prehistoric
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The following is regarding a trade between myself, AJ (manager at www.reptileguru.com), and Laura at The Reptile Ranch. On the weekend of Oct. 21-23, I traded 1.0 04’ Poss. Super Ghost Boa and 0.1 04’ DH Ghost, both around three feet, unrelated, and in perfect condition. When I use the word “perfect” to describe an animal, it means that the animal has no scaring, no mites, no dry-shed; not underfed or underweight. The animal will take food any and every time you offer it, and does not ever spit out or regurgitate food. The boas I traded for were 2.2 large Honduran Boas. The two pairs consisted of a 6’ Male, a 7’ Female, a 4’ “Aberrant” male, and a 5’ “hypo” female (a female that she claimed was 1 of 2 adults in the country). She valued this group at $2250, which in my opinion should suggest a higher level of quality. Well let’s attack the problem one part at a time. To make the trade, I used a friend, whom is somewhat afraid of snakes. She was on her way up to northern CA and was passing through Los Banos, where The Reptile Ranch is located. On Friday, October 21, she left Chino with the Ghost and DH in hand and dropped them off with Laura. She was running a little behind and Laura was very polite and helpful getting things coordinated once my friend was in her area. On that next Sunday, Oct. 23, my friend met again with Laura, to pick up the Hondurans. As a mentioned my friend is afraid of snakes, and did not desire to have the bags opened. My logic was, “If I had shipped the trade, I wouldn’t have seen the animals before they arrived either. Basically my friend was free shipping, and nothing more.” Again, Laura was helpful through all of this. When the snakes arrived to me, I noticed immediately that they were underfed (I wont say extremely underfed, but definitely noticeable). The 4’ Male, that was supposed to be aberrant, did not look like a pure Honduran, many traits of Hondurans, but most likely a cross of some type. Also, the snake has a somewhat disfigured head. My original feelings were that, “At least the other three snakes are beautiful.” Upon further investigation, I noticed that the “hypo” female was deep in blue, so I set her up and waited until she shed about one week later, before any handling. When I examined her after the shed, she was not in the slightest any different looking than the others, and in no way looked “hypomelanistic” (another flaw that I was willing to overlook until I noticed that she had strange behaviors). When handling this snake, she ties herself in very tight knots, she tries to climb straight up and backwards (upside-down, if that makes sense), and she has a much delayed ability to right herself when turned upside-down. More and more the deal is starting to seem like I got the short end of the stick. As time passed, the condition of the “hypo” female did not improve. All four of the snakes are very picky eaters and it will be next to impossible to get weight back on them. The small male will eat as often as I feed him and I have had no problems with his feeding. The large female also ate well and was eating one rat per week. The other two snakes (the 6’ male and the “hypo” female) have only eaten two rats each since their arrival, out of 8 attempts. The hypo female will wrap the rats, but seems too uncoordinated to eat them. The larger male also kills the rats, but leaves them once they are dead. The final part of this problem is that on November 19th, the large female died for unknown reasons. So at the end of less than one month, I have a 6’ Male in good condition, that will not eat, but is not losing weight either; a four foot male that I couldn’t sell for $100 if the buyer saw the snake in person; a 6’ “hypo” female that seems to be on the verge of death (which I would not sell for $100, because no one could be satisfied with this snake); and finally a big DEAD female. Now let’s get in to The Reptile Ranch’s reaction to the situation. When I initially contacted Laura, I told her,
“Hello, I am overall satisfied with the snakes. IMO
they are all underfed, but not bad. The largest female
is awesome, the hypo is hard to judge (because of how
deep in blue she is) and the bigger male is very nice
too. The smaller male doesnt look much like a Mainland
Honduran, similar traits but maybe outcrossed to some
other C.A. Your customer service however, was
excellent IMO.”
Her response to that was,
”As for the Hondurans, yes, they are a bit underfed. My bad.”
Okay, whatever. I have enough experience with snakes that I figured I could get weight back on them easily. Before the death of the large female, I had contacted Laura and asked if it would be possible to trade the animals back if I made the drive up personally. She told me that she had already sold my snakes, and that if I had a problem with them, she would put me in contact with the guy she got them from. Whom she received the animals from, is not my problem, he didn’t run off with the beautiful Ghost and DH that Laura had the luxury of selling. Her answer was that I had waited too long to contact her and that there was nothing she could do. She said that the animals were “perfect” in her opinion. The following are the e-mails sent to and from, after I received the snakes.
