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Derek Roberts/Sonoran Reptiles-Bad Guy

OMFG

WTF


we are now setting up straw men all over the BOI.....


its getting so ridiculous reading about everyone and their personal dislike/vandettas against Adam.. come on guys, give it a rest, this is the 3rd thread i have read today where you guys once again bring up the the same damn tired story...please give it a break already, it really is so childish...............





Al Nunez
 
Eric Strayham, Joanne Lago.......???

Umm.....I am not sure who Eric Lago is but I did sell a pair of black pinesnakes to Joanne Strayham of Oxford, MS in early Sept. 2003. I have never dealt with Eric and am wondering where he fits into this. Everything "he" said about Airborne and me shipping with them is 100% correct. I would have loved to have shipped them via UPS but a friend at work had UPS open a box he had shipped to him with a apir of reticulated pythons in it. UPS decided it would be the best interest to the general public to call the federal wildlife department and have them taken away. FedEx sucks, so they are out. I take full responsibility for having to "chase down the driver" as I had to do that with UPS about a month ago.

Anyway, I guess E. Lago is the person who signed for the snakes arriving but all receipts and e-mails were made to Joanne Strayham. I am attaching the bill of sale, the airborne airbill and the page that tracked the shipment at www.airborne.com.

I never heard from either of "them" about any regurging and would have refunded "them" their money. Never recived a call or an e-mail about the regurging. I have shipped snakes to people who will take them out of the box, stick the snake(s) in a rubbermaid and try to feed them 15 minutes after receiving them! Then I get an e-mail or a call saying they are not feeding! I would guess and say that stress may play a part in this, but it is only a guess. I am wondering if this is what happened (if it happened). Anyway, here are the attachments I promised:

Link to Airborne.com for tracking info.

I will include the bill of sale attachment in the next post.
 

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Here is the airbill, not bill of sale.......

This is the airbill pertaining to Jonne Strayham. I totally agree with him/her not buying anything from me again as I would do the same thing. I just have a problem with, after 2+ months hearing about how they were rugurgiating from someone whom I have never dealt with. Don't buy from me or recommend me to anyone, fine. But don't come out of the woodwork a couple of months later with a claim of a sick animal I sent to "you". It would have been nice to know when it actually happened. And if you do have a legitimate complaint, please use the actual name of the person that I sold the snakes to.

Here is the airbill, the bill of sale was posted in my last post:
 

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Eric,
perhaps you should have contacted him about them regurging.
The BOI should not be the first place people should find out that you are having a problem with an animals you bought off of them.
They should here it from you by phone or by e-mail. Then they should be given the chance to make things right.

You can't just come here and say......SURPRISE...he sent me regurgers.
 
Well if pinkies are too big for 2 month old pines (2 feet) then maybe you are right. Every pinky they did take was regurged within 24 hours. I tried live and frozen all to no avail.
Also the reason I asked for anyone besides airbourne to ship was because I was worried about the snakes health. Airbourne to this day can not find my home and I have had many problems with various other shipments shipped through them. When I asked him to Please use ANYONE but AIRBORNE he agreed (I even offered to send extra money if needed). After agreeing he still used Airborne. I happened to chase down the right truck(on its way back to their station - an hour and a half away). Had that truck not happened to have my package they would not have arrived on time and probably not the next day unless I decided to drive to pick them up. I should not have to chase down a truck to try to find my reptiles....especially after explaining the situation to Derek and him agreeing. I have even had a representative ask (on a previous experience) if she should just have the package destroyed since they were not going to bring it out to my house the day it was supposed to arrive. If having a company ask if they should destroy my reptiles is not enough reason to not want them to even be near my packages I don't know what is.
Also I try to avoid receiving dead snakes to begin with. The snakes are my top priority, not being able to get my money back for snakes that arrive dead (which can always be avoided ......
especially when one uses cool packs during hot months). Call me silly but I care about my (& all) animals.
 
