Robert Marsh, I hate to do this

In August I purchased 1.1 red bloods from Robert Marsh thru Reptibid. I paid his asking price which was $175, with shipping the total came to $215. I immediately contacted Mr. Marsh via email and made arrangemnts to send him a money order. I sent the money order the very next day. I then waited nearly 3 weeks for him to answer any of my emails. When he did finally answer them he said he would ship my bloods in a couple days. I recieved them 2 weeks later. Upon receiving them I immediately noticed how poorly they were shipped. (in a lightbulb box with paper stuffed around them). When I took possesion of them from the UPS delivery driver he asked me if there was anything damaged as the box was wet. I took the box in and opened it and noticed that one python was very inactive and seemed to be in respiratory distess as he did not move and was breathing with an open mouth. I then contacted Robert Marsh to let him know of the condition of the snake. He told me to keep him informed about the animal. I have a friend who is a vet tech and she took the snake to her place of employment and there they discovered that the blood had broken ribs and a punctured lung, soon after the snake died. I again got in touch with Mr. Marsh. I sent him photos of the dead python. He then said he would replace the animal, but I would have to wait until he picked one up at the Orlando show. I waited 3 more weeks. Mr. Marsh did replace the animal but he also charged me $55 to ship it.(the 2 original snakes only cost $35. I also let him know that the one surviving blood had still refused to eat.(they were guaranteed to be captive breed healthy, feeding and properly sexed). Today that blood died. I do have 1 healthy blood that I got from Mr. Marsh, but it was the replacement that he purchased from the Orlando Reptile show. Now I am again stuck with a blood with no mate. One blood does me absolutely no good. I think I have been more than patient and very understanding of his problems that he has on more than one occasion, reminded me of. I think that I may have been sold wild caught bloods as Mr. Marsh stated that they had all feed and shed a couple times before selling them to me. I do admit that I am not experienced with raising blood pythons, but I have been keeping ball pythons, burmese pythons, boas and all sorts of colubrids for nearly 20 yrs. I have had to feed mice tails to baby corns, use skinks to scent pinky mice for my alterna and force feed baby balls with success. I have caught wild mice to get adultfemale ball to eat that had been forcefed for 2 yrs and that snake now takes frozen thawed everytime it is offered. I do have a bit of experience with snakes and I do know that forcefeeding should be a last resort. I did not attempt to forcefeed the blood that I purchased from Robert Marsh as I didnt think the snake was healthy enough to endure the feeding. This is the 2nd time in the last 3 months that someone has misrepresented their animals or their ads that they use to sell their animals.(my 9 yr old was ripped for $250 on animals that he never received). I did not want to tarnish Robert Marshs' reputation, but when you sell sick animals, misrepresented animals or poorly shipped animals you tarnish your own reputation. Denzil Short

I wanted to apologize for not posting my earlier post as I should have. I guess I got caught up in the moment. Sorry...Denzil Short

claims that they have been collecting snakes for 20 years, buys a pair of bloods through Reptibid!

Their are so many quality breeder out their, with good references, that will not wait 3 weeks to reply to an email, and take pride in shipping properly, but you DENZIL,
bought the deal of a lifetime, and got taken by someone who probably "could care less" once he got the money.

This never ceases to amaze me. Its unfortunate that you lost the snake, lost the money, and you can forget about getting a second replacement. I hate these kind of posts, as they are very depressing!

Just out of curiosity, did you check any credentials, or attempt to send an inquiry about this person through the BOI?

you Mr. Tresser think that the only time you can get a good animal is from the so called reputable breeder. I have purchased several animals thru reptibid, here on fauna and kingsnake from breeders who were just guys like me who havent made a name for themselves yet as being reputable breeders. I wasnt trying to make the deal of a lifetime. I was only buying what was portrayed as being a quality animal and I paid the fair price for it. Not any less and not any more. I did post on the boi about this individual as well and there wasnt anything replied that would suggest that I would receive anything but what I paid for. As for you getting depressed for reading such a post, the only thing I can say to that is "oh well, get over it". I have and I was the one who lost the money and the snake.......Denzil Short

Hold on now.
I advertise on here, KS, and Reptibid and I would NEVER screw over a customer.

that I would never buy anything off of Reptibid. I think it is the flea market of the herp world, and basically, you take a big risk buying from Reptibid.

Animals that are for sale can be misrepresented no matter where they are posted or put up for sale. I have bought some nice animals thru reptibid and I have also seen culls for sale here and KS. I dont think it matters where you see them for sale, if they are misrepresented then that doesnt have a thing to do with where they are advertised.....Denzil Short

Knowing who you are buying from is the key...Spend a few extra hours manning the keyboard before you hit send on your PayPal will really pay off...i do a search on anyone I'm buying/selling from/to here on Fauna, and i would hope anyone would do the same to on me...Not selling sh*tty animals and providing a bit of customer sevice helps ;*), but knowing everything about the breeder/broker and his or her animals has been the difference in every online transaction i've been involved in...JMHO and peace...

Some of the best bargains I have run across have been at flea markets..........Denzil Short

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