Okay, so I have never posted here before but figured I would write this up because it makes me very upset to see people try and sell sick animals. I went to purchase an adult male black headed python from someone on here with the username "JOEL2006". I ended up driving an hour to his job yesterday afternoon (01/27/2017 : approximately 2:30 PM), because he apparently grabbed the snake on his lunch break and said it would be easier for both of us to meet there since he would not be getting home until late. I ended up driving into, not to be offensive, but not the nicest neighborhood of Philadelphia. He ended up working in a pawn shop, had the snake in a pillowcase in a box with airholes. As I arrived, someone was being pulled out of the shop in an ambulance after getting into a fist fight within the store where the snake was. I did not feel like I was in a safe situation but my eagerness to acquire a new herp got the best of me and I decided to proceed with the transaction. In the ad it was noted that this bhp had a jaw injury, what was presumably a dislocated jaw that was misaligned when popped back in. I've seen this in snakes before, including a carpet python, and thought no big deal it eats and is healthy (allegedly) and is really cheap. Perfect opportunity to pair up my female bhp, and I was told it was fed medium rats so I knew it wasn't super fed, which causes infertility and liver problems in this species. So he briefly showed me the snake before tucking it back into the pillowcase within the shop. Barely saw the jaw as the snake was very flighty and he only had it out for a short amount of time. Again, I did not feel as though I was in a safe environment after seeing someone leave the store in an ambulance. I rushed out to get back to my car and decided to take the snake out before getting out of this neighborhood. I noticed that on it's head it wasn't quite a misaligned jaw, but instead, upon forcing open the 7 foot snake's jaws in my car, was some type of a mouth infection. There was a bunch of mucus and a swollen bubble on the inside of it's mouth. I was a little nervous about going back in there, and I felt very bad for the condition this animal was in. I was in a dilemma, not sure if I should cut my losses and get this snake to a vet asap or risk my safety and go back in there for a refund. I decided that I wanted my $650 back. I went back in the store and told him this snake has some type of infection and needs to be taken to a vet immediately. He assured me the animal was fine, he got it that way 2 years ago, and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the animal, that he has "antibiotic" and it's fine. He told me that I was made aware of the jaw injury and saw the pics in the ad (not nearly as swollen as it was in person in the ad and could pass as a misaligned jaw and I assumed it was as so). I argued back and forth with him for a bit about the overall health of this animal and said I cannot accept this. He said alright fine, got me my money and I got the hell out of there. I know he is going to probably try to sell this animal to some other unsuspecting person so I want this post to serve as a warning to anyone who wants to buy this animal or anything else he is trying to sell. I will make note that he did mention the injury on the jaw in the ad but tried to confirm with me in person that it was from a problem with it's jaw popping back into place when I was asking about it. Very upset that people try to sell sick animals and I'm also a little upset with myself that I was naive enough to think something good could come out of this situation and that this animal was going to make a fine addition. Unfortunately, I was unable to take a pic of the inside of this snake's mouth because I was alone and I used both hands to restrain it and open it's jaws to get a closer look. I don't have actual proof of this experience, but potential buyers be warned, he will try and sell you a sick animal. The only messages I have were arranging the pickup, not sure if I should post them or not or if there is anything else I should include here.
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I said no so he said he will just have to do the cash ,so he came down to pick it up and purchased it .He took it for about 5 min came back telling me a story about it being a infection ,I told him its not a infection it was a old injury since before I purchased it ,I HAVE TREATED IT WITH MEDICINE ITS A OLD BROKEN ONE SIDE LOWER JAW so I just gave him his money back and he went on his way...I don't see y this is even one here with him getting his money back without any problems .He has no feedback on here trying to build his by burring mine so I will have to pay him a visit next week some time...
