• Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

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    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

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    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

justin mitcham bad-guy

Yes, I have pictures of all of the tortoises Justin sent me. All have dry shell rot of varying degrees. All were very ligh and fed very poorly if at all. When I received the male hes was so weak that he couldn't resist any attempt to draw him out of his shell nor did he have the strength to carry himself. Give how disappointed I was with the animals I called Justin several times and left him several emails. He responded to none. It was around the holidays and I received the following email form his girlfiend which prompted me to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here's the message...

Hi,
This is Justin's girlfriend, he's away visiting his parents for the holidays, he left yesterday and will be home in a few days, I was able to talk with him briefly and he said he can send you another male for free, he was on a friends cell phone and it cut out and I havn't heard back from him yet. This is all I can tell you at this point till we talk again tonight or tomorrow. He'll call you as soon as he can.
Merry Xmas,
Sharilyn


From this message I replied and told her to have Justin get back to me after the holidays so we could get things straightened out. I've never heard back from him.
Justin would lead you to believe that I had many animals to choose from with many many fantastic photos. I have the one and only picture of the male that Justin sent me and it is a horrible picture. If anyone would like to see it they can either tell me how to post it on this site or contact me by email. I have been keeping tortoises for almost 20 years and have bred 12 species of turtle and tortoise and currently participate in studbook/breeding programs for several threatened and endangered species. I have sold offspring to many private individuals as well as zoos and breeding facilities. The idea that I'm not able to choose animals or that I'm unable to keep them is absurd. I've tubefed 2 of the 4 animals that Justin sent me and they are alive because of the intervention that I undertook with them. Justin is just trying to cover up the truth which is that he misrepresented the animals he sent me. He is perfectly aware of this and this is the reason that he has never gotten in touch with me to settle this. This is the forum in which he chooses to answer my questions. Not because he wants to do the right thing but instead because I would let people know what a dishonest person he is. Again Justin, you have both my email address and my home phone #. Contact me personally if you like or continue to make up stories. I have all the emails that I've sent that were not responded to. You can read the above message and know that Justin knew he had done wrong. I have pictures of the animals when they arrived as well as now in addition to weights before and after. If you want to drop names, I can do this as well. The turtle and tortoise community is small and I have many friends who will stand behind me. It is not too difficult to find many complaints about Justin on this site alone. This never had to come to this but I'm perfectly willing to provide the evidence for everything I've said here. Just ask me. Thanks very much...
 
post some photos of the shell rot, all you have to do is use the attach file option on the bottom, it apears when you are writeing a new post. i think that will prove he (justin) is lyeing about the heat of the animals.
 
Isn't that tortoise in the hand a sulcatta? I thought chacos had smaller front legs with much less scalation. I didn't realize they had such a hump to them either if that is in fact a chaco.
 
This is the last thing I'll post about this. In one of Justin's messages he makes this comment...

"Also for others following this , there some more drama for you in another thread floating around that pertains to this, funny he won't post this there, I guess it's the fact that several of my customers wouldn't let him pull this crap here unchallenged."

I have no idea what he is referring to. This is the only forum of this type that I'm aware of. This was/is not an attempt to smear anybody. This certainly didn't have to come to this. It is unfortunate that is has...
 
Vince, I have been treating the shell rot with betadine swabs. I has improved a bit and hasn't progressed so I'm basically happy. The cosmetic effects will remain but what can you do...
 
and you didnt know anything about the shell rot prior to purchase? hey what exactly are you trying to do , he talks about reaching into his wallet, do you want a refund? do you want replacements?
 
I have made several transactions with Will and can honestly say that the man knows his tortoises. In addition, every animal I have ever received from him has been in immaculate condition.
Will works with many different types of tortoise both common and rare and has had success breeding many species which very few people have succeeded with.
I would say that he is probably one of the most dedicated keepers in the hobby. He is also very straightforward so I have no doubts that what he says transpired is the whole truth.
As a side note I am not a friend of Wills' and have only met him in person twice at a Reptile Expo. I mention this simply because there are some people who might suggest that because I am standing up for him then he must be a friend.
 
I don't know Justin nor Will. That tortoise looks in really bad shape, and so do the shell rot lesions. Were the pictures taken upon arrival?

