The Boa Barn!!

This is not really a bad guy or good guy post,More neutral .Ok the seller did make it right by refunding me.I just want to tell the risk of winter shipping.I won a male albino ball python on the an auction on 1/2/15 I paid the next day.They sent me one e-mail saying that shipping will be on 1/5 I said wait the following week cause,of the bitter cold.Did not get a replay back for 5 days message them again on auction site then even facebook nothing.I read one bad review on the auction site.I admit I open a pay pal case but right after that they sent me 2 e-mails and stated they send the snake Wednesday.I close the dispute right away said thank you for replaying.I was always nice to them never rude and sorry for the dispute.So they tell me from boa barn the snake be shipped Wednesday get a tracking number that afternoon.That day comes no emails about tracking.It became late in the evening no emails I sent one then went to bed late lime 1am my time at 8:30 in the morning I get woke up to my mothers dogs barking.I get up there to the door the fed ex guy just toss the package on the poach and ran off. So I open the package in a few minutes I smell the smell of something dead and saw steam coming from the box.The snake was dead with brown stuff oozing from its mouth.It was shipped in a 32 oz deli cup with packing peanuts in sliver insulation with thin piece of carbroad under that piece was 2 heat packs.I was so upset almost in tears poor animal died horrible either it suffocated or was way overheated.I wanted to post this not trying to bash cause the refunded me back fast.I said thank you for the refund but,I get an email saying basically thanks a lot for making me look bad.Well Im sorry but i seen the snake dead and thought it was not packed right.To note I have had 29 snakes shipped to me past year not issues at all.I love snakes always defending them against snake haters and try to educated people on them.I also suffer from mental and physical disability and pets including snakes give me comfort in the hardest times. Sorry if this long or seems like im bashing I have nothing against the owners of the boa barn but sorry I will not do business with them and they do not want my business.I was just looking forward to my albino ball python and now just sad over this.I'm glade they did give a prompt refund. If people want photos of the dead snake and packing I have them.

sorry for your loss Its a shame that someone with such a extended collection & experience would even ship in this kinda weather. ive only been collecting for about 2yrs now & i feel its common sense not to ship an animal that is kept at 85-90° in the winter. thats just my way of doin business & opinions. good luck in your search for another albino.
chris
B and S Pythons/facebook

You can ship safely when it's 30 I believe or above, but you never use 2 heat packs. I've never shipped, but I've had snakes shipped to me and read up on how to ship, they sell the shipping kits and it comes with everything you need other than the paper to pack in with it. I would say that snake was cooked by using 2 heat packs and the "insulation" they used.

This breeder been around for awhile and had many good reviews.I thought I will be getting a nice healthy snake. When they sent the refund all said DOA sorry for the inconvenience how about bit more compassion for the poor snake I bet was barely few months old it was 90 gram ball python that died a bad way.Also the emailed me rather rude more worried that I was making them look bad. I will look for albino bp later and wait for spring shipping.And to add another friend of mine owns over 150 snakes and over 100 shipped to him said 2 heat packs was the most likely cause was hardly any protection for the snake from the heat packs the way it packed pretty much it was just wrong the way it was shipped.I still very sad over this

once again just my opinion on the situation but when you get involved with a lot of these big name breeders a lot of times all they see is dollar signs and what it really comes down to is the animal. That's why I prefer to purchase my animals from the smaller collector type rather than a big name breeder who most of the time does it to make a living whereas the small collection guy does it because they enjoy the animals, not for a paycheck.

Yea but some of those small collectors do do some pretty screwed up stuff too which makes it harder for those of us who want to get into breeding for the love of the animals and sell the ones we don't keep.

But anyways yea I figured it was the way the ball was shipped. Just one heat pack can reach around 100 degrees maybe a little higher, with one for a short time in cold weather that's not a problem, but add 2? You're going to kill it.

30 is really low unless you're using very specialized shipping boxes (not the standard 1/2" to 3/4" insulated boxes where you build the insulation, but molded and fit 1" plus insulation). 40 is my low end, but I've been shipping for years and am very comfortable in my skills. If you haven't shipped much before, I wouldn't ship below 50 or so for a while, as you can really screw it up and every box is different, so it's hard to describe how to pack them. It's really sad that they apparently had less than adequate skills and knowledge of their limitations, as the animal wound up paying for their mistakes, which so often happens in this hobby.

I will ship above freezing, with 3/4" insulation and appropriate heat, if....and only if....the buyer is comfortable with that. Otherwise, I will keep and feed the animal as long as necessary. 2 heat packs in a box that small would have cooked the snake.

It's good, though, that you were refunded promptly. Technical errors, even those that result in the unfortunate loss of an animal, can be corrected. Unscrupulous dealings that we see so often here, many times cannot.

Poor creature. Looks like it got cooked.