Bad Guy Update on the boa I purchased from Carlos Rojas

[Dan W]

I wanted to say that the boa I got from Carlos in February was infested with mites. If you buy from him be very careful.
Dan

 

[suzuki4life]

You already said the animal looked great upon arrival so I have a hard time putting faith in your comments. Quarantine the animal and treat for mites. They are not a big deal and quarantine should be standard practice. Don't be so quick to run to the BOI and post how great something is in the future.

 

[RubberDuckey273]

How did Carlos respond when you let him know the snake had mites? Your original "Good Guy" post for Carlos was on 2-19-2014, how long after you received the snake did you see the mites? Pictures of the snake with mites and screenshots of email correspondence with Carlos to show how he has handled the situation would help a lot.

 

[David Reid]

Do not know if the Boa did or did not have mites, but Gary, mites are a big deal to quality breeders.

Dave

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

You already said the animal looked great upon arrival so I have a hard time putting faith in your comments. Quarantine the animal and treat for mites. They are not a big deal and quarantine should be standard practice. Don't be so quick to run to the BOI and post how great something is in the future.

Wait really? Mites are too a big deal. They should not be on an animal sold. Ever.

 

[Amelanistic Orca]

Do not know if the Boa did or did not have mites, but Gary, mites are a big deal to quality breeders.

Dave

Atta boy Dave! It's intolerable... I actually know people with cleaning habits where mites can't even survive, even if introduced in heavy numbers! Lol.

 

[suzuki4life]

Do not know if the Boa did or did not have mites, but Gary, mites are a big deal to quality breeders.

Dave

Boa arrived with no visible mites and buyer has stated how happy he was with the animal. A month later the animal was "infested" from the seller's practices? Doesn't add up to me.

 

[suzuki4life]

Wait really? Mites are too a big deal. They should not be on an animal sold. Ever.

The animal did not show up with mites per the buyer's first post regarding the seller. With that said, there is no guarantee the seller sent the mites along with the snake. If precautions and quarantine were followed as they should be, then no, mites are not a big deal to treat and remove.

 

[suzuki4life]

Atta boy Dave! It's intolerable... I actually know people with cleaning habits where mites can't even survive, even if introduced in heavy numbers! Lol.

It doesn't take extreme conditions to treat for mites. However, if quarantine is not being used then a severe case, like IBD, would be a big deal. Sellers need to be on guard to protect themselves rather than being passive and relying on others to protect them.

 

[USNHM242]

Hey guys i'd like to give my side on this if you don't mind. Dan received a that snake from me in perfect condition and mite free(as stated in his previous thread). A month after receiving the snake I sold him he messaged me on facebook saying that he found mites concentrated in his tub....and in the tubs of some of his other snakes.
My collection to this date is mite free, so I was unaware of were he could of picked them up from. Instead of flat out accusing him of having picked up mites from another source such as a visit to a local petsmart/petco/reptile shop I gave him the benefit of a doubt and offered to order some mite treatment from Amazon. I even went as far as hypothesizing where my snake could have been exposed to mites from on my end and the only possibility was at a friends pet shop where I bought a heat pack and boxed up the snake the day of shipment. (My buddies pet store has a very limited reptile selection and to this date all his animals are also mite free). The week I shipped off his snake I also shipped off 8 other animals to other customers that were mite free and all were packed at that pet shop.
Regardless I figured spending $15 and ordering some mite spray for the customer in order to make a customer happy was worth loosing out on a couple of dollars. I originally planned on sending him some provent-a-mite, but the customer emailed me freaking out that he needed it THIS week, so I found an alternative product that was in stock and had it shipped via 3 day express from the vendor. When he received the product he essentially threw a hissy fit that it wasn't provent-a-mite and accused me of selling him a "sick and diseased" animal. He then threatened me saying he was going to ruin my reputation and blocked me from facebook so I could not see his activity or reply to him.
So in summary:
-Do I have mites in my collection? No
-Did the buyer receive a healthy snake? Yes and his previous good guy thread states it.
-Is it at all possible that the snake picked up mites at the pet shop and didn't develop them for a month when the buyer noticed them? Unlikely....but it is a remote possibility despite the fact that all the other animals packaged that day are still mite free.
-Is it possible that the buyer brought in mite from other sources and is simply looking for a scape goat? Based on his lack of husbandry and not properly quarantining his animals....well you be the judge.
-Was I under any obligation to pay out of my pocket and ship mite treatment products to him? No, but I felt like it was the right thing to do.

