Hello, I'm here to share my experience with a breeder in Arlington, TX that goes under the business name TexHiss. His name is Jimmy Horton.
Prior to purchasing, I looked here, on the BOI, and saw good things about this breeder. I learned, the hard way, to do research on anybody you're considering buying from. That being said, I decided to continue with purchasing a red tail boa from him.
The boa was advertised as a male Anery 66% het for snow and albino, Kahl line. The picture used showed a healthy boa, seemingly a baby. The original ad, I do not have a screen shot of, as he immediately removed all his ads after I agreed to purchase the snake labeled 'Anery male #10'. He did relist the exact ad, today, just minus the one I bought. I do have a screen shot of that so you can at least get an idea of how he was listed.
After agreeing and getting the paypal info, I immediately paid price and shipping up front and scheduled for him to be sent out on Wednesday, 9/30, to arrive Thursday, 10/1(today). I even sent Jimmy a reminder like he had requested.
The boa arrived a little later than expected(most of my shipments, reptile wise, arrive in the morning and not later), but that was fine. I was about to leave for errands when the Fedex truck conveniently pulled up behind me for the delivery. I excitedly waited for the driver to pull my package from his truck. I was handed a regular brown box... Not your standard white box with red lettering that made it clear there was an animal inside and to hold it upright, but a plain brown box with just the shipping labels... not even any writing that would warn someone there is a living animal inside the box and to handle it with care...
I thanked the fellow and sat back in my car, worried about the snake, as a plain brown box was all too reminiscent of when I had a DOA from another 'breeder' that I stupidly did no research on. I cut it open to reveal a mass of shredded newspaper... no styrofoam.. no heat pack, with temperatures ranging from 50-60F... I dug through the shredded paper to find a white sock with the end taped up. In the video you can hear my aggravation at the cheap shipping job,"A sock?... Really?..." I untaped the sock and pulled out the boa, sitting with a dry paper towel.
The boa was wrinkly, skin pinched up, obviously dehydrated, and the spine and ribs could be visibly seen. He was limp, but still alive. Very cold... I immediately went to warm him up and offer him some water, texting Jimmy of the condition he came in while I walked, and said I'd have to ask around before I had an opinion, but I was fairly certain that a snake should not go from healthy to malnourished in one night...
In the process of getting the snake all suited up and cozy, he tried to call me. Out of frustration, knowing myself, and being too preoccupied with the little scaley, I ignored the call. As you can see in my text I sent to him, I'm usually more compliant on the phone and I wasn't going to be talked out of this. Either I'm compliant or I'm not all that nice... it really depends on where you catch me, I'm socially awkward and suffer anxiety, but that's not the point..
At any rate, I posted elsewhere to ask some opinions on the situation. I got a couple and relayed them back to him, at which point he got upset and started to argue with me. He claimed that nothing was wrong with the snake because he doesn't 'powerfeed', but... I'm fairly certain this isn't a result of not powerfeeding, I don't powerfeed, either, and my other boa is filled in, not boney, and has nice, sleek skin and scales... No wrinkles or pinching up.
Anywho, here's screens of our conversation, the box, inside the box, the boa, the ad, the original picture used for 'Anery male #10', and a video. Decide for yourselves, I just feel others have a right to know. Thanks.
The reposted ad:
The image used for the boa purchased:
Proof of purchase:
The shipping: