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Another death due to butchers

H

Hammer

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I thought I'd share this with you and keep you posted... I ordered a "hot" King Cobra a few weeks ago from a company that deals in both hots and venomoids. I despise the practice of surgically butchering a snake, but I didn't want to pass judgement on the guy, just wanted a good, clean king.

I paid the price and after about 4 weeks or waiting, it finally came. (This was about 4 weeks ago.) It was an 8 footer and appeared healthy. I left it in a large enclosure with the proper heating, hide box etc. It was supposedly trained to eat rats, but it hadn't eaten yet. This morning I got up and it was dead. Needless to say I was deeply shattered. As I examined it, I noticed fresh stiches along bnoth sides of its mouth. A venomoid. And there is no doubt in my mind that's what killed it.

I called the company and am waiting to see what they do to remedy the situation. If I don't get satisfaction, I'll post the name of the company and all the follow up actions.
 
I think that a lot of people would like to know now who you got that snake from.

It's not exactly an easy mistake to make, sending a venomoid instead of a hot, that is.

Might this company be in one of the Carolinas?
 
Yeah, and you got to wonder if they accidently sold a hot one to someone who purchased a venomoid. Not to sound like a jack@__, but that would have not happened to me, because I would never purchase animals from someone who did other things that I was against. It would be putting money in the pockets of someone whom I felt was being unethical, or cruel, (or whatever my beef was).
that's just my 2 cents. Sorry about your loss.
 
reptilebreeder said:
Yeah, and you got to wonder if they accidently sold a hot one to someone who purchased a venomoid. Not to sound like a jack@__, but that would have not happened to me, because I would never purchase animals from someone who did other things that I was against. It would be putting money in the pockets of someone whom I felt was being unethical, or cruel, (or whatever my beef was).
that's just my 2 cents. Sorry about your loss.
Click to expand...

You said it.....Putting money in a butcher's pockets so he can stay around longer and butcher more animals.

I wouldn't purchase ANYTHING from someone who practices unethical behavior.

Hopefully you have learned a lesson. People will do anything for a buck these days. What a shame!

Bthacker
 
I know

But, my thought was if I didn't buy the still healthy male, then he'd be butchered shortly. The seller would profit more from a venomoid anyway, and if I could grab it before it was butchered, then at least the snake would be normal and healthy. I did think about supporting those that butcher, but weighed it against saving the life of a snake I really wanted, and paid the ransome.

It's hard (for me at least) to find a good seller of kings. I see the Hank Molt posts, but shy away from them. So when I run across a possible king, I make sacrafices I normally wouldn't. I'd love to find a reputable seller of kings.
 
As someone on a different forum noted...

what if there was a mixup in boxes with a venomoid king and a hot king? You wanted the hot, got a venomoid and someone else wanted a venomoid...and got a hot. You said this was four weeks ago, and nothing appears to have happened yet, so heres to hoping that is NOT the case. However, if they could mixup sending a venomoid to you, then they are fully capable of accidentally sending a hot to a person who wanted a venomoid.
 
Yeah, the thought crossed my mind too... The stiches were blue, so they were hard to see at first. I noticed a blue line when I got him, but he was going into a shed and I thought the coloring could have been due to a lot of factors, so I didn't really pay it a lot of attention. When I examined him this morning, it was a major shock.

Anyway, I froze the body and will sue the company if I need to. But I trust I'll be able to work something out. I'll never deal with them again, but hope I can at least get the snake that I ordered.
 
think you hit that one on the head...

wilomn said:
Might this company be in one of the Carolinas?
Click to expand...


I was thinking the same thing Wes! I wouldnt buy a corn snake from those guys.It does'nt make much sence to me that they would send off a "void" King either.They would stand to profit more off the void King.Hammer can you post pictures of the snake?I find the whole situation very disturbing.If it is the people I think it is this isnt the first or second questionable buisness deal I have heard of. A.P was right what if they screwed up an order and shipped a snake that a buyer thought was a void then recieved a hot!!! I guess you get what you pay for to quote their web site.

