MOC Reptiles

Originally Posted by nickolasanastasiou

I can, have, and do condition some individuals of some species to withstand this and much (MUCH) lower lows, BUT it is generally not considered best practice for typical keepers and there is a lot involved when this conditioning is done effectively (it is gradual, one should have robust individuals to begin with with decent thermal mass, behavioral nuances need to favor success, observations need to be highly accurate, and keeper responses need to be immediate and swift). It is not for most people to even attempt. Hence not best practice for typical keepers.

The high occurs for a relatively brief peak relative to the total day. During that time, in direct sunlight, the tortoises can "charge up" and elevate their body temperatures well beyond the high, but there are several "ifs" in that scenario (a tortoise may park itself in a less opportune position, there could be cloud cover, the position of the Sun in the sky shifts, and so on) and the duration of the span the tortoise's overall body would spend in a good temperature range is relatively brief. Supplemental heat is generally considered wise and extended forays outdoors during significantly cooler weather for animals not conditioned to significant lows is considered risky without some manner of heated hide or house to retreat to in order to recharge (so to speak). If a problem begins to manifest, adjustments should be made immediately to reduce the stressor or the constitution of the animal could degrade. If a tortoise is not handling something well, one would not want to keep exposing it to whatever that something is.

I cannot say for sure what happened here, but the time between purchase (which involves an in-person inspection by its nature) and the onset of symptoms or indicators appears to have been prolonged. That is kind of the crux of it for me. A necropsy, unless showing something that would have taken a much longer period of time (like severe MBD, chronic hepatic failure, chronic renal failure, or some such thing), only holds a particular amount of value. More often for knowledge than anything more. If this animal died of RI that progressed to pneumonia if not adequately dealt with or some kind of bowel issue, that could have easily occurred post-sale. It would really depend on what the necropsy showed and even then many findings would be iffy. And not opinion by a sympathetic author (which I have seen occur too often for what should be scientifically reported and not extrapolated far beyond the facts of the findings).

People kill stuff in a day. In an hour. I have seen people drop squirming small animals on tile floors after unboxing from other vendors and then try to say the animal came in compromised while I was standing there for the injurious event. We have known of people to transport animals on heated seats when coming home from a winter show. Or sitting a deli cup with an animal stuck inside in front of a vent blasting hot air because the human perceives it as too cold while the animal is being killed from that heat. I am not saying any such thing happened here at all. I am saying there was a lot of time between satisfaction and dissatisfaction and a seller determines liability, if any exists, beyond an arbitrarily reasonable point that is made clear up front. I offer LAG with notification within the hour. I offer description within the day. That is for shipment. If handed off in person? No such thing. The hand-off is when I know the animal in its condition is confidently moved from one portion of custody to a new party's custody. Likewise, that is the time the new party taking custody has the opportunity to embrace the animal or refuse it upon inspection due to a significant piece of new information. If the animal flips in its cage that evening, goes hypoxic from lung compression by viscerae, and is turned over in the morning (alive yet compromised), should a seller eat that? No. If a person says he or she has a good setup for a hatchling and puts them in an overly hot cage with no escape from the heat such that the animal suffers from hyperthermia, should the seller eat that? No. Some people offer loooong guarantees. Bless their generous and perhaps naive hearts. lol I know otherwise good keepers who make mistakes. Passing off mistakes can become a problem for a seller while no fault of that seller. Likewise, customers sometimes receive bum deals. Animals not as described. Animals with pre-existing issues. Animals harmed during shipment when the buyer made every attempt to receive the animal in a timely fashion. It happens. Should the buyer eat that? No. Everything in perspective for both sides of the coin.

Thanks for your complete answer Nickolas 👍🏻
Last year I had a customer who purchased a crested gecko at my shop.
The animal was produced by us, solid and flawless at 4 months old.

3 hours later the customer comes back to the shop upset that the animal was dead.
As soon as I touched the deli cup I could feel the heat.
“Sir, the temp gun reads the deli cup at 100F, you cooked your crestie inside your car with no ac!!”
Embarassed face “ eeehh no way, went back home and put in his cage and he died. Want full compensation or will write negative reviews on google, yelp, fb etc....”
“Sir, do as you wish, we are not responsible of your negligence, and please never buy another animal from anywhere”.
Some people just like to be a pain, and would never accept their actions, and would go as low as threats if you don’t do as they wish..