Shipped sick snake

I received a pair of desert horned adders in the mail on Monday. When I first got them out of the bag the female had a very obvious eye prolem The eye was white and sticking pretty far out of her head but I thought (wishful thinking maybe) that it was just a retained eyecap and not a big dea. I e-mailed the person I got them from and said they looked ok except for this potential problem. A few hours later, after some prodding of the eye and some consulation on the kingsnake.com forums, we realized this was actually a pretty serious eye infection that needed some sort of vet intervention. I wrote back and told the guy what was really going on and his reply was, and I quote 'give me a break, you said you were satisfied before'. The fact that I didn't realize what the problem was right away doesn't mean he's not responsible, does it? As I'm not sure I can ship the snake back (not a known delta shipper), should he be responsible for the vet bills incurred? His terms say 'satisfaction upon arrival'. This really seems like he's shirking responsibility on a technicality, and seems pretty rude as well. Unfortunately my vet is out of town. What do you think I should do? I'd also welcome any advice treating the snake's condition, you can e-mail us.

Erin and Jason Benner
inmorpheusarms@hotmail.com

What I want to know is "Who in the hell sent these thru the mail?" Just when I thought I had heard it all!

For shame!

Do you have a vet that will treat venomous??  If not the vet bill thing is moot.  I would push the seller for a little more support, especially if you believe (I assume you do) that he knowingly shipped a sick animal.  Unfortunately, if he did this knowingly that makes him a crook, unless he's a reputable dealer you make have a long road to hoe.

I'm not sure of all the legalities involved, I guess it's a question of how much time, effort, and money you want to put into this.  Hopefully he'll just do the right thing and at least give you a price break.  Or if you do have a venomous vet he could pay the bill (not to exceed the price of the snake).

Good luck,
Steve Himes

Hi Erin and Jason, I'd bring him to the vet if they do hots. It'd probably be cheaper for a vet visit and antibiotic then shipping and that clearly would cause you a problem. Plus it would be the humane thing to do rather then send him back to a person who didn't care enough to treat it in the first place. I'd then add the name of the seller and your experience to this site to give any future buyers a heads up to your experience with him. If he's a reputable dealer or breeder and he cares about his reputation, he'll correct the matter by either offering a percent off the purchase or pay half the vet. If your vet doesn't take hot snakes, then go to a few email lists for that particular species if they're available (yahoo.com, kingsnake.com/forums?) and inquire on possible care yourself to treat it as a last resort, such as types of eyerinses, soaks, etc. &nbsp;If your consistant with keeping it clean and apply a topical antibiotic, just maybe you'll get lucky and it'll go away. If it comes back he'll need an oral antibiotic most likely and it's better not to shotgun meds without experience! Good luck! Gina <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>