Trey Small
 
I tried

They say the file is too large...I just took a shot with the digital...
 
Another possibility I haven't heard mentioned yet...surprisingly, knowing the reputation of these people... is what if they sent him the venomoid king knowing full and well it was a venomoid but that it was probably going to expire shortly. With as many venomoids as they "make" (god that thought sickens me) they probably have some clue what to look for in an animal that's probably not doing so well from the surgery and may be nearly ready to die. With reptiles, an infection could easily take 4 weeks or maybe even more to kill it. I've had a perfect condition adult male PNG taipan go from eating great and being very active to dead within a 24 hour time period, likely from an internal parasite overload that built up over the month I had him until he just couldn't take it any longer. Also, stress can be fatal to a reptile, especially a king that is ripped from the wild, thrown in a wood container until the exporter meets his quota, likely starved and dehydrated, shipped overseas here, kept in probably poor conditions in the importer's facility, sent to this company's place, and put through what I can only imagine as unimaginable pain and suffering during the venomoid procedure. Four weeks later, the once gorgeous and powerful king succombs to infection, stress, disease brought on by stress, or whatever. Anyway, my point is that I wouldn't be too very surprised if this company thought they could just rip you off bigtime and send you a king that they knew was about to kick the bucket but at least they could get the price of a normal, intact animal. Maybe they even thought you'd be so happy to have gotten the "much more valuable" venomoid king that you wouldn't be so pissed when it died. Who knows. The point is, they messed up, and if they did send a hot animal to someone expecting a venomoid, and that person is bitten by it, I personally hope they are sued for everything they are worth.
 
Call me skeptical from dealing with these clowns so long but Hammer. Please post the Name of the persons/business you purchased the animal from also Pictures of the animal with special note to the stitches. This post really belongs on the BOI as it’s a BAD EXPERIANCE WITH A DEALER/ SELLER.

Please post The Sellers Name and Business name
Post all E-Mails you have had with the Seller/ Business
Post pictures of the Box it came in with you address blocked out
Post pictures of the Snake with special attention to the stitches.
If possible post exact length and weight
Any and all information!

The possible ramification based on the speculation of them making a mistake in shipping you a void vs. hot and someone getting the hot that wanted a void is very troubling. A bite from a king is life threatening for sure. Hopefully if someone received this King in the same time frame they are treating it as hot. You should post this information as many places as possible to alert the person if there is one to the possible danger.

The other possibility is they sent you the King and fully understood it was a void and on deaths door and that’s why they sent it to you thinking they can pull off a scam.

If you want to send me the pictures I will try resize them for you. Or if you have a photoshop on you PC got to edit size and set it at lower setting what program do you use?


Thank you
 
Picture of Venomoid King......Hopefully:)

Let's see if the picture shows up. He emailed me the pic and I resized it. It is hard to believe someone would send a snake out like this.

Mardi Snipes
 

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My god...how can people continue to do such horrid things.....and people wonder why I'd rather spend time withmy animals than people....


::::walks away shaking head in dispair::::
 
Hammer

Sorry about your ordeal. I sent you an e-mail when Ricky forwarded yours to me. We will get you a nice Malaysian King off our next shipment.
Ray Hunter
 
Makes me sick...

To ever see such a majestis animal in that shape!Those Carolina reptile exchange people need to be put out of buisness!!



Trey
 
Those sutures look horrendous. That looks like the old nonabsorbable crap nobody uses any more, especially not on snakes. And it's much too large for the task. When we stitch a snake up at the clinic from a simple wound, you can't easily tell that there were ever stitches there without looking very closely, even right after the operation.

I do not believe that this job was done by a veterinarian. This looks like hack work.
 
I just wanted to say 'good on ya' Ray for offering Hammer a king out of the next shipment because of what he has gone through. It's always good to see your kind of people in a hobby with as many scammers as this one has. I can only hope that the good folks that destroyed this poor king get their just rewards.
 
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