Moral of the story guys is that when you do business online you cant control what kind of folks you sell to. Sometimes you wind up with a crazy or two...and during those times its best to keep your cool and do your best to make them happy....even then you cant make everyone happy. As many of the old school fauna, Kingsnake, member know I've been in this industry for over 15years and have sold 100s of animals to very satisfied customers.

 

[USNHM242]

Also per fauna rules here is the complete thread:

 

[MonkeyShuttle]

Sounds like you tried to help this fellow beyond your obligations. I would do business with you

 

[Guy Castro]

In reference to mites ,I've seen them explode 2-3 weeks after an animal has arrived, as they are avid egg layers. Always quarantine !

 

[Magic]

At the risk of sounding like an utter female dog here.....

The two of you are BOTH IDIOTS.

Seriously. Carlos- what were you thinking? Taking a clean snake outside of your home, your collection, and bringing it into a pet shop to be packaged up and mailed?? You nullify the ability to say that point blank the snake was clean. Just as much as you can accuse him of picking up mites at a show or poor husbandry, he can accuse you of traveling around with the snake you sold to him and exposing it. Poor judgement on your part. You exchanged convenience for a rock solid alibi (for lack of a better term-I'm tired). I would love to hear you've learned your lesson and can now pack and ship from home and thereby promise any future potential purchasers that any animals bought from you won't have an excursion to an outside pet shop to get shipped.

And Dan- what the heck?? YOU ALWAYS QUARANTINE. I don't care if you buy an animal from your best friend. Quarantine. Even if you trust the person enough to do a breeder loan and you trust them enough to send them a several thousand dollar animal to feed, care for, and breed---you still quarantine it when it gets back!! Even the best breeders and sellers will tell you that you need to quarantine. Quarantine. Everything. Everytime. Am I sounding like a beast yet??

The mites could have been picked up ANYWHERE. All the lines are blurry because each side made dumb mistakes. And they're both tossing blame on the other when they are both at fault. Let's not forget the snake is gorgeous and can fully recover from a case of mites.

Bottom line is I think the two of you had momentary lapses in judgement. Let's hope you learned from it. I don't think either of you two are bad guys. Just learn, and move on.

 

[Amelanistic Orca]

At the risk of sounding like an utter female dog here.....

The two of you are BOTH IDIOTS.

Seriously. Carlos- what were you thinking? Taking a clean snake outside of your home, your collection, and bringing it into a pet shop to be packaged up and mailed?? You nullify the ability to say that point blank the snake was clean. Just as much as you can accuse him of picking up mites at a show or poor husbandry, he can accuse you of traveling around with the snake you sold to him and exposing it. Poor judgement on your part. You exchanged convenience for a rock solid alibi (for lack of a better term-I'm tired). I would love to hear you've learned your lesson and can now pack and ship from home and thereby promise any future potential purchasers that any animals bought from you won't have an excursion to an outside pet shop to get shipped.

And Dan- what the heck?? YOU ALWAYS QUARANTINE. I don't care if you buy an animal from your best friend. Quarantine. Even if you trust the person enough to do a breeder loan and you trust them enough to send them a several thousand dollar animal to feed, care for, and breed---you still quarantine it when it gets back!! Even the best breeders and sellers will tell you that you need to quarantine. Quarantine. Everything. Everytime. Am I sounding like a beast yet??

The mites could have been picked up ANYWHERE. All the lines are blurry because each side made dumb mistakes. And they're both tossing blame on the other when they are both at fault. Let's not forget the snake is gorgeous and can fully recover from a case of mites.

Bottom line is I think the two of you had momentary lapses in judgement. Let's hope you learned from it. I don't think either of you two are bad guys. Just learn, and move on.

Boom, bam, pow, ping... Good shots!

