Daniel Parker of Sunshine Serpents - good? bad?

Has anybody ever dealt with Sunshine Serpents? What were your experiences like with them?

Bryan Zigler

Daniel at Sunshine Serpents a great guy to deal with

Daniel went way above the standards for "good service". He is one of the most professioinal people we have dealed with in a long time.

I just took delivery of two gray 'oak phase' ratsnakes from him, they are beautiful and healthy. He delayed shipment of them for a week to steer clear of 80+ temps (with no arguement from me), which shows me he really cares about his animals, as well as his reputation. Plus I love his website, it's the best field herping on-line journals I've ever seen. Kudos!

I have known Daniel quite a while now - he only lives about an hour away from me.

I put some of my Miami phase corns on breeding loan to him last year and got back more than I really need in babies this year! I am very happy that we got together on this project.

Daniel is very trustworthy, and a serious breeder and avid field herper. He knows his animals well, and has given great customer service to anyone I ever talked to who dealt with him. You will not regret dealing with him.

I actually regret dealing with him.

I had a great experience with him when I ordered a hypo glades. Because of that experience I ordered three more snakes. One came in with a prominent abscess on his chin, and another has a kinked tail. I'm absolutely furious and frustrated and await his proposed resolve.

I would suggest anyone ordering from him INSIST he provide pics or at least guarantee a thorough going over the snake as per an inspection outlined in Kathy Love's cornsnake manual.

--Andy Fotopoulos

Have you attempted to resolve this with him prior to posting this comment

Did you send him pics of the animals abnormalities? What was his response? What was his offer to resolve the situation? Your post sounded like you haven't concluded your communications on the deal with him. Do you have emails?

I am surprised you had such a negative experience. Hopefully you will work it out OK.

I sent Daniel an email to let him know about this thread.

Please understand, at this point, the reason for posting was simply to give a head's up to anyone ordering from Daniel to either ask for pics or insist on a thorough inspection prior to him packing your animals. I wish I did, but because my first experience was so great, took it for granted the second experience would be like in kind. Let me tell you, when you get two of three animals in a shipment that are flawed, it is disheartening, frustrating, and, yes, infuriating.

He did respond to the kingsnake abscess, and said it wasn't an injury from shipping, but that he missed it. He asked I keep him posted and offered to try and make things right depending on the outcome.

And then I discovered the kink on the tail of the gulf hammock a couple days ago. If you're wondering what took so long to notice the kink, it's a bit of a long story: the snakes came in an extremely late package delivery ten minutes before I had to report for a teaching gig--I checked the king and saw the abscess, did a super cursory look-over of the two rats, and went to my shift. It was cold, the animals had been on a truck all day. When I finished work, they had a two-hour trip home through the NYC public transportation system. I wasn't about to start excess handling (which I don't do anyway), and I was preoccupied with the king. Once they were home, I never disturbed them once they were situated, as I learned in Kathy's book . Four days later I offered the gulf hammock a pinky in her enclosure and didn't disturb her, as I wanted to let her digest in peace. It was during the second feeding that I got a better look at her (placing her in a deli cup to eat this time). I noticed the kink, but as she was eating, decided not to disturb her until she had defecated. As soon as that happened, the post-crap inspection revealed the curved tail was indeed a kink.

I received an "out of office reply" from Daniel, so again I say I await his propsed resolve. In the meantime, I also say again, this post is to allow anyone ordering from him a chance to avoid my present predicament.

--Andy Fotopoulos

UPDATE: Daniel has contacted me and has been more than willing to make my experience ultimately a good one. I have to believe, based on the "good guy" posts and my previous experience in ordering a hypo glades from him, my current situation is an odd fluke. I still say, and have to follow my own advice, that one should insist on a thorough inspection on the seller's part in order to avoid similar experiences.

Thanks go to Daniel for making things right.

Great news!

I was sure he would come through for you!

Unfortunately, we all miss things now and then that seem like we should have seen (it has certainly happened occasionally to me). We just have to prove to our customers that we will do whatever it takes to make it right.

Does anyone know how long it usually takes for this guy to send out his animals?

Will he be contacting the buyer about shipping terms or do you have to chase him down?

Normally, there is a lot of communication about shipping animals, when they are leaving, when they are showing up, how they are showing up. Like the above posters have said, anyone who cares about these living things will watch the weather and do what they can to avoid extremes. It is also your responsibility to let them know that the animal(s) showed up on time or not.

Outside of that, I think your question is a little vague.