Look, Eric is my boyfriend. We live together and are business partners (msreptilianhobbyists). While all the emails were sent to my account there is nothing that we are not partners in. He was very interested in the pines so I wrote Derek about them. After he wrote me back Eric & I decided to get them. We did not try to feed them 15 mins out the box. We gave them time to acclimate to their new home (about 3 days). After they regurged the 1st time we thought maybe they still needed more time. Then we waited a few days to try again, but within 24 hours they had regurged again. We continued to have hope and fed them at different times during the day ( day, at end of the day, night...ect) still to no avail. The point is not that Eric posted here. The point is that WE purchased the animals and that WE could not get them to keep a meal down no matter how hard we tried or how many different ways we tried. Eric did write Derek after chasing down the truck to let him know that they had "arrived" and what had happened, including the fact that we were not happy that he used Airborne against OUR explicit wishes. Eric posted OUR experience and his name not being on the receipt means nothing. If anyone would like to speak to me (or Eric) about it, ANYONE is more that welcome to give me (or him) a call 662 513 0830. No matter what is said here, nothing changes what OUR experience was when dealing with SR. I think that's what the BOI is here for, isn't it?
Thanks So Much. Joanne Strayham
 
But don't come out of the woodwork a couple of months later with a claim of a sick animal I sent to "you". It would have been nice to know when it actually happened.
Ya it would have been nice of them. It also would have been nice of you to ship the snake per their request. I am another person who cant get airborn they come out where I live 2 days a week had it been me I would have been to pissed to ever contact you again as well. The nearest airborn facility to me is 3hrs away. I have atempted to buy from people several times who only shipped airborn, when they told me they wouldnt ship any other way, that was the end of it. If you told them youd ship via another currier and then shipped airborn anyway they have every right to crawl out of the woodwork after two months.
 
Also in response to Ritchie Luna's remarks



"The BOI should not be the first place people should find out that you are having a problem with an animals you bought off of them.
They should here it from you by phone or by e-mail. Then they should be given the chance to make things right.

You can't just come here and say......SURPRISE...he sent me regurgers."



After dealing with someone who had a blatent disreguard for our wishes we did not wish to deal with him again. We had hopes of getting them to eat. When if finally became apparent that they were not going to keep anything down it was a few weeks after the purchase. There is no clause for regurgers. The animals were sold to us as feeding and they were not. Other than that problem(a huge one) upon arrival they seemed fine. Eric and I are sharing our experience relative to the thread, time doesn't change what happened and it is our perogative to make it public no matter how much time has passed. I saw no reason to alert him to the fact that they were not feeding. I took it as a learning experience and left it at that. All we are trying to do is not make anyone else learn the hard way. I expect the animals I buy to be as represented and not have to get a replacement pair/refund. I find it hard to believe that all of a sudden the snakes decided to just start regurging once they arrived at our home, but I suppose it is possible. I have had many finicky eaters. By the way I don't think YOU can tell me (or anyone else) what I can and can not say here about our experiences. Have a Great Day! Joanne Strayham
 
And I reiterate...

Classic Dum's said:
Ya it would have been nice of them. It also would have been nice of you to ship the snake per their request. I am another person who cant get airborn they come out where I live 2 days a week had it been me I would have been to pissed to ever contact you again as well. The nearest airborn facility to me is 3hrs away. I have atempted to buy from people several times who only shipped airborn, when they told me they wouldnt ship any other way, that was the end of it. If you told them youd ship via another currier and then shipped airborn anyway they have every right to crawl out of the woodwork after two months.

Thank you Jason so very much for making my point....exactly.
J. S.
 
I like FedEx some hate em and love UPS. Fact of the matter is sometimes the company you like and the one that works best on the other end aren't the same. For me I had no other option but FedEx to ship with, if snakes got there dead after somebody asking for a different shipping method I would have refunded them as I'm sure Derek would have you.

As for the regurg issue, what did the vet say? Is there a reason for it or are you saying it's just genetic?

Those are John Ginter stock and of some of the best stock you can find in the Country. I just want to find out if you're regurg issue is with Derek's care or John's stock that why I ask what the vet said.

You always have to be sure to ask as sometimes you get those really cheap people who won't take a regurging snake to the vet and they just keep feeding it till it dies.
 
A quote from the Webgod today.

As for the Adam Block/Ritchie Luna/ Jason Sweigart "love triangle" I think that all three of you better start ignoring each other. Pronto.

