The origin of the animals (CB or CH) is an issue ONLY because it would indicate whether Ed correctly represented the snakes in question...assuming that Emily correctly recalled his wording. The issue of the parasites is a separate matter, since that particular grouping is not likely to be found in CH babies.
I don't find it hard to believe that Ed didn't remember the specific animals he sold Emily...he seems to sell a lot of them. He acquires CH babies, purchases CBB from other breeders, trades with a number of people, and breeds. He may/may not take in imports. Perhaps his record keeping is not that intensive, so he doesn't have origin/destination records for each snake that passes through his hands (if that was the case, he should have been up front about not remembering her particular animals, but not said anything about finding out). The parasite load cannot be considered conclusive evidence that they were not CBB.

While I think Ed should have followed through with Emily, I can certainly see why he isn't posting here...no matter what he posts now, he will be attacked and his "evidence" not accepted. The window of opportunity was small, and it closed a long time ago.

The only point that I believe we know from Ed's emails is that he was suppose to send animals he produced. Other than Ed not posting and according to the Vet report the snakes have parasites, I couldn't state anything else as conclusive either. Just have my gut to go on if she received the animals she was suppose to. I'm uncomfortably stating that opinion with the amount of time that has passed since the purchase and with no conclusive evidence either way.

Readers I'm sure will draw opinions based on what is here. I'm sure it will swing both ways to no end.

From: Ed Clark Ball Pythons
To: Emily Cook
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:50 PM
Subject: Re: trade

Emily.put togeather a group of 1.5 older ones for 700.00 send to; ed clark
[address removed]
i will photo some nice females(2005's) and start sending you pics. for you to choose from. a fair trade would be me sending you 6 captive bred females.
I will pay shipping on my end. fedex
you pay to ship the geckos to me.
im really expecting some nice geckos for the 6 ball pythons.
if this trade goes well, I have plenty of mojaves and spiders.
if you want to check me out. fauna classifieds, boi. user name ED CLAR

From: Ed Clark Ball Pythons
To: emily@cookreptiles.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 3:01 PM
Subject: trade

Emily,hi. sure I would be interested in trading some bps for cresteds, not looking for tiny babies. have a couple of 06 male pastels, some 05 hold back females that i produced last year. I do alot of pastels,mojaves,spiders and end up with alot of normals.which is ok with me. looking for 1.5 right now.all different colors if possible.may do a larger trade after yhis one.the females that i have are in the 250-350 gram range.I still have more than I want to keep and can send you some pics.heres a couple that I grabbed out of the baby rack.what kind of value do you put on the 1.5 group?

*Correction

I'm uncomfortably

I'm uncomfortable about stating

Emily, don't worry about what is said here about you. You did the right thing.

There are a LOT of teeny tiny voices, much akin to mosquitos, that simply need to be swatted or ignored.

pocketrocket is one, brucie "the crybaby" stephensen is another, bud "the smuggler supporter" mierky is yet another.

Whether the big names can back you 100% of have some doubts about how you wound up here, your being here is held by most as just.

I think you got screwed. And without even a thankyou ma'am.

mr. clark is a coward and a liar. So are his cheerleaders bud and brucie. Put them on ignore and you'll have a better time with this site. Heck, put pocket rocket rich on too, he RARELY has anything intelligent much less relevant to ad to any discussion.

You did right Emily.

What I find hard to believe is that Ed's still posting ads on here - Innocent until proven guilty ? Yes, however you need to defend yourself without your dream team forum buddies defending you Ed - They aint helping you at all - And with all the accusations "some Proven already", such as mite infested animals, and now parasites along with origins of the animals you are selling in regards to whether you produced these or are passing off other animals as such...

Pardon my morals, but until the truth comes out, I believe Mr. C should be restrained from conducting and/or engaging in said business on this forum until things are cleared up - As it seems now, there is more potential for this to get worse before it gets any better...

I believe a temporary ban on his classifieds account is in order, less classified ads that do not involve the sales of animals...

Emily, Don't let the likes of that star wars weirdo or that Roy Orbison clone get you down. I appreciate that you stepped into the fire in order to warn others about possible infections/infestations from someone that buys and sells a large number of animals that he misrepresents as being bred/hatched by him. I'm sure many others appreciate it as well.

Oops....K. Banks.

Originally Posted by Mike P.

What I find hard to believe is that Ed's still posting ads on here - Innocent until proven guilty ? Yes, however you need to defend yourself without your dream team forum buddies defending you Ed - They aint helping you at all - And with all the accusations "some Proven already", such as mite infested animals, and now parasites along with origins of the animals you are selling in regards to whether you produced these or are passing off other animals as such...

Pardon my morals, but until the truth comes out, I believe Mr. C should be restrained from conducting and/or engaging in said business on this forum until things are cleared up - As it seems now, there is more potential for this to get worse before it gets any better...

I believe a temporary ban on his classifieds account is in order, less classified ads that do not involve the sales of animals...

You'd have to ban others as well, etc. Now explain to those who paid for that ability why they can't anymore. Big can of worms.