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 14:46:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Message about: HONDURAN MAINLAND BREEDING GROUP 2.2 (LARGE BEAUTIES)
Hello, I am overall satisfied with the snakes. IMO
they are all underfed, but not bad. The largest female
is awesome, the hypo is hard to judge (because of how
deep in blue she is) and the bigger male is very nice
too. The smaller male doesnt look much like a Mainland
Honduran, similar traits but maybe outcrossed to some
other C.A. Your customer service however, was
excellent IMO. I hope you like the snakes you
received, they will eat Med rats everyday if you let
them. BTW, did you have any problems feeding them in
the past? I havent tried, i'm just curious. Thanks
again Laura for your help. -AJ
PS You can expect a good review from me on Fauna. You
should reccomend all of your good sales to do so,
since the only info is a couple dissatisfied people
who were mad about your shipping techniques. Take Care.
Subject: critters
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:43:34 -0700
Hey there,
glad [name omitted] made it back safely. Great doing bus. with you also. As
for the Hondurans, yes, they are a bit underfed. My bad. I am so glad
they went to someone who appreciates them for the specie they are. I
personally dont care for the forms other than Colombian. Again, I am glad they went to you, who knows their value and appreciates them. Your critters are cute! I put them in a 54" vision and they were acting like kids in the candy store! They were all over the place and of course they had to take a crap! The Hondurans were in a 6' vision so it was not a task I wanted to do every 7 days of feeding 4 large snakes! I fed them every 14-20 days (2-3 jumbo rats each time, except for the small male, he ate 2 medium rats each time). They seem to prefer live, but will take prek'd or f/t'd. Take care and hope to keep in touch. Laura
Subject: Re: Message about: HONDURAN MAINLAND BREEDING GROUP 2.2 (LARGE BEAUTIES)
Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 16:09:42 -0800 (PST)
Some slight problems are starting to arise. The small
male that was originally the most disappointing is
doing well, eats great, seems to be gaining weight.
The largest female, also eats fine and should be up to
a good weight soon. The problem begins with the large
male. He is very picky and has only eaten one rat, and
he seems to have a very soft, collapsible body. This
may have been something I could have overlooked, until
I starting taking a closer look at the "hypo" female.
She will not eat and upon looking closer, she has
severe muscle control issues (i.e. she wraps herself,
rather than the rat, she does circles in the air when
you hold her, and does not move at all when set on the
ground). I felt I should give the snakes time to
settle before becoming to concerned with this, but
nothing is improving, the hypo seems to be
deteriorating. When animals are sold at high prices,
as these were very pricy, I expect them to be 100%
healthy. I was going to let the underweight thing go,
but the longer I wait and the closer I look, these
animals are just plain unhealthy. I am open to
suggestions on resolving this problem, perhaps you
could tell me where you got the animals, or at least
give me as much history as you know. I don't want this
to be blown up, but the animals you got from me were
perfectly healthy, not on the verge of death. Thanks
for your time – AJ
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 12:30:53 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Message about: HONDURAN MAINLAND BREEDING GROUP 2.2 (LARGE BEAUTIES)
Hello, I just called and no one answered, so I am
sending a message just in case you lost my e-mail.
Please respond ASAP. Thanks AJ
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 13:00:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: LAST MESSAGE 3 days to reply or call
Hello. This is my last attempt to make contact with
you. I am beggining to become very concerned. What's
happened here? Well you were very helpful when it came
to getting rid of a couple dying snakes for a pair of
excellent ones, then when your customer becomes upset
because he feels taken, you suddenly don't answer
calls, return them or answer e-mails. I am glad that I
havn't posted anything positive about your company yet
because I am starting to think otherwise. I hope this
can be resolved in time to save your name. I have been
working for Jim at www.reptileguru.com for five years
now and been his right hand man for a large chunk of
that. I am fully aware of the way this business works.
I am aware that there is really nothing I can do if
you don't want to give me my snakes back, however I
also feel you lied about not knowing the condition of
your snakes and that you couldn't have been happier to
here that the girl you dealt with wouldn't touch them.
I will post in every forum out there and do what I can
to make sure no one is taken like this again and I
will be acknowledged by those who read. Thanks again
for your time. Sorry to make threats but your
inability to resolve this matter quickly leaves me
concerned with the fact that you may not care, well I
do. AJ
Subject: return reply
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 13:34:10 -0800
First of all, I told you that I would get back to you soon. Well now I
guess is the time since you are very impatient. YOU waited almost 3 weeks before telling me of ANY problem with the animals. The day you
received them, you wrote to me and said you were very HAPPY with them. No one in their right mind waits almost 3 weeks to complain about a problem and expects it to be rectified immediately. The snakes that were delivered to me were traded out the second week I had them. I WAITED 2 weeks before I traded the boas you had delivered to me. I felt that was plenty of time to wait since I had not heard from you and in your email you sent the day you got my boas, you said you were HAPPY WITH THEM. As far as the health of the animals, I dont know what to tell you. And as far as the girl you had pick them up from me, well I requested that SHE look at them and SHE refused. So that is on YOU. If you feel you have been taken, then I am sorry you feel that way. I NEVER and NEVER WILL, purposely send animals that are questionable in my opinion to anyone in the industry. I value my reputation and dont feel like ruining it by sending crap. I received those animals
from a very reputable person and trusted him in his word that they are
sound healthy animals. I HAVE NEVER had any issues with them. I even told you I would get their history from the previous owner and you did not want it. They have always eaten for me, never regurged, never loose stools, etc. PERFECT animals in my opinion. You know I also have to mention, that while doing numerous trades, I myself have received animals that I questioned too and rather than start an all out war, per my attorney, I have been instructed to keep in mind that "that is the cost of doing business". I dont know what else to say here.