I'll agree with this and be the first to step up to the plate and be an adult. No more comments from to either of them unless it's positive and about a thread we're focused on helping with.

Can you two also be adults about this?

Let's show we can all have some respect for the man who's put this site together.

If you honestly wanna know the facts call me. I won't BS you, I white lied about some things and I'll tell them to ya. Most is the truth but where it isn't I'll fill you in.
 
I'll agree with this and be the first to step up to the plate and be an adult. No more comments from to either of them unless it's positive and about a thread we're focused on helping with.

Can you two also be adults about this?

Let's show we can all have some respect for the man who's put this site together.

If you honestly wanna know the facts call me. I won't BS you, I white lied about some things and I'll tell them to ya. Most is the truth but where it isn't I'll fill you in

oh nice throw it off the darn track again.
I think we were discussing snakes.
Will you please get over yourself and quit whinning about people ganging up on you.
It is getting tiring.


Back to the snakes.
Although he may have shown a blatant disregard for your wants and needs, it is still proper to contact him directly. Just because he showed disregard towards you does not make it right when you do it towards him. Some things can be worked out privately.
 
SR

To quote "TheGhost"
"As for the regurg issue, what did the vet say? Is there a reason for it or are you saying it's just genetic?"

Of course I took them to the vet, Vet Pets in Memphis TN who's a reasonably competent reptile vet. They could find nothing wrong. We tried everything, separating them, feeding them at night/day warm/cool times of the day, everything.

"Those are John Ginter stock and of some of the best stock you can find in the Country. I just want to find out if you're regurg issue is with Derek's care or John's stock that why I ask what the vet said."

I don't care where the snakes came from. They couldn't keep a meal down AFTER BEING REPRESENTED AS FEEDING ON ADULT MICE.

"You always have to be sure to ask as sometimes you get those really cheap people who won't take a regurging snake to the vet and they just keep feeding it till it dies."

I won't post my comment on what you've said here lest I get banned.

They were represented as feeding and were not. He promised to use a different carrier and he did not. This is my experience. After I personally ran the truck down to get the snakes I sent him (and yes I NOT Joanne) an email detailing our displeasure in dealing with the company. I told him "Thanks for the snakes, and we'll NOT be doing business again - Eric Lago". After an email like that what do I look like writing 3 or more weeks later saying "Uh, there's a problem". I'm not here to squabble pettily, merely making my experience public with Derek of SR IN RELATION TO other people having a bad experience with them. I mean no offense to anyone who's read any of my or my g/f's post. Information is two things- Free and Priceless. Have a great day.
 
Ask and ye shall receive..........

In response to Joanne and Eric and their problem with me, I do not deny that I did wrong by sending the snake Airborne when they explicitely asked not do so. On the other hand, if shipping reptiles was not a huge pain in the A$$ to begin with, it probably would not be a problem. When you have to hide the fact that there are live animals inside a box that you are shipping, pray to God that no one at the shipping company finds that out and hope they arrive alive 3000 miles away, it tends to become tiresome. Some companies only allow turtles, some don't allow any animals, some only ship to certain zip codes on certain day, some don't GUARANTEE next day arrival (or at least morning arrival), and sometimes it just depends on....???? Who knows? If it wasn't like pulling teeth to ship reptiles sometimes, then we wouldn't be having this discussion. I had UPS put the wrong address on an airbill twice(the package was being shipped TO me). The first time I had to call UPS and correct their address mistake. They told me the package would be delivered the next day. Well after driving around Tucson in August all day one day, the snake was well done by the time I received it the next day. The person I puirchased this snake from said he would take care of it and he did. When he shipped the replacement animals, UPS did the exact same thing!! Shipped to the wrong address. I thought "E." means east, not west. And since there was not a "W." address to deliver to, I had to call them back. This time I had to run down the UPS driver 3 hours after they were supposed to deliver it. Fortunately the snakes were alive, but what a pain in the groin. To make a long story short, shipping reptiles is not an exact scienc and is becoming worse since 9-11.

