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Bad Guy Be wary of Boas and Balls (Rodent Factory) rodents. Parasites!

simpsonke

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Rats I purchased there recently were not only dirty and smelly but infested with external parasites. The only offer of compensation was to refund the cost of any rats I returned still frozen in a sealed package. No refund or compensation for any shipping costs.

This was a lame excuse for a refund when I'm expected to pay the shipping both ways to get it. I already paid to get these poor quality rats shipped here and now I'm expected to pay to ship them back too. In my book this is as good as doing nothing.

The Rodent Factory (Boas and Balls) will definitely not be getting any more business from me.

I was told by a forum member that these are rat lice which makes sense because they seem to be very firmly attached to the hair. They don't even wash off in water.

Rat lice are not dangerous to the snakes but the treatments can be.
 
Lice on Rats are no joke! They can affect all mammals and thrash through a colony if you had one at home like I did once. I had to put down 300 higher end Rodents one time to get it under control.

I was very upset at the place the Lice originated from. Cats and Dogs can tet them from the Rats. The Feline treatments to remedy are not cheap, and its not fun to rectify... Thank u for posting!
 
Tom, I agree, lice on live rats are no joke. It is my understanding, however, that once frozen that the lice are dead? So although the lice may affect the condition of the rodents (and perhaps result in inferior feeders), I would presume that (dead) lice on frozen feeders would not harm the snakes or any mammals kept at the home?

Ken, as per BOI rules, can you please post any email/text exchanges you have made with Boas and Balls?
 
Here is the email thread.

I have recently started to feed my snakes on the rats you sent me. Unfortunately, I have not been very happy with them. All the small rats appear to be covered in parasites (lice or fleas or something). The parasites are firmly attached to the hair and don't even come off when rinsed under a faucet? In addition, they are fairly dirty and reek of rodent excrement. Most of my Ball Pythons are refusing them. I weighed a bunch of the 10 packs of small rats and almost all of them are 500g (minimum weight). As a first time buyer of your feeders I am very disappointed with the quality of these, and I wonder how the Denver Zoo feels about parasite infested feeders?

[email protected]
10/30/12
to me
I am very sorry about this. I have not had any other complaints from anyone. If you would like to send them back you can. They must come back frozen however.

Kenneth Simpson 10/31/12
I don't know what to do. I don't know where to get dry ice and don't have the shipping box anymore. Are you offering a full refund if I do sent them back?
I have attached a few pics I took.

[email protected]
10/31/12
to me
I am very sorry. If you box them up and send them back I will give you a refund for anything in its original package that has not been defrosted. You should be able to find dry ice at your grocery store.

Kenneth Simpson <[email protected]>
11/1/12
to sales
You will refund all unopened packages as well as all the shipping costs here and back?

[email protected]
11/1/12
to me
no I will not refund the shipping cost.

Kenneth Simpson <[email protected]>
11/2/12
to sales
So I'm out 70 bucks and don't have any rats. Never mind the aggravation and inconvenience of having to deal with this.
Seems to me since you are the one that sent me the infested rats you should be making this work, not just me.
Ken

Kenneth Simpson <[email protected]>
11/10/12
to sales
That's it then? Your only offer to resolve this situation is for me to be out $70. You fully admit the problem but don't want to make it right?
I'll be sure to post my experience on the forums with my pictures if that's the best you can do.
Ken

[email protected]
11/13/12
to me
I looked at the pics and I see a bug, I can't identify it. The rest of the stuff looks like bedding, and that would make sense since we gas them on aspen to absorb the sweat and pee.

Kenneth Simpson <[email protected]>
11/15/12
to sales
That might have been bedding but all the bugs you see on the paper towel came off 2 small rats that had been washed under a hot water tap for a minute and then thawed. Bedding would not stick in the hair like that.

Kenneth Simpson 11/18/12
In case there was any doubt, I ran the hair of one of your small rats over a petri dish and put it under my sons $10 microscope. The attached are several pics of the many bugs that fell out of the hair. I don't think there is any question that these rats have a serious bug problem. The question is how will you make it right.
Ken

[email protected]
11/19/12
to me
just send them back for a refund.

Kenneth Simpson <[email protected]>
11/20/12
to sales
Again, I'm not sure why you think that is such a helpful solution. I still have to go through the hassle and expense of sending them back. No loss for u at all and I'm out $70 at least. If you really want to provide reasonable customer service then I think you need to do better than that?

Never hear back after that.
 
Hmm, I ordered from Lynn not too long ago and I didn't see a problem with the rats I have. My order seemed to be in Frozen Working order. Maybe this could be very recent?
 
Tom, I agree, lice on live rats are no joke. It is my understanding, however, that once frozen that the lice are dead? So although the lice may affect the condition of the rodents (and perhaps result in inferior feeders), I would presume that (dead) lice on frozen feeders would not harm the snakes or any mammals kept at the home?

