silverishness
New member
I'm not quite sure if it's relevant here, when the matter seems taken care of, but I had a similar experience with The Snake Shop. Everything's handled now (I am NOT making a complaint; I am merely recounting my experience with the store), but the experience made me very wary of any online store, as this was the -first- online herp purchase I had ever made. I've only made two more since, both from here. Lesson learned.
I had purchased two male juvenile ATB's, both garden phases, for $100 from the shop. It was January, and I was unsure whether or not the temps would allow for safe shipping, but I was assured that, despite temps in Texas being below 40 F, they would be all right. They arrived promptly, ice cold and four feet long. (Which, in retrospect, I find it odd that animals that are so dependent on humidity were shipped in a box with nothing around them but a pillow case.) Now, I had never kept an ATB before, but few "juveniles" get that big. One seemed healthy enough, even with a kink in his spine near the vent. The other was less so, skinny even by ATB standards; I could count ribs easily. I informed the owner of this, and he once again assured me that they were fine. The vet checked them and whatnot-- that song.
I attempted to feed them, which they both refused, the day after they arrived. He told me that this was normal, and that they're very easily stressed-- which I don't doubt in the slightest. But his advice was all to "raise the humidity, everything should fix itself", so I waited. On the sixth day of him in my care, I came down to spray them when the smaller one had partially collapsed out of his limb, head upside-down on the substrate.
I called a herp rescuer, who makes a living out of recuperating sickly herps, and we tried to help him. Sub-que fluids and tube-feeding only worked for about twenty minutes before he finally succumbed. Upon post-mortem examination, she saw a very acute infection of mouth rot, much like Jrod found on his GTP. We checked the other, healthier one, who also had mouth rot.
In tears, minutes after literally watching my ATB die in my hands, I called the shop, where I was, admittedly, very terse. I told him -as best I could- what had happened and I was promptly scolded for force-feeding him. That these animals are very easily stressed and susceptible to its effects. When countered that it was a last-resort effort to save him, he assured me that he knew his stuff because he's a herpetologist.
Which, I'm going to say here, a herpetologist is NOT a veterinarian.
After some more debating, Randy offered me a replacement, but I declined, saying I just wanted my money back. He obliged, paying back for both ATB's. I got the money pretty quickly. I felt that this was a kinder gesture, but the other ATB racketed about $100 in vet bills. Thankfully, he survived and is doing well with a new owner who specializes in ATB's.
Again, I'm just recounting the experience. None of the animals I purchase are merely notches in the collection. Each of them are my pets, and are always named once purchased. It meant a lot to me to get the ATB's in, and then hurt substantially when I watched, helpless and confused, as one of them died in front of my eyes. Randy did right by refunding my money, but that situation shouldn't have happened in the first place. The mouth rot had to have been there for at least a month or two for an animal to die a mere SIX DAYS after shipping.
Also, I was wondering, since it seems quite a while since this whole debockle-- how is your replacement doing, Jrod?
I had purchased two male juvenile ATB's, both garden phases, for $100 from the shop. It was January, and I was unsure whether or not the temps would allow for safe shipping, but I was assured that, despite temps in Texas being below 40 F, they would be all right. They arrived promptly, ice cold and four feet long. (Which, in retrospect, I find it odd that animals that are so dependent on humidity were shipped in a box with nothing around them but a pillow case.) Now, I had never kept an ATB before, but few "juveniles" get that big. One seemed healthy enough, even with a kink in his spine near the vent. The other was less so, skinny even by ATB standards; I could count ribs easily. I informed the owner of this, and he once again assured me that they were fine. The vet checked them and whatnot-- that song.
I attempted to feed them, which they both refused, the day after they arrived. He told me that this was normal, and that they're very easily stressed-- which I don't doubt in the slightest. But his advice was all to "raise the humidity, everything should fix itself", so I waited. On the sixth day of him in my care, I came down to spray them when the smaller one had partially collapsed out of his limb, head upside-down on the substrate.
I called a herp rescuer, who makes a living out of recuperating sickly herps, and we tried to help him. Sub-que fluids and tube-feeding only worked for about twenty minutes before he finally succumbed. Upon post-mortem examination, she saw a very acute infection of mouth rot, much like Jrod found on his GTP. We checked the other, healthier one, who also had mouth rot.
In tears, minutes after literally watching my ATB die in my hands, I called the shop, where I was, admittedly, very terse. I told him -as best I could- what had happened and I was promptly scolded for force-feeding him. That these animals are very easily stressed and susceptible to its effects. When countered that it was a last-resort effort to save him, he assured me that he knew his stuff because he's a herpetologist.
Which, I'm going to say here, a herpetologist is NOT a veterinarian.
After some more debating, Randy offered me a replacement, but I declined, saying I just wanted my money back. He obliged, paying back for both ATB's. I got the money pretty quickly. I felt that this was a kinder gesture, but the other ATB racketed about $100 in vet bills. Thankfully, he survived and is doing well with a new owner who specializes in ATB's.
Again, I'm just recounting the experience. None of the animals I purchase are merely notches in the collection. Each of them are my pets, and are always named once purchased. It meant a lot to me to get the ATB's in, and then hurt substantially when I watched, helpless and confused, as one of them died in front of my eyes. Randy did right by refunding my money, but that situation shouldn't have happened in the first place. The mouth rot had to have been there for at least a month or two for an animal to die a mere SIX DAYS after shipping.
Also, I was wondering, since it seems quite a while since this whole debockle-- how is your replacement doing, Jrod?
