Aryia
New member
I don’t even know where to start, but I will tell you, all this has been a NIGHTMARE. Darren Aguero (going by Charles Morph on facebook) has sent me 7 snakes. One of which has passed away, the other five of which are showing symptoms of being sick, the 7th has not shown any symptoms but still hasn’t taken food even after 1.5 months. I highly suggest to avoid him at all costs. He is quitting the ball python hobby but is starting with hognoses. I will break this down snake by snake.
Here’s the total that I purchased:
2.1 DH Albino/Clown Hatchlings + 1.0 Het Clown Hatchling for $630 Shipped
Later I added on:
Fire Yellowbelly Female 1500g Pre-lay Weight for $500
Pastel Adult Female + Pastel Subadult Female for $250
1. Fire Yellowbelly Female
Problem 1 - Misinformation
I was told she would be shipped after she laid, which I was fine with. I waited almost two months for her. Darren informed me that she didn’t lay but re-absorbed. Her pre-lay weight was 1500g, when I received her she weighed 1000g. When I inquired about the weight difference, the story suddenly changed to “she slugged out”.
Problem 2 – Sick and now dead snake
While doing my inspection on the new arrivals I noticed her making an awkward sound. I found that she had sheety mucus and immediately informed the seller. He re-assured me that he doesn’t do sick snakes and that he will make it right. I told him I wanted to keep her if we can get the symptoms to go away, to which he agreed that we should keep an eye on her and then make a decision. A few days later her condition was still the same and he asked if I wanted to take her to a vet, which I agreed to since there was a holiday coming up. The vet bill was $75 which Darren paid, and the vet examined her and prescribed some Baytril in case her situation got worse. She started bubbling so I started the 14 day treatment of Baytril for her. Her bubbling was gone by the end of the treatment but right after the last dosage she suddenly passed away after choking up yellow-green solid balls of mucus during the night. This is when things went south with the seller. He was only willing to agree on a 50% refund while deducting both vet bills AND shipping costs. Instead of the initial $500 I paid for her, he insisted that her value was only $420, so ($420 - $75) * 50% = $175. Keep in mind that most of the shipping cost was already included in the initial $630 for the hatchlings! When I ask him to honor his bogus partial refund, he suddenly stops responding and is now actively ignoring my messages. He has still been posting on his facebook and the messages are marked as seen. That’s his version of “making it right”.
2. Pastel Adult Female
Problem – Recurring Regurgitation
The pastel adult female regurgitated the day after she arrived. When I informed the seller of it he told me that she ate two days ago, which means he shipped her the day she ate! I’m not a veteran with ball pythons but I find that absolutely unacceptable! We know how stressful shipping is on snakes, you simply do NOT feed them the day you ship them. Considering this, I originally thought that she regurgitated due to excessive stress. I finally managed to get her to take a live rat after a long food strike, three days (10/9) later she regurgitated it up again. This snake is obviously not healthy either.
3. Four Hatchlings
Problem 1 – Mites
The hatchlings are eating fine, thank god. But after 2-3 weeks of acquiring them, I noticed all four of them soaking and infested with mites. The mites were not apparent on their initial inspections, and I do not have any other ball pythons with mites. When I informed Darren of this, he stated that mites are a common thing. I have bought ball pythons from at least 5-8 different breeders, and I haven’t had a single mite until this transaction. Common?
Problem 2 – Bogus Genetics Guarantee
I was told that I would get a guarantee for the hatchlings since they are all visual normal with either het clown or DH albino/clown genetics. The guarantee he sent me ONLY includes a picture of the parents locked. I requested that he add the pictures of the actual hatchlings and since he did not have pictures on file, I took pictures for him and sent it to him. I sent it once through Facebook which he stated he could not use (because he could not figure out how to transfer them to word I think), and the second time I sent it to him through an e-mail which he replied that all my four attachments show the same picture.
4. Pastel Subadult Female
Problem – Not eating
I know ball pythons take time to settle in and start eating and usually I would not be concerned. But considering this snake came from a shipment with one sick snake that died, another that’s regurgitating, and four mite infested hatchlings, I am worried sick that this one has something too.
Stay away from Darren Aguero. I have no idea how he keeps his snakes but the condition they arrived in is utterly unacceptable. When I talked to him I initially thought he was a good guy and I gave him benefit of the doubt, with the sheety mucus, and even after the regurgitation and still even after the mites showed up. But not after his 180 degree turn when things got bad. Apparently it is my fault for not putting a sick snake in more stress by shipping her back immediately, and apparently it is also my fault that I did not order a bacterial culture done by the vet when I kept him informed throughout the entire process and was open to his suggestions. I have requested to return all of the ball pythons because his sick snakes are causing a huge risk towards my existing collection (They are in QT, but there is ALWAYS a risk), to which he did not agree too either. This has been nothing but emotional stress and trauma for me and I write this in hopes that none of you will have to go through this.