I purchased a pair of adult Florida Kings from Daniel last year. Communication was great and he allowed to make a down payment and then pay the balance a week later. I found Daniel to be very polite and professional. I was a little displeased when I received the animals though. They were individually bagged, but shipped in a tiny box with no insulation. Not the way I would have shipped them, but they did arrive alive, so I let it slide.

The female Brooks looked awesome, big, robust, and healthy. The male was noticeably thin, even borderline emaciated. I contacted Daniel about it and he said that the male had no issues eating, and that he just kept his males thin so they would breed better. Of course I know that overweight animals do not breed as well, but the condition of this male was a little extreme in my opinion.

In any case, this male is indeed a fantastic feeder, and I have had him for several months, but I am still working to get him up to a weight that I am comfortable with. I did not ask Daniel to replace the animal or allow me to return it, which I am sure he would have. So in essence, I can only fault myself for not asking for clear pictures of the animals for sale. Had I known the condition of the male beforehand, I might not have purchased him.

I had replied to Raven_Vivi via email not long after she posted here. I usually ship promptly (usually on Mondays or Tuesdays) within the week of payment, but several factors including a death in the family and traveling have delayed my shipment of her animal. In these rare circumstances I will update you if there is a delay or problem with your shipment.

To clear up a concern voiced by Smelton earlier in this thread, I don't make a special effort to keep my male snakes thin to make them better breeders. I maintain them at a similar girth to what they would be in the wild. I believe many snakes in captivity are overfed, obese monsters compared to their wild brethren. I don't think any one has confirmed it scientifically, but there has been discussion among breeders suggesting that obese males probably don't make the best breeders. I pump my females up, especially this time of year, to make sure they are able to cope with the stresses of reproduction. When there is an extra mouse, it usually goes to a female.

If you receive a shipment from me and there is a problem with any of the animals, please let me know right away and I will replace them or send a refund as necessary. I will never send out an animal that I know to be unhealthy, but mistakes do happen on occasion and in these rare instances I will do my best to make it right. The vast majority of my customers have been very happy with their purchases and in the unfortunate event that there has been a problem I have always taken care of it.

If you are interested in learning more about my sales and shipping policies, please see my this page on my website:
http://www.sunshineserpents.com/Sales.htm

Please understand that I run my business by myself. This involves the care, cleaning, feeding, and breeding of a fairly large colony of colubrids, turtles, tortoises, and rodents. In addition to animal care, I constantly strive give my customers the service and attention they deserve. My friend Kathy Love can confirm that we have spent many a late night discussing our businesses and how to improve the way we serve our customers. I appreciate any of your comments on your past dealings with me and I hope you will consider Sunshine Serpents for your future herp purchases.
Thanks!
Daniel Parker

Hello again all!~

I just received my skink from Sunshine Serpents a few hours ago.

I must say, I was quite happy.
It arrived alive to my relief. It was my first time ordering from online so I was a little worried.

SS did an excellent job in communication. Things pop up out of emergencies and Daniel Parker cleared it all up as soon as he could.

He even called me about an hour after I received the skink to make sure it arrived safely. I find this to be superb customer service and shows concern for the animal that was shipped.
He was very professional and in my book he's a good guy~

Now I'm off to make my skink one spoiled little fella. =)

I received a pair of Red Mountain Rats from him today. Dan was very easy to work with and shipped the snakes without any issues. Arrived alive and are in their enclosures now.

I very much advise against dealing with Daniel. He sold me a sick snake, and am honestly very very frustrated with him. I emailed him several times about the snake and got no reply. Unfortunately the snake didn't make it...

We just received an email from Alex several hours ago. This was the first email I have received from her since we shipped her snake on Feb. 12. If there are problems we ask customers to contact us and we do our best to make things right. It is our goal to provide healthy quality animals. The snake's records showed that it was healthy and feeding with us at our facility, but it apparently did not do well for her. I responded to her email offering my apologies and a refund.

SunshineSerpents said:

We just received an email from Alex several hours ago. This was the first email I have received from her since we shipped her snake on Feb. 12. If there are problems we ask customers to contact us and we do our best to make things right. It is our goal to provide healthy quality animals. The snake's records showed that it was healthy and feeding with us at our facility, but it apparently did not do well for her. I responded to her email offering my apologies and a refund.

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Thank you. I do again apologize for my actions and such. And thank you very much for getting back to me as soon as you did.

I highly suggest working with Daniel. He is very good about communication, and truly cares about his customers and customer service. I personally would love to work with them again.