 

[Dan W]

First of all the snake did indeed arrive with mites. As soon as I received it Carlos asked me to give him a good review on Fauna. The mites were not visible when it arrived but it was not a month later. I don't care what you believe. It is the first snake I've brought into my collection in over a year so it is definitely that snake. I have already accepted responsibility for the fact that I did not quarantine the boa. BUT that does not change the fact that he sold a sick infested snake PERIOD. And anyone (Thomas) implying that it wasn't a big deal to sell an animal like this is the reason people do this in the first place. Anyone who truly cares about their animals and takes pride in them wouldn't do what he has done. And for the comment about it being no big deal is another example of what its like when you deal with professional breeders as opposed to those people who are in this for the money. As far as him doing what he could to help is total bs. He lied when he said the provent a mite couldn't be shipped until the 22nd of March or whatever the date was. I ordered it and got it yesterday. Instead he sent some cheaper stuff that isn't even guaranteed to work. I had already ordered reptile relief so his feeble attempt to make himself look better by having 1 bottle of it delivered to me yesterday wasn't needed or appreciated He should have ordered it and the provent a mite in the beginning. So in the future I won't buy from anyone like some of you who posted here condoning or showing understanding for a person who participates in the practices that have such a bad effect on this business. You are the idiots. Also the fact that I have paid for all of the supplies and gave him a good review in the beginning shows that I have operated in good faith throughout this entire process. Carlos sold an infested animal. Now open your mouths and defend him and show your true intelligence.

 

[Dan W]

Carlos first of all it wasn't a month later. You shipped on the 19th and I first contacted you on the 9th so it was about 17 days, do the math. I actually wasn't going to contact you at all but after paying for a "healthy clean snake" I was angry. You lied about the shipping date on the provent a mite saying it could not be shipped until March 22nd which (big surprise) was another lie. I ordered it myself. I never said I was going to do anything to ruin your reputation. Read what I wrote, You and your actions will ruin your reputation. You sold me an INFESTED snake. I did block you on facebook because I have no reason to deal with you again. I don't need a scape goat. You sell sick diseased animals because you sold me one. And there are no trips to pet stores, you were going to try and go the route of blaming it on feeder rodents until I told you I buy from ARS and they are all frozen. You asked me to post a good comment for you and I did because I did not know at that time exactly what you are. I have dealt with breeders for many many years, a lot longer then you have and I guarantee that. I have never sold a sick animal and will not condone anyone else doing it. I have lists of references and am friends with some of the best in the business. You will become known for what you do. Simple. Just clean up your animals and don't do this to anyone else in the future. Don't blame your customer when you know what you are selling them. That's all I have to say. Also feel free to explain why you lied about the shipping date on the provent a mite. I am very interested to see how you try and turn this around too.

 

[Lucille]

Now open your mouths and defend him and show your true intelligence.

If your assertion is honest and compelling, it should stand. If not and there are questions, readers will ask questions and rightfully so.
Daring readers to respond is not a good tactic.

 

[Dan W]

I am so tired of this. I have no reason to lie. I paid for the snake. I think the snake is absolutely beautiful. I left him a good review. I paid for the supplies to clean up the mite problem. And even in the post all I said was that people should be careful buying a snake from him because of the mites.
Carlos has reasons to lie and lied right on this board. Look at our facebook chat he posted. I'm finished defending my position. Like I said before, people who think selling a snake with mites is the buyers fault or that mites are no big deal are probably people who have sold infested sick snakes themselves. Otherwise they wouldn't defend it. I'll go back to buying from trusted pro's only.

 

[Amelanistic Orca]

I am so tired of this. I have no reason to lie. I paid for the snake. I think the snake is absolutely beautiful. I left him a good review. I paid for the supplies to clean up the mite problem. And even in the post all I said was that people should be careful buying a snake from him because of the mites.
Carlos has reasons to lie and lied right on this board. Look at our facebook chat he posted. I'm finished defending my position. Like I said before, people who think selling a snake with mites is the buyers fault or that mites are no big deal are probably people who have sold infested sick snakes themselves. Otherwise they wouldn't defend it. I'll go back to buying from trusted pro's only.

17 days sounds legit to me... It came in with egg sacs on it. Very traditional, and common with mites and their pesky eggs.

Thanks for sharing Dan, I see your 2002 sign in... I'm sure you know wth you are doing sir! You did your good deed... let it sit and marinate.