Here’s the total that I purchased:
2.1 DH Albino/Clown Hatchlings + 1.0 Het Clown Hatchling for $630 Shipped
Later I added on:
Fire Yellowbelly Female 1500g Pre-lay Weight for $500
Pastel Adult Female + Pastel Subadult Female for $250
1. Fire Yellowbelly Female
Problem 1 - Misinformation
I was told she would be shipped after she laid, which I was fine with. I waited almost two months for her. Darren informed me that she didn’t lay but re-absorbed. Her pre-lay weight was 1500g, when I received her she weighed 1000g. When I inquired about the weight difference, the story suddenly changed to “she slugged out”.
Problem 2 – Sick and now dead snake
While doing my inspection on the new arrivals I noticed her making an awkward sound. I found that she had sheety mucus and immediately informed the seller. He re-assured me that he doesn’t do sick snakes and that he will make it right. I told him I wanted to keep her if we can get the symptoms to go away, to which he agreed that we should keep an eye on her and then make a decision. A few days later her condition was still the same and he asked if I wanted to take her to a vet, which I agreed to since there was a holiday coming up. The vet bill was $75 which Darren paid, and the vet examined her and prescribed some Baytril in case her situation got worse. She started bubbling so I started the 14 day treatment of Baytril for her. Her bubbling was gone by the end of the treatment but right after the last dosage she suddenly passed away after choking up yellow-green solid balls of mucus during the night. This is when things went south with the seller. He was only willing to agree on a 50% refund while deducting both vet bills AND shipping costs. Instead of the initial $500 I paid for her, he insisted that her value was only $420, so ($420 - $75) * 50% = $175. Keep in mind that most of the shipping cost was already included in the initial $630 for the hatchlings! When I ask him to honor his bogus partial refund, he suddenly stops responding and is now actively ignoring my messages. He has still been posting on his facebook and the messages are marked as seen. That’s his version of “making it right”.
2. Pastel Adult Female
Problem – Recurring Regurgitation
The pastel adult female regurgitated the day after she arrived. When I informed the seller of it he told me that she ate two days ago, which means he shipped her the day she ate! I’m not a veteran with ball pythons but I find that absolutely unacceptable! We know how stressful shipping is on snakes, you simply do NOT feed them the day you ship them. Considering this, I originally thought that she regurgitated due to excessive stress. I finally managed to get her to take a live rat after a long food strike, three days (10/9) later she regurgitated it up again. This snake is obviously not healthy either.
3. Four Hatchlings
Problem 1 – Mites
The hatchlings are eating fine, thank god. But after 2-3 weeks of acquiring them, I noticed all four of them soaking and infested with mites. The mites were not apparent on their initial inspections, and I do not have any other ball pythons with mites. When I informed Darren of this, he stated that mites are a common thing. I have bought ball pythons from at least 5-8 different breeders, and I haven’t had a single mite until this transaction. Common?
Problem 2 – Bogus Genetics Guarantee
I was told that I would get a guarantee for the hatchlings since they are all visual normal with either het clown or DH albino/clown genetics. The guarantee he sent me ONLY includes a picture of the parents locked. I requested that he add the pictures of the actual hatchlings and since he did not have pictures on file, I took pictures for him and sent it to him. I sent it once through Facebook which he stated he could not use (because he could not figure out how to transfer them to word I think), and the second time I sent it to him through an e-mail which he replied that all my four attachments show the same picture.
4. Pastel Subadult Female
Problem – Not eating
I know ball pythons take time to settle in and start eating and usually I would not be concerned. But considering this snake came from a shipment with one sick snake that died, another that’s regurgitating, and four mite infested hatchlings, I am worried sick that this one has something too.
Stay away from Darren Aguero. I have no idea how he keeps his snakes but the condition they arrived in is utterly unacceptable. When I talked to him I initially thought he was a good guy and I gave him benefit of the doubt, with the sheety mucus, and even after the regurgitation and still even after the mites showed up. But not after his 180 degree turn when things got bad. Apparently it is my fault for not putting a sick snake in more stress by shipping her back immediately, and apparently it is also my fault that I did not order a bacterial culture done by the vet when I kept him informed throughout the entire process and was open to his suggestions. I have requested to return all of the ball pythons because his sick snakes are causing a huge risk towards my existing collection (They are in QT, but there is ALWAYS a risk), to which he did not agree too either. This has been nothing but emotional stress and trauma for me and I write this in hopes that none of you will have to go through this.