END E-mails.
If trading two excellent snakes for four basically worthless snakes is only “questionable” and “the cost of doing business”, there wouldn’t be many buyers in this industry. My point is that it is only “the cost of doing business” with The Reptile Ranch. Laura never made any attempt to rectify the situation. I e-mailed on 11-5 and got no response. I called on 11-6 and talked to Laura, which is when she told me she would put me into contact with the guy she bought them from and that she would have to talk with her partner about how they would fix this problem. By 11-10 I became concerned with the no response, and I sent an e-mail expressing this. On 11-12 I sent an e-mail stating that I wasn’t taking any of this lightly anymore. She responded to that e-mail in exactly 34 minutes! I would like to advise all against doing business with Chuck and Laura at The Reptile Ranch. Their customer service is good, however their knowledge and quality of animals seems limited. Thank you for your time. Images will be in the following post.
A.J. Charlson
Store Manager
Prehistoric Pets, Inc.
www.reptileguru.com
“Hello, I am overall satisfied with the snakes. IMO
they are all underfed, but not bad. The largest female
is awesome, the hypo is hard to judge (because of how
deep in blue she is) and the bigger male is very nice
too. The smaller male doesnt look much like a Mainland
Honduran, similar traits but maybe outcrossed to some
other C.A. Your customer service however, was
excellent IMO.”
Her response to that was,
”As for the Hondurans, yes, they are a bit underfed. My bad.”
Okay, whatever. I have enough experience with snakes that I figured I could get weight back on them easily. Before the death of the large female, I had contacted Laura and asked if it would be possible to trade the animals back if I made the drive up personally. She told me that she had already sold my snakes, and that if I had a problem with them, she would put me in contact with the guy she got them from. Whom she received the animals from, is not my problem, he didn’t run off with the beautiful Ghost and DH that Laura had the luxury of selling. Her answer was that I had waited too long to contact her and that there was nothing she could do. She said that the animals were “perfect” in her opinion. The following are the e-mails sent to and from, after I received the snakes.
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 14:46:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Message about: HONDURAN MAINLAND BREEDING GROUP 2.2 (LARGE BEAUTIES)
Hello, I am overall satisfied with the snakes. IMO
they are all underfed, but not bad. The largest female
is awesome, the hypo is hard to judge (because of how
deep in blue she is) and the bigger male is very nice
too. The smaller male doesnt look much like a Mainland
Honduran, similar traits but maybe outcrossed to some
other C.A. Your customer service however, was
excellent IMO. I hope you like the snakes you
received, they will eat Med rats everyday if you let
them. BTW, did you have any problems feeding them in
the past? I havent tried, i'm just curious. Thanks
again Laura for your help. -AJ
PS You can expect a good review from me on Fauna. You
should reccomend all of your good sales to do so,
since the only info is a couple dissatisfied people
who were mad about your shipping techniques. Take Care.
Subject: critters
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:43:34 -0700
Hey there,
glad [name omitted] made it back safely. Great doing bus. with you also. As
for the Hondurans, yes, they are a bit underfed. My bad. I am so glad
they went to someone who appreciates them for the specie they are. I
personally dont care for the forms other than Colombian. Again, I am glad they went to you, who knows their value and appreciates them. Your critters are cute! I put them in a 54" vision and they were acting like kids in the candy store! They were all over the place and of course they had to take a crap! The Hondurans were in a 6' vision so it was not a task I wanted to do every 7 days of feeding 4 large snakes! I fed them every 14-20 days (2-3 jumbo rats each time, except for the small male, he ate 2 medium rats each time). They seem to prefer live, but will take prek'd or f/t'd. Take care and hope to keep in touch. Laura
Subject: Re: Message about: HONDURAN MAINLAND BREEDING GROUP 2.2 (LARGE BEAUTIES)
Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 16:09:42 -0800 (PST)
Some slight problems are starting to arise. The small
male that was originally the most disappointing is
doing well, eats great, seems to be gaining weight.