Ken, as per BOI rules, can you please post any email/text exchanges you have made with Boas and Balls?

This is totally true... I was leaning more towards the fact that its rampant in his colony and its not gonna be fun to deal with was all.

When it comes to feeding $1000-$5000 snakes and such. I wouldn't feed stuff like that to my colony. Anybody else?
 
I'm so glad I read this before dropping $300 on an order from them! Have you sent them an email with a link to this thread?
 
I was told by a forum member that these are rat lice which makes sense because they seem to be very firmly attached to the hair. They don't even wash off in water.

How odd. I've had decades of experience dealing with head lice in children. The nits, or eggs, are affixed to the hair shaft with a gluey substance as the louse lays the eggs, and do not easily come off. But I have never seen a louse itself affixed to hair because the lice have no mechanism to hold onto the hair shaft.
 
I have been in veterinary medicine for over 15 years now, I have seen a lot of rodents with lice species. I have never seen or heard of cat or dog with lice. Thats a new one for me.
 
I have been in veterinary medicine for over 15 years now, I have seen a lot of rodents with lice species. I have never seen or heard of cat or dog with lice. Thats a new one for me.

As a veterinary student, I know as a fact that cats and dogs do get lice. Not as common as fleas, though, obviously. But hey, you learn something new every day, right?

That's pitiful "customer service" if they won't even refund the shipping costs. And why would they need to have them returned frozen? Why would it matter? Hopefully they won't just remove the lice and sell them to someone else. Nits can easily be in the hair, as well, and these are even more difficult to remove than the adult lice.

Would love to see how their feeder enclosures look. If the frozen rats smelled horrible, I'm sure the cages aren't much cleaner.
 
I have been in veterinary medicine for over 15 years now, I have seen a lot of rodents with lice species. I have never seen or heard of cat or dog with lice. Thats a new one for me.

http://www.sheltermedicine.com/shelter-health-portal/faq/cats-infected-with-feline-lice

It's nuts! And you have to have deplorable conditions to make it happen... Something to think about right there for the guy who froze these. Feline Lice and Rodent Lice can be treated with Feline Frontline products and organic options, but it's no fun.

Either way it's sliced. At $50-$70 a box, Feline stuff treats about 30-50 Rats I think? I had to chop my colony into a 1/3 to rid the problem. I bought the host as new blood for my colony and it got out of control real fast...

And, I promise... I am a quarantine Monster! I don't wish it upon anybody, and I can vouch for its unpleasantness... Lol. New word there! Took me a fiscal year to rectify! Good luck Lynn!
 
And you have to have deplorable conditions to make it happen..

That is a popular misconception. Lice happen in the best of families (in people) and do not require deplorable conditions.
I'm still on how the OP is claiming that the lice were stuck fast to the hair, and I do not think that can happen, and I don't think it did happen.
There seem to be no other complaints about this vendor and this situation, perhaps people have not come forward yet, right now I'm reserving judgment.
 
That is a popular misconception. Lice happen in the best of families (in people) and do not require deplorable conditions.
I'm still on how the OP is claiming that the lice were stuck fast to the hair, and I do not think that can happen, and I don't think it did happen.
There seem to be no other complaints about this vendor and this situation, perhaps people have not come forward yet, right now I'm reserving judgment.

Yes and no... For it to originate and thrive, yes. But, it can easily transfer to a healthy clean specimen/host/colony. So yes, I retract that statement. It would be great for some inside photos from a visitor who went to pick up some lives.
 
There seem to be no other complaints about this vendor and this situation, perhaps people have not come forward yet, right now I'm reserving judgment.

I wasn't going to say anything, but since this is here and there is mention of no others coming forward I will speak.

I ordered and received rats/mice in October/November.

The rodents were as the OP described his. Many soaked in urine/blood, overwhelming bad (putrid) smell when bags were opened, and quite a few dead parasites visible. The adult mice were especially gross. If they looked that bad frozen, I'd hate to see how the racks of live animals are kept.

I figured I would give these guys a try because I needed rats, and was disappointed at the quality of the rodents. However, based on previous interactions with Lynn, I decided it wasn't worth complaining about. No way am I feeding that to my animals, though.

That's just my opinion, based on my experience with their rodents. I do admit that I'm picky when it comes to snake food, and perhaps what bothers me is no big deal to others.

A couple pictures attached. Shows the small bugs that were all over all of the rodents, and the condition of the frozen mice with blood, urine and liquid feces smeared on them.
 

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I bought from them once and never will again. Urine and blood covered rodents, smelled nasty frozen and thawed, and when I thawed them in water they turned the water a dark tea colour, I assume from the mix of blood and urine. Didn't notice any bugs, but I never really did a close inspection. Didn't bother to complain as I didn't want to start trouble since I'm quite new in the industry.
 
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