Thanks
 
Totally off-topic, but you're causing me a bit of work tonight, Will.

Please remember to include your full name in each new reply you post on the BOI. You can either manually type out your name, edit your signature line to include it, or edit your profile to display it under your username.

Any of these three options will keep me from having to dish out more warning points for violations of the full name rule... it's a win/win situation for both of us!
 
Sorry Ken. I'm new to this forum but I should have read the rules before I started spouting. Anyway, my full name is Will Ahrens. Thanks...
 
To answer the questions out there, I wasn't aware of the shell rot prior to the tortoises arrival. The pictures I posted were taken upon arrival here. The idea that I has several "high quality photographs of each animal" is simply not true. The only photos I had prior to the purchase were the ones Justin posted on Kingsnake and the one that I put in one of my previous posts. All photos were of similar quality...taken from a distance, blurry, etc.. As far as what I want from Justin goes, if he had responded to my initial contacts I would have sent all of the animals back to him. Since then I've invested a lot lot of time as well as money rehydrating, tubefeeding, etc., etc, etc., so I have no intention of relinquishing them at this point. If Justin were true to his word, he would send me the male that he promised. I'm sure he won't and I'll just file this whole thing in the painful lesson learned file. Thanks. Will Ahrens...
 
The amount of shell rot that is present in those pictures is not a fresh thing to happen. That takes a while to get to that point and by the looks of it they had that prior to being shipped in December and you should receive full compensation on them. There is no way anyone should ever send out tortoises like that unless the buyer is well aware of the condition of the tortoises.
 
Will you are a horrible lier, your busted in so many ways, you state in your post that all the pics you recieved were from the ad. That I didn't send any additional pics, then how did you recieve the one of the male, it wasn't in the original add, Earl Turner got the one in the add, so hmmm I must of sent you some more pics huh??, makes little sense that I would try to put blurry bad pics of chacos on the net to try to sell, many people saw my adds and can vouch for the high quality of the photos so don"t even try. Also you knew these were all wildcaught and the pics showed there flaws thats why I sold them too you at cost for 250.00ea not 375.00-400.00ea like the rest(or 300ea like you lied), also neat how you blurred the pic of the male,you must think I'm stupid, I checked the properties of the photo and guess what I discovered, the resolution has been altered,the photos size is only 18k, my camera's avearge size per file is 60-120k,what a bum,I couldn't take a pic that small if I tried not with my camera, anyone who has ever seen my adds can tell you how nice and clear ALL my pics are, I am a photographer and would never send out a photo like that, also notice how much fat are on the legs and skin of the tortoise, his eyes even look good, not sunken in even blurry you can see this also notice the connecting membrane in the eye,notice how it has been removed in his altered pic, it's there in mine, not there in his hmmm.., by the way good use of the photo editing software on your male pic, EVERYONE notice the shadow in the corner of his eye, where is that comming from, the angle of light is wrong, why can't I see any tissue at all, why because it was filled in black and shadow to give that appearence, would take about 10sec. and can be done with any cheap $30 editing program(usually comes with the camera), anyone with any photographic experiece can see that it looks fake, that combined with the extremly blurry pic and you can easily see how pathetic this guy is. When tortoises are sick , dehyrated or have a vitamin deffeciency there eyes become nasty, full of gunk, the tissue around the eyeball itself will usually become swollen and in bad cases the eyes are matted shut. Non of that is apparent here!!! Also in the background of the blurry pic you can see two of the females I sent him, you can also clearly see one of the flaws in the shell from that pic, funny the females look very alert and active in the pic, does it look like I was hiding anything there? All have there heads out and are watching me intently, they seem very alert to me. Sick tortoises don't do this period.
Also let's get beck to another lie, I thought these were dead and dying, if they were so bad off then were's the vet bill, why are they still alive, especially after you implied they were all dead and dying.
Remember this question:

"Could you please tell me (and therefore everyone else) what kind of tortoises and how much they cost if possible?"


__________________
Bruce Stephenson,
President of the Secret Tom Crutchfield Worldwide Fan Club.
Tom Crutchfield lives in the minds of the masses!

Reply
"They were Chaco tortoises. They ended up around $300 per tortoise..."