The largest female, also eats fine and should be up to
a good weight soon. The problem begins with the large
male. He is very picky and has only eaten one rat, and
he seems to have a very soft, collapsible body. This
may have been something I could have overlooked, until
I starting taking a closer look at the "hypo" female.
She will not eat and upon looking closer, she has
severe muscle control issues (i.e. she wraps herself,
rather than the rat, she does circles in the air when
you hold her, and does not move at all when set on the
ground). I felt I should give the snakes time to
settle before becoming to concerned with this, but
nothing is improving, the hypo seems to be
deteriorating. When animals are sold at high prices,
as these were very pricy, I expect them to be 100%
healthy. I was going to let the underweight thing go,
but the longer I wait and the closer I look, these
animals are just plain unhealthy. I am open to
suggestions on resolving this problem, perhaps you
could tell me where you got the animals, or at least
give me as much history as you know. I don't want this
to be blown up, but the animals you got from me were
perfectly healthy, not on the verge of death. Thanks
for your time – AJ
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 12:30:53 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Message about: HONDURAN MAINLAND BREEDING GROUP 2.2 (LARGE BEAUTIES)
Hello, I just called and no one answered, so I am
sending a message just in case you lost my e-mail.
Please respond ASAP. Thanks AJ
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 13:00:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: LAST MESSAGE 3 days to reply or call
Hello. This is my last attempt to make contact with
you. I am beggining to become very concerned. What's
happened here? Well you were very helpful when it came
to getting rid of a couple dying snakes for a pair of
excellent ones, then when your customer becomes upset
because he feels taken, you suddenly don't answer
calls, return them or answer e-mails. I am glad that I
havn't posted anything positive about your company yet
because I am starting to think otherwise. I hope this
can be resolved in time to save your name. I have been
working for Jim at www.reptileguru.com for five years
now and been his right hand man for a large chunk of
that. I am fully aware of the way this business works.
I am aware that there is really nothing I can do if
you don't want to give me my snakes back, however I
also feel you lied about not knowing the condition of
your snakes and that you couldn't have been happier to
here that the girl you dealt with wouldn't touch them.
I will post in every forum out there and do what I can
to make sure no one is taken like this again and I
will be acknowledged by those who read. Thanks again
for your time. Sorry to make threats but your
inability to resolve this matter quickly leaves me
concerned with the fact that you may not care, well I
do. AJ
Subject: return reply
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 13:34:10 -0800
First of all, I told you that I would get back to you soon. Well now I
guess is the time since you are very impatient. YOU waited almost 3 weeks before telling me of ANY problem with the animals. The day you
received them, you wrote to me and said you were very HAPPY with them. No one in their right mind waits almost 3 weeks to complain about a problem and expects it to be rectified immediately. The snakes that were delivered to me were traded out the second week I had them. I WAITED 2 weeks before I traded the boas you had delivered to me. I felt that was plenty of time to wait since I had not heard from you and in your email you sent the day you got my boas, you said you were HAPPY WITH THEM. As far as the health of the animals, I dont know what to tell you. And as far as the girl you had pick them up from me, well I requested that SHE look at them and SHE refused. So that is on YOU. If you feel you have been taken, then I am sorry you feel that way. I NEVER and NEVER WILL, purposely send animals that are questionable in my opinion to anyone in the industry. I value my reputation and dont feel like ruining it by sending crap. I received those animals
from a very reputable person and trusted him in his word that they are
sound healthy animals. I HAVE NEVER had any issues with them. I even told you I would get their history from the previous owner and you did not want it. They have always eaten for me, never regurged, never loose stools, etc. PERFECT animals in my opinion. You know I also have to mention, that while doing numerous trades, I myself have received animals that I questioned too and rather than start an all out war, per my attorney, I have been instructed to keep in mind that "that is the cost of doing business". I dont know what else to say here.
END E-mails.
If trading two excellent snakes for four basically worthless snakes is only “questionable” and “the cost of doing business”, there wouldn’t be many buyers in this industry. My point is that it is only “the cost of doing business” with The Reptile Ranch. Laura never made any attempt to rectify the situation. I e-mailed on 11-5 and got no response. I called on 11-6 and talked to Laura, which is when she told me she would put me into contact with the guy she bought them from and that she would have to talk with her partner about how they would fix this problem. By 11-10 I became concerned with the no response, and I sent an e-mail expressing this. On 11-12 I sent an e-mail stating that I wasn’t taking any of this lightly anymore. She responded to that e-mail in exactly 34 minutes! I would like to advise all against doing business with Chuck and Laura at The Reptile Ranch. Their customer service is good, however their knowledge and quality of animals seems limited. Thank you for your time. Images will be in the following post.
A.J. Charlson
Store Manager
Prehistoric Pets, Inc.
www.reptileguru.com