I guess it would have been nice if Ms. Strayham would have let me know about the regurging as I would have refunded their money or at least paid the vet bill. I sold Brandon Weik of Summit Reptiles in Phoenix a green tree python 3-4 years ago. He came down to Tucson to look at it and I told him it was an import that I had in my collection for about a year. It never refused a meal and was in good shape. He was worried about it being an import so I told him that I would guarantee the animals health and if you had any problems, I would give him a refund. More than a month after he purchased her, he called and told me that she had died. I was surprised to hear this as she was perfectly healthy (as far as I knew, she had never been to the vet). I told him that I would stick to my word and he would be given a refund. It took me a couple of month to come up with the money but I saw him at the IRBA show in San Diego and gave him his refund. Point is, all you have to do is tell me or ask me to work with you and I will. It's that simple. If you would like to contact Mr Weik his number is 602-708-3091. Or [email protected].

As for Jason's response:


If you told them youd ship via another currier and then shipped airborn anyway they have every right to crawl out of the woodwork after two months.

Yes, they have the right to do so, but if they were so "horrified" that they had puking snakes and that they had to chase down the Airborne driver, why not just demand a refund? What do you do when you buy a TV from Best Buy and it doesn't work? Do you wait 2 months and then take an ad out in the local paper about how the TV was broken when you bought it and that you would never reommend their crappy company to anyone? Or do you take the broken TV back to the store and get a refund?

I refer back to the subject line of my post: "Ask and ye shall receive".
 
Simple. I shouldn't have to. If the animals were flawless and feeding as sold and represented then why should we have to? I'm not here to attack you, merely relating my experience. I wanted the snakes, and they were darn fine animals in my opinion. This is less about the animals and more about the service. Externally they were a fine set of pines in my opinion, and I'll not deny that. As we posted last night, there's no clause for regurgers. They showed up alive and alive we tried to keep them. They would not have showed up alive had I not personally chased down the driver. And, to your comments about having to "hide the fact that there's a reptile in the box" if you fear some legal ramification from the state of AZ or a shipping company then why do you ship in the first place? If anyone wants to deal with SR in the future feel free, I'm not knocking the fact that the pines were externally fine, and not saying I'm not in the wrong for not contacting him about the problem. What I AM saying is after getting so worked up and mad to have sent the email saying that I wouldn't be contacting him again for any reason, that I took it as a learning experience. Everyone here can see that I'm relatively new to the BOI, and all I'm doing is making my experience public. If I had been a memeber at the time I would have posted about it then. I have never even once called you a bad guy, merely relayed our experience which is relative to the thread. Perhaps it could have been worked out a month after sale (which I DOUBT honestly), but since it was not it's still my perogative to make a public post of our experience. I haven't even preluded in any way to calling you any kind of rip-off. We got the snakes as promised with a little work on our end. I just think it's a little fishy to have 2 regurging snakes show up at the same time as neither would keep a meal down of any size. I hope you ship all the snakes you sell, that they get there without problems, and others have better experiences than we did, and I'm not trying to attack your credibility in any way as a businessman. Perhaps it's your fault, perhaps not, but this doesn't change the end results. -Eric Lago
 
Eric pay no mind to Adam lately he has decided to cram both feet down his throat and it must be a little more painful then he anticapated so hes lashing out


On the other hand, if shipping reptiles was not a huge pain in the A$$ to begin with, it probably would not be a problem.
Well if its to much a pain in the ass for you then maybe you shouldnt be shipping them. Its not your customers fault you have an attitude towards shipping animals they made a simply request you said you would follow through with and didnt. So knock it off with the excuses, dont blame them or the curriers, this one is solely on you.
What do you do when you buy a TV from Best Buy and it doesn't work? Do you wait 2 months and then take an ad out in the local paper about how the TV was broken when you bought it and that you would never reommend their crappy company to anyone?
Very poor example, Id take it back and have it replaced but see the differance is I wouldnt be pissed at them because I requested a simple favor of them that they couldnt live up to and follow through with causing me hours of greif worrying and chasing delivery people down. This is just an observation but you dont seem to have any regaurd for the animals. You act like "well if they die who cares Ill just refund your money and all will be ok" thats what your attitude is coming across like, were not dealing in TV's here, to break a tv and refund someones money is no big deal, were talking about living creatures, treat them as such dont treat them and talk about them like they are an apliance that can be discarded or distroyed at will and as long as your refunbd their money everything should be ok


Like I said thats just my observation you just come across like your talking about babseball cards or something.
 
