Damian Wyatt, Possible Fake Het, Lack of customer service.

I’ve waited long enough and given Wyatt sufficient time to resolve this issue. Posting this will most likely result in Wyatt never standing behind his genetics guarantee with regard to the female I purchased from him. He’s failed to provide customer service and has failed to stand behind his guarantee that the female I purchased as a 100% het for hypo would be compatible with the Nerd line of yellow ghost.
The reason I am posting this is because 3 years ago when I considered being a customer of Damian Wyatt I came to this site for information about him. I didn’t find anything negative about his hets or compatibility issues. If I had, I would have never purchased a single snake from him. The purpose of posting this is to let others know about his genetics guarantee, lack of customer service, and failure to stand behind his statements. I am not likely to ever get a fair resolution to this issue but hopefully other breeders will not end up in the same situation.

In the fall of ’04 I purchased a hatchling female ball that Wyatt was advertising as a 100% het for hypo / ghost. Prior to making the purchase I contacted Wyatt by phone and asked about the females genetics with regard to compatibility with other lines of hypo / ghost. Wyatt guaranteed me that the female was a definite het and would be compatible with the Nerd line of yellow ghost.
In the summer of ’07 the female produced her first clutch. She was bred by my male yellow ghost and only my male yellow ghost. The female has never been in contact with any other male in the 3 years that I have had her in my collection. When the eggs hatched, there were no hypos. They were all normal looking balls that were only hets since they were sired by my yellow ghost. I contacted another breeder and asked them to check out the clutch and see if possibly they were hypos but very low grade. No such luck, nothing but hets.
Since 11/10/07 I have contacted Wyatt trying to resolve this issue. I have provided him with the invoice number and the breeding results. I also informed him that I have been breeding snakes since ’94 and have bred a visual morph to a true 100% het many times and I have never failed to produce a visual morph. The worst results I have ever had with a visual morph to true het breeding were 2 morphs out of 6 eggs. Wyatt responded that he did not know how this could happen and I should send him pics of the female and the hatchlings. That was done and he confirmed that there were no hypos in the clutch. He also stated that he has many pastel hypos and hypos to prove that the lines are compatible.

Since 11/10/07 I have not been offered any type of compensation. During this time I have asked for and been willing to receive a refund or replacement female that has proven to be a true het in exchange for my female or a single male or female ghost since I should have produced at least 1 with this breeding or even a male VPI axanthic that he posted on KS at a comparable price. I have been asked to wait until next year to see what he produces which in my opinion is nothing but a stall tactic. I have been asked to wait while he researched the issue with another breeder that provided him with his hypos / ghost and the breeder that provided me with my yellow ghost. In my opinion that appears to be nothing more than a search for some way to blame someone else. I have even received an email stating that he is trying to get me a female ghost. During this time he continues to advertise and sell snakes on KS. Those sales have provided him with cash that he could have offered as a refund. He could use the cash from those sales to purchase a single hypo / ghost hatchling and offer it to me as full compensation and resolution to this issue. He claims to be trying to get me a female but he has had sufficient time to resolve this issue if he ever really intended to.

Genetics – there are known issues of compatibility between the various lines of hypos / ghost. That is why I asked before making the purchase. If the female is a het and just not compatible then Wyatt should stand behind his statements and guarantee that she would be compatible. There is a very slight chance that I simply missed and I acknowledge that this could have happened. To see just how small that possibility is, read below about the flip of a coin. If this were a het to het breeding, I would have contacted him and provided the pics as proof. I also would be willing to go another season. Many breeders ask for this and I think most of us would consider this reasonable with a clutch of 6 eggs.

In a visual to true het breeding each of the eggs have a 50% chance of producing a visual and a 50% chance of producing a het. The same odds as flipping a coin, 50% chance of getting heads and a 50% chance of getting tails. So for this example lets say that heads is a visual and tails is a het. Flip a coin 6 times and write down your results. Did you get tails 6 times in a row? While it is possible, it is not likely to happen very often. Play the game 2 or 3 times or more and you’ll see just how unlikely it is that you will get tails 6 times in a row. I have discussed these odds and clutch results with a few other breeders and all but 2 have said they have never missed with this type of breeding.

Please don’t bother to ask for emails to be posted, names to be provided, etc. I have already lost a significant amount of time and money. I’m another year behind in my projects that include hypo / ghost combos. I have had to contact my customers and inform them of the possible compatibility issues and offer them refunds. If my references and reputation for having a high level of honesty and integrity is not sufficient, then go be a customer of Wyatt and get your own first hand experience.
I may post this female on KS as a “PFH”, possible fake het. If I don’t, she will be bred by another line of hypo / ghost and I will post the results next year.

Thanks for reading my post
John Quinones
AKA John Q

Originally Posted by John Q Reptiles

I have had to contact my customers and inform them of the possible compatibility issues and offer them refunds. If my references and reputation for having a high level of honesty and integrity is not sufficientyear.

Thanks for reading my post
John Quinones
AKA John Q

Sorry to hear that John, I just have a quick question. I'm assuming since you stated above this is the only clutch this female has provided. What animals would you have to inform of their compatibility? The one's from this one clutch?

The clutch produced by this female has been pulled from any ads. The hatchlings are all here with me. None have been sold or given away.
In order to protect my customers, provide them with a high level of customer service, provide them with compatibility information that was not available at the time they made their purchase, and assure them I will honor my genetics guarantee, I contacted customers that purchased hets sired by my male yellow ghost. I sold hatchlings from another clutch, my male yellow ghost X normal, to two breeders. Those 2 customers were informed that there is a real slight chance that the male yellow ghost may not be compatible with another line of hypo / ghost. They were offered refunds and declined. They understand that the hets they purchased need to be bred to each other to produce yellow ghost and that they may or may not produce hypos / ghost when bred to another line. They understand that there is a very small possibility that there is a compatibility issue. This is assuming that the female from Wyatt is not a fake het and that he lied to me about her genetics being compatible with my male Nerd line yellow ghost.
Is she a fake het?
Is she a real het and just not compatible with my male?
Did I just miss the odds with a 6 egg clutch with each egg having a 50/50 chance of being a ghost? (LOL)
At this time the only thing I know for sure is that Wyatt is not standing behind his guarantee that she would be compatible with my Nerd line yellow ghost male. He is not offering an acceptable level of customer service. He's not even debating that she is not a het!
Hope that answers your question
John Quinones

While you may be right in it either not being a het of at least not compatable, one 6 egg clutch is not enough IMO to PROVE that it is not a het/compatable. A 6 egg clutch gives you about a 98.4% shot at getting a visual. While you odds are VERY good to get a visual from this breeding I can guarantee you that people have had larger clutches with the same odds per egg and been nailed on the luck. I have even heard of a breeder getting no pastels from an 8 egg clutch from pastel x normal. Again, you may be and probably are right about it not being a het or not being compatable, but it has not been proven yet.

Originally Posted by pfan151

While you may be right in it either not being a het of at least not compatable, one 6 egg clutch is not enough IMO to PROVE that it is not a het/compatable. A 6 egg clutch gives you about a 98.4% shot at getting a visual. While you odds are VERY good to get a visual from this breeding I can guarantee you that people have had larger clutches with the same odds per egg and been nailed on the luck. I have even heard of a breeder getting no pastels from an 8 egg clutch from pastel x normal. Again, you may be and probably are right about it not being a het or not being compatable, but it has not been proven yet.

I take it you haven't read the other threads about Wyatt?

Originally Posted by snake5007

I take it you haven't read the other threads about Wyatt?

I have. That still does not change the fact that the genetics of this animal can not be PROVEN from not hitting a visual on one six egg clutch. As I said in my first post, it is likely that he is right and she is not a het or at least not compatable, but I personally don't think six eggs is enough to concretely prove that it is not. IMO the breeding would have to be repeated next season to prove the genetics beyond any doubt.

John,
Here is a pictuer of the female NERD Ghost ovulating




now sitting on the clutch from which your female came from,




and now here she is before she became gravid.




Here is a pic of my male NERD Ghost that has proven to be compatible to several of my het females and has produced several ghost for me as well as the Pastel Ghost male that Howard Ross purchased from me, but just so you are sure I am telling you the truth here are the pics,







I never said she was not a het! I simply told you that I needed to investigate the matter a little because my original ghost lineage started from NERD's green ghost line and throughout the several years of producing I had never experienced the NERD Ghost to not be compatible with each other. If you are seeking a refund of $400 then when I get the funds together I will issue your refund. But as it stands, this is not a stall tactic, infact this is the first time that I have heard about these lines not being compatible. Just to add to your post, just because I post snakes on KS does not mean that they are selling left and right...

Thanks,
Wyatt

Originally Posted by Wyatt

If you are seeking a refund of $400 then when I get the funds together I will issue your refund. But as it stands, this is not a stall tactic, infact this is the first time that I have heard about these lines not being compatible. Just to add to your post, just because I post snakes on KS does not mean that they are selling left and right...

Thanks,
Wyatt

Having a rough time putting together $400? No savings account? Living day to day, sale to sale, crumb to crumb?

Boston Market makes a great frozen meatloaf entree in case you're on a budget. Its under $3.00.

Wyatt, I offered to accept a refund. I offered to accept a proven het female in exchange. I offered to accept a single hatchling ghost of either sex. I even offered to accept the male VPI axanthic that you posted on KS for $650.
You have not provided me with any of the above. Here's your chance to prove to me and everybody else that comes to the BOI that you do stand behind your genetics guarantee. That you do stand behind the statements you make when selling a snake. I will gladly acknowledge receipt of one of the above and post it here in the BOI for ALL to see.
John Quinones

I can see what you're saying, but the odds of this pairing not throwing a visual are small compared to the odds of Wyatt actually being a good businessman, IMO.