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Bad Guy JonValentine

darkmachine said:
I found an engorged snake mite underneath a scale on the underside of the animal.
Click to expand...

Not exactly a common place from which to pull a lone mite, IMO. I'm not saying one will never find a mite under a belly scale, but it certainly raises my doubts...especially since this was an albino boa of some size. Was it alive?
Perhaps I'm being too literal, and you meant something else by the underside of the animal...the story still doesn't make sense, though. It seems unusual, at best, that a seller would deny mites; but not take an immediate interest when being told of one. I know I would have wanted to see what was being called a mite, or the telltale smear of the fresh kill. Even with either of those things, I would immediately examine my animal.
 
A Case of Mistaken Identity?

To me, it seems rather unusual to find just a single mite. Maybe the engorged parasite could have been a deer tick (which are very small) which somehow got into the enclosure with the snake.
 
Good Morning Fauna!

Hope all is well with you guys.

I checked my snakes (and beardie and tegu) this morning again, during my regular wake up-drink coffee-check the animals routine, still no mites. Couple of things regarding what some of you guys have mentioned;

I use prevent a mite almost everytime i change the bedding, i wash my cages every 2-3 weeks, spot clean whenever necessary, (I check my animals/ enclosures at very minimum 3 times a day). feed every 5-12 days (depending on sex, size, and what I feed them).

In response to what hhmore mentioned, Both me and my girlfriend, Susan, are "partners" with these reptiles. She checked the snake immediately, and even brought out another female albino boa that we have. Honestly i was exhausted that night, i worked my good old 12 hour shift. So i let her handle most of the sale, that evening.

Both of us have been keeping reptiles for 6+ years, from boas to iguanas to ball pythons and monitors.

Now to what zovick has mentioned, that might possibly be, we have dogs, and even though they are not allowed even close to the reptile room in our house(separate room door stays locked and closed.),parasites travel. It could be.

Kind Regards

Jon Valentine
 
Yes, and my point was that finding a tick is not indicative of poor husbandry in any way, nor would one lone tick ever have prevented me from buying an animal which I really wanted to have in my collection. For that matter, a lone mite probably would not have prevented it either, but that's just me. I would simply quarantine the animal, treat it, and then be done with it and move forward.
 
Jon, I understand you were tired. But you say you check your enclosures three times a day, use Provent-a-mite, and all, but did not walk over a few steps to look when your visitor said he found a mite on your snake?
 
Lucille, I did walk over there...All I said that my girlfriend, partner, and co-owner of the snake thoroughly checked it. We never once saw a mite, and still don't.

Kind Regards

Jon Valentine
 
JonValentine said:
Lucille, I did walk over there...All I said that my girlfriend, partner, and co-owner of the snake thoroughly checked it. We never once saw a mite, and still don't.

Kind Regards

Jon Valentine
Click to expand...

darkmachine said:
I stated aloud that I had just found a mite on the snake and that I was not happy about it. You just stood there and did not even come over to look at it
Click to expand...

Just clarifying that there seem to be two significantly different accounts of what took place that evening.
 
I'm not going to keep on beating a dead horse. Fact of the matter is I walked over there, the co owner grabbed the snake and checked it. The problem with all of this is that this is all he said she said. I will take pictures of the mentioned snake when I get off of work. But even then, people are going to say either I didn't take the picture of the mite or they will say I treated them. One way or the other it will all be back and forth.
 
Lucille said:
Just clarifying that there seem to be two significantly different accounts of what took place that evening.
Click to expand...

Lucille,

I'm betting that the transaction got a little funky. If OP was indeed being a rude little bugger (he's already expressed here that he's upset the seller wouldn't compensate him for his gas and toll fees! He probably none too quietly expressed that during the transaction too. ) and was being demanding or intimidating, the seller probably was okay letting his girlfriend and partner take the snake from the OP. Seller isn't coming across as argumentative or aggressive to me.

It seems to me seller was happy just to take his snake back and run, and is now defending his animals and husbandry from a buyer who is claiming mites with zero proof.
 
The End=)

Good Evening Fauna!!!

Sorry just got off, here are a couple of pictures of the snake. I tried to take pictures of every bit of his body.

His name is Ronnie, and he asks to leave him alone, because he does not want to be bothered playing Xbox. Also he wishes everyone the best.

Sorry for the mess in the background but I took the pictures in my bedroom.=)

Guys, I hope this is enough evidence that he is a healthy happy snake, and he'll whoop anybody in some video games.

