Bill Gillingham - Great Valley Serpentarium - Good guy!

I just completed a deal with Bill Gillingham of Great Valley Serpentarium in Lodi, California for an adult female Tiger Ratsnake and I was more than pleased. His responses to my e-mails were all prompt and courteous. He answered all of my many questions both over e-mail and over the phone. He shipped exactly when he said he would and it arrived exactly when it was supposed to. The snake was well packed, well insulated, and in great shape. To top it all off, she is a beautiful animal.

It is deals like this one that help restore my jaded confidence in buying reptiles online. Bill is definitely one of the good guys. I highly recommend him.

-Donnie "Morti" Smith.

I'd have to agree. It's been said many times that what makes a good guy isn't just how he deals with day to day situations but how he deals with things when they don't go right.

Bill, decided to buy a pair of adult Albino Checkered Garters from me back in 2001 I think it was. Well, I'd been raising these guys since they were 3 grams and the female was pregnant at the time we'd agreed to the deal. Having never dealt with live birth before I wanted to keep them long enough to get the babies so that was our agreement. Bill sent me a deposit of $100 with the balance due when I shipped.

After what I would guess was about 70 days (I don't remember now) the female gave birth to 14 little ones and died the following day. At the time I was living day to day with money so couldn't refund Bill his money ASAP. I offered a trio of the babies for the $100 (A very good deal at the time) but understandably he didn't want babies.

It tok me another two months for me to get him paid back. I think I gave him an extra $10 to make up for credit card fees and while I'm syre he was pretty unhappy about the deal he was also very understanding and never got upset with nor threatening with me. I had a lot of respect for that because at the time I wouldn't have stayed as calm.

I also had a friend buy a mandrina from Bill that he was extreemly happy with. He ended up selling them cause he needed the money but here's that add if you wanna contact him:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ill+gillingham

I've only done business with great valley one time, and it was great to deal with bill. He answered every single question, we exchanged emails often for about a week until I ordered a pair of his pakistani jeweled racers. I feel that support emails for the animals was beyond any of the other reptile dealers/breeders I have dealt with online.

Like one of the above posts states... Its how someone handles the deal when there is a problem is where you really find out what someone is made of.

Bill Gillingham of Great Valley Serpentarium passed that test with flying colors.

I don't need to get into the specifics but needless to say I am looking forward to doing business with him again.

Scott W. Goodwin

Hello. I've never bought reptiles from Bill, but agree he is a good guy. I lived in Sacramento in the early nineties and my friends and I used to go to his shop quite often to see what he had and buy supplies. His facility is top notch and he was always very courteous and helpful.

Take care & God bless,
Phil Frost
ZNJ Exotics
znjexotics@hotmail.com

Anyone have any more recent dealing with Great Valley Serpentarium?

I've known of and done business with Bill for almost 20 years. Do the deal, you'll be happy. He's a really good guy.

I bought a false water cobra and mangrove last year from Bill. Awesome animals. he spent alot of time on the phone helping me get the mangrove setup properly. I wouldn't hesitate to do buisness with him again.

Cool, thanks Wes and Micah. He has some nifty Pakistani Rat's I like alot.

I have sold, bought, and traded with Bill since about 1984. He is always a pleasure to deal with, and a very nifty herpetologist to boot. The mandurin ratsnake would still be a mystery if not for Bill. He's great.