Feb 15th 2011 I was browsing Hoobly & came across an ad selling an adult female Pastel (possibly Pastave) Ball Python for $600. Upon inspection of the photo in the ad I determined the snake couldn't possibly be either, but emailed the seller anyway to see if I could 1) get more pictures and 2) inform them since it could be a beginner's mistake. Through email correspondence, I received 2 more photos of the snake - as I thought before, the snake appears to be completely normal.
I responded explaining the snake was not a Pastel (or Pastave) & appeared to be a Normal Ball Python. I also sent a few photos of true Pastels to help him see the difference on his own. I knew he was online as he had just responded to me before, but after my 2nd email he never responded. I figured I'd give it a few days to make a decision on whether or not to bring it to the BOI.
Yesterday (Feb 19th) I decided to email him again through Hoobly to make sure he did indeed get my 2nd email. Within an hour he had responded, claiming I am wrong about the snake. At this point I am feeling this needs to be brought here to make people aware that this could possibly be a scam. I responded to him & we've had a few back & forth's which I am posting screenshots of below.
**I want to make this clear that
I am not accusing Latta of being a scammer. He may very well just be a beginner or someone not keen on morphs yet. I just feel that either way, this needs to be brought to the public's attention.
Screenshots
The original ad - link here:
http://www.hoobly.com/0/0/1618756.html
photo from the ad
additional photos he sent (screenshot of the page) - 1st link here:
http://tinypic.com/r/11253b5/7
2nd link here:
http://tinypic.com/r/24njt6u/7
Emails:
from here on out the seller gets a bit hostile, which gives me a bad feeling on the entire deal.
That is all for now. If I do receive more information pertaining to this thread I will post more.