I do not deny that I did wrong by sending the snake Airborne when they explicitely asked not do so.

So knock it off with the excuses, dont blame them or the curriers, this one is solely on you.

When did I blame the couriers or Eric for my bad judgement? I guess I am the only one who has had any problem with shipping snakes. I was merely venting the fact that shipping snakes is MUCH more difficult now than ever and I am hearing more and more horror stories to that fact.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24175&highlight=FedEx
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11633&highlight=FedEx
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/for...d=7084&perpage=5&highlight=FedEx&pagenumber=1
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/for...threadid=3667&highlight=United+Parcel+Service
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20456&highlight=airborne+express
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3546&highlight=airborne+express
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28836&perpage=5&pagenumber=1
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28832
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26846
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26290
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25314
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25241
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23884
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23924
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21063
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19402
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16140
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15989

Those are few examples of "shipping problems" that were found in the BOI and the general discussion forums. I haven't even started looking through the shipping forum which is here:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=462



This is just an observation but you dont seem to have any regaurd for the animals. You act like "well if they die who cares Ill just refund your money and all will be ok" thats what your attitude is coming across like, were not dealing in TV's here, to break a tv and refund someones money is no big deal, were talking about living creatures, treat them as such dont treat them and talk about them like they are an apliance that can be discarded or distroyed at will and as long as your refunbd their money everything should be ok

Sorry for an example that isn't up to your standards. Maybe I should have used an everyday example that I see at work every day. Say someone buys a puppy from a petstore. This puppy has a 3 day guarantee and a complimentary vet exam to go with it. everything checks out at the vet's office and all is well for the first 72 hours. On the fifth day, the dog stops eating, is listless and continues to deteriorate. On day 7 the puppy ends up dying. So now what? Sit at home and fume, swear, stomp around and curse the name of the place that you bought it from. Do this for 7 more weeks, the go on channel 9 news and go off on the store where you purchased the dog. This way of doing things will get you results. It will result in a one sided view of a situation that could have been resolved by just going back to the petshop that you spent $500 in and asking for help, suggestions, or ANYTHING. Be proactive, not reactive and favorable results will normaly prevail.

As for my animals, you are more than welcome to ome by my place to see their horrid conditions, as well as the 200+ that I take care of everyday at work. I really appreciate the advice, Jason, on how to take care of reptiles, that they are living creatures and the fact that they are not appliances.

For the record, it tore me up that that GTP died. I had to sell most of my collection because a roommate left me with unpaid bills and non-paid rent. She was one of the last ones to be sold.

Like I said thats just my observation you just come across like your talking about babseball cards or something.

You haven't a clue of the dedication to my collection and the animals I care for at work. Nothing but negativity coming from an ignorant person such as your self should be taken at face falue....ignorance.
 

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ignorant person such as your self should be taken at face falue....ignorance.
No I was simply stating how you were coming across, didnt mean to ruffle your feathers. In any event at least you are a bigger person then your buddy Adam there since you can admit when you are wrong about the shipping deal. Still doesnt explain anthing about the puking nor the covering for Adam on the whole ball python deal. But we know well never get the truth out of either of ya about that must less in a format that elimantes the he said she said factor. So with that take care!
 
They were represented as feeding and were not. He promised to use a different carrier and he did not.

The feeding issue is over if you ask me. You waited 2 months to say anything. If you were telling us the truth I see no reason at all you wouldn't have gotten a refund.

Can you show us the vet bill/paperwork for taking them in?

I assume they're both dead now as they haven't fed?

Can you post a copy of the email were Derek promised to use another carrier?

If you can't do the above three things I don't think your story holds much water.

I don't want to sound stupid but he's saying the snakes had nothing in the form of a parisite so I see no other reason for them to just up and start regurging when they come from the biggest and best pit breeder in the Country.

Derek how long were the snakes in your care?
 
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