As to the email from my Girlfriend, we are no longer together so I can't ask her directly.
So send me the email with the original IP I'd like to see that email with all your liesI can't and won't believe a thing your saying, I have no clue as to what you are talking about there, I didn't send you any email or talk with you, I was gone away visiting family on Christmas, I like to see that email for myself because no way in H3LL I would make a call like that without proof etc...

So let's recap, this guy is a liar plain and simple, the animals he recieved were absolutly healthy, thats why they are still alive, Even after he claims they were all dying, that they had died etc... the FACT IS they are still alive and well. This looser never lost one animal after all his claims and lies. Lets see those lies again:

1). That all are sick( months later there still fine)

2). I never sent him any additional pics of the animals or there flaws -the "blurry" pic he posted had 2 females in it , one showing the shell flaw he was complaining about, also shows them alert and active. That pic was not put on the add , so I guess it was sent via email ...can I make that assertation here??

3). Stating them in past tense to insinuate they were all dead

4). Altered the "blurry pic" (obvoius if you check the file size) so that it appears that i sent him a bad photo of a bad animal, if the pic was so bad why didn't he ask for more photos?Reason for this photo being altered, because it goes against everything he claims.

5). Altered the "face pic" eyes are healthy and clean except for that odd shadow in the corner and under eye, wow no connecting occular membrane at all, for a dehydrated eye it looks mighty clear, the eyeball itself is quite plump and round, no gunk anywhere, nor where you see tissue is it swollen or pink, I have a huge amount of experience with tortoises and know a sick one when I see it.

6). Lied about the price, he only paid 250.00ea.

7). Lied about knowing that the turtles had minor flaws, he knew this , the pics showed everything, heck you can even see one of the largest flaws he complained about in one of the original pics I sent him that HE posted. These are WILDCAUGHT ADULTS...DUHHH!! No way are they going to be 100% perfect.

Personally I'm done with this feller, you people on here can speculate all you want, draw your own conclusions, I really don't care, would you believe someone who lies and alters the facts...I think not, I get back from vacation to find that this punk wish he'd bought something else instead and wants to make up crap so he can get his money back at my expense without PROOF.I know I sent him good animals so does he..PERIOD end of discussion. If they were really as sick as he claimed why didn't he go to a vet. and pay $55.00 to back up his claim, we are talking about 1000.00 worth of torts. if they were as outwardly unhealthy as he claimed any vet. would of easily back him up, on appearance alone.
The reason why he didn't is because it is all BS.

Another thing, as for complaints against me here , yes there are a couple, but none genuine to date (BUT there are dozens of GENUINE GOOD POST REGARDING ME AND MY ANIMALS), not one of these loosers who have tried to scam me or get over on me in the past has EVER PROVED ONE D@MN thing, not one person has backed up ANY accusation with REAL CONCREATE EVIDENCE or PROOF, it's always "he said she said" stuff from jerks, anyone who has been in this buisness long understands the kinda scum that both buyers and sellers have to put up with. And this forum in some cases is no better, it does a lot of good, but it also gives people the ability to accuse and say anything about anyone without one shred of evidence being presented.Funny that seems to create a "guilty until you prove yourself otherwise" atmosphere.
If you don't have or can't offer real tangible proof and I don't really know you or trust you, how can I be expected to make a leap of faith like that...
 
Justin,

Then post the e-mail exchange between you two, & post the pictures you sent that supposedly show the imperfections. This will only help you if you are in the right.
 
Would if I could, those pics were sent months ago and I had no clue or ideal that I would need them in this way. I never saved the pics. But on the otherhand why is me who has to prove crap, huh ROB , let the person making the accusations prove there accusations, it is totally immoral and UN AMERICAN to expect me to have to defend myself in this manner, I think if you make an accusation you should have 100% undeniable proof or keep you mouth shut. In US court of law the burden of proof always falls on the accuser. He has to prove his accusation, not the other way around. If he is honest the truth will take care of itself. But to date I have several pages of lies and accusations but not one ounce of evidence or proof.
 
I do not know either party involved in this but I would like to point this out.

Justin, your attitude and total lack of proffesionalism in your posts speaks volumes. Name calling and derogatory statements do nothing but hurt you, whether you are right or wrong. Will on the other hand has been professional in his posts. Post your proof, keep it professional and keep a cool, level head. You are damaging yourself far more than Will is with every post you make.
 
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