Thank you for your time, concern, and input. I appreciate it greatly.

For the "buyer" I wish you the best, and I hope you will find a male albino boa, that will fit your breeding needs. Sorry it didn't work out, and honestly no hard feelings. Like some people like to say, and sorry for my French: Shit happens.

Kind Regards

Jon Valentine
 

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HAHA right! But that's how he came out of the cage, no bath no treatment, not a single thing was done.

ALSO, apologies to the moderator ( and everybody else), for the foul language, at the time when I wrote this I didn't even think about it. In No way was this meant to offend anybody.

Kind Regards

Jon Valentine
 
darkmachine said:
I had a witness with me. I clearly showed the mite to him but I didn't pull out my camera and start taking pictures because well here in Florida some counties have different laws about that and I was in a different county. I also did not want to initiate a confrontation taking pictures of a snake mite that came off of a snake that I was clearly not going to buy at that point. This did happen guys. I admit I was pissed as hell but I wasn't allowed to see the enclosure it had been kept in and they already had the snake out when I got there. I could speculate as to why but I won't.
Click to expand...

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but what did you actually DO with that mite after you found it and then showed it to your witness?
 
What ever happened to the good old days when a fellow herper would show you and explain a husbandry issue they noticed instead of running to fauna to blast you? Point out potential issues, give tips on how to remedy the issue, etc. It seems to me that this hobby is starting to revolve around the mindset of "what's in it for me." I would have been happy just to meet another boa keeper. I don't know if Jon really had mites, but I do know the buyer did not stick around long enough to confirm this.

"Hey Jon, I think this boa has mites. I have a little bit of experience dealing with mites. Have you had any recent acquisitions?"

"Why yes I have a new tegu."

"Do you mind if I look at the water bowl? This is often a popular spot for dead ones to gather :). Don't be stressed man, this happens to the best of them."

New friend made and you have someone on the right track. Or the scenario in the snake room could have went:

"Jon, those actually arent snake mites. It appears they are wood mites coming from your substrate or ..."

"Thanks for your help. You really are a swell guy. I'm going to make a post on the BOI about how awesome of a guy you are for helping me out."

:thumbsup:
 
Focal said:
What ever happened to the good old days when a fellow herper would show you and explain a husbandry issue they noticed instead of running to fauna to blast you? Point out potential issues, give tips on how to remedy the issue, etc. It seems to me that this hobby is starting to revolve around the mindset of "what's in it for me." I would have been happy just to meet another boa keeper. I don't know if Jon really had mites, but I do know the buyer did not stick around long enough to confirm this.

"Hey Jon, I think this boa has mites. I have a little bit of experience dealing with mites. Have you had any recent acquisitions?"

"Why yes I have a new tegu."

"Do you mind if I look at the water bowl? This is often a popular spot for dead ones to gather :). Don't be stressed man, this happens to the best of them."

New friend made and you have someone on the right track. Or the scenario in the snake room could have went:

"Jon, those actually arent snake mites. It appears they are wood mites coming from your substrate or ..."

"Thanks for your help. You really are a swell guy. I'm going to make a post on the BOI about how awesome of a guy you are for helping me out."

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Great post!
 
Focal said:
What ever happened to the good old days when a fellow herper would show you and explain a husbandry issue they noticed instead of running to fauna to blast you? Point out potential issues, give tips on how to remedy the issue, etc. It seems to me that this hobby is starting to revolve around the mindset of "what's in it for me." I would have been happy just to meet another boa keeper. I don't know if Jon really had mites, but I do know the buyer did not stick around long enough to confirm this.

"Hey Jon, I think this boa has mites. I have a little bit of experience dealing with mites. Have you had any recent acquisitions?"

"Why yes I have a new tegu."

"Do you mind if I look at the water bowl? This is often a popular spot for dead ones to gather :). Don't be stressed man, this happens to the best of them."

New friend made and you have someone on the right track. Or the scenario in the snake room could have went:

"Jon, those actually arent snake mites. It appears they are wood mites coming from your substrate or ..."

"Thanks for your help. You really are a swell guy. I'm going to make a post on the BOI about how awesome of a guy you are for helping me out."

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...


I agree wholeheartedly with this post. Thumbs up for you. If we can get the reptile industry to operate on these standards maybe we can then move on to the rest of the world! (I wish).

:thumbsup:
 
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