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Looking for advice

A

Aeliana

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Not sure where to put this

Well as the title says Im just not sure where to put this. I am new to the Fauina forums, and I guess fairly new to Owning snakes. I love my babies though. I have 2 ball pythons, Taz and Sadie. I just received Sadie on wednesday. I purchased her through a site called reptile auctions (if that was my first mistake I apologize ahead of time). I am wondering what is the normal way to send a snake? This snake was advertised to be a healthy well fed 06 ball python. Supposedly from someone who was proffesional. The snake was sent to me 6 days after payment, through the USPS. She was in shed.. well I though she was after she was in her new home a few hours she got her normal color back and her eyes cleared up, there was no sking, and the Vet said she could of been badly dehydrated. But on top of that she has a cut on her belly, fairly deep, not deep enough for stitches though. I hate to ask a stupid question, but is this normal at all?
My first snake I received from a very good friend of mine who raises and loves his snakes dearly. I actualy made my first purchase on Fauna for him, a pair of Brazillian rainbows that are gorgeous, and in great condition (received today). But my experience with having snakes shipped is limited to these 2 instances (the ball and the brazillians).
I really don't know what to do. When I told the gentleman about her condition he said I could send her back for a refund But I was uncomfortable sending her back to him, and when I mentioned a partial refund to cover the 35 dollar office visit to the vet, he pretty much called me a liar.
You all seem so helpful so I wondering if I could possible get some advise. If this is posted int he wrong section I am very sorry, it just didn't seem appropriate for BOI.
Thanks
Annette
 
I posted this in the General BS forum, which I guess was wrong so I am reposting it here.

Well as the title says Im just not sure where to put this. I am new to the Fauna forums, and I guess fairly new to Owning snakes. I love my babies though. I have 2 ball pythons, Taz and Sadie. I just received Sadie on wednesday. I purchased her through a site called reptile auctions (if that was my first mistake I apologize ahead of time). I am wondering what is the normal way to send a snake? This snake was advertised to be a healthy well fed 06 ball python. Supposedly from someone who was proffesional. The snake was sent to me 6 days after payment, through the USPS. She was in shed.. well I though she was after she was in her new home a few hours she got her normal color back and her eyes cleared up, there was no sking, and the Vet said she could of been badly dehydrated. But on top of that she has a cut on her belly, fairly deep, not deep enough for stitches though. I hate to ask a stupid question, but is this normal at all?
My first snake I received from a very good friend of mine who raises and loves his snakes dearly. I actualy made my first purchase on Fauna for him, a pair of Brazillian rainbows that are gorgeous, and in great condition (received today). But my experience with having snakes shipped is limited to these 2 instances (the ball and the brazillians).
I really don't know what to do. When I told the gentleman about her condition he said I could send her back for a refund But I was uncomfortable sending her back to him, and when I mentioned a partial refund to cover the 35 dollar office visit to the vet, he pretty much called me a liar.
You all seem so helpful so I wondering if I could possible get some advise. If this is posted int he wrong section I am very sorry, it just didn't seem appropriate for BOI.
Thanks
Annette
 
I'm sorry that this happened to you..and your new snake. If everything is as you've stated..it's definitely dirty pool on the seller's part. The simple fact that he used USPS to ship a snake in itself would probably be enough to merit a BOI post in the eyes of most people around here. It's a BIG no-no. For a "healthy well fed" snake to arrive with a serious cut is definitely Not normal at all either. And to top it all off he turned down the "easy out" you gave him with your willingness to settle for reimbursement for vet fees. To ME at least this is definitely BOI fodder. People need to be made aware of and held accountable for such practices.
 
Out of curiousity..did you buy from James Fanthorpe, Lori Turner or Robert Matteson of FuzzyFriends out of North Carolina?
 
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If you haven't done so you need to post this on the BOI. You will need to post who it was you bought from, and as much info as you can regarding what happened. The person shipped a snake through the USPS which is illegal, that alone is worth an FYI on the BOI. There appears to be other issues (condition of snake, persons attitude, etc) as well, that warrant at least an "inquiry" or FYI, if you don't feel you want to make it an outright "bad guy" post.
 
Also report this guy to the folks at Reptile autions. My understanding is that they are really cracking down on the badguys.

It's a bummer but if you do it and the next guy does it and you start a trend, it will be better in the future for all of us, newbs and oldtimers.
 
No sir it wasn't any of them. I don't know if I can post his real name here but his name there was "combomorphs"- which has recently been changed from "ballmorphs". I got her at a pretty good price, 21.00 with 50.00 as shipping. I was willing to take 1/2 the cost of the vet bill, I even had a copy of the Vet bill for him, but Paypal turned down my claim. I certainly don't want to send Sadie back to him, and that was the only thing he was willing to do. I'm just so angry that he is still saying that the cut on her is from her umbelicle cord. The vet said no way though.

and thanks for the reply, i really appreciate the emotional support.
 
I would make a post on the BOI naming this person. As the others have said, shipping snakes through USPS is not a TOS violation as it can be with the other shipping companies, it is illegal. He put you in legal liability when he shipped that way. Additionally, with being called a liar about the vet visit, you can easily blow him out of the water with the scanned in vet report. We need to police ourselves and the best way is naming names on the BOI.
 
By the way, I finally got a good pic of her cut tonight. I fed her yesterday and didn't want to stress her out and try and get another pic until tonight. The first ones were way to blurry. My camera is actualy a web cam so it really sucks.
Picture5-1.jpg


I don't understand how he can claim it is from an umbelicle cord. The snake was born 3 months ago almost on 6-5-06. It looks as if it is already starting to heal up since I got her. She's also got what looks to be an imbedded scale up higher on her neck, but it's really tought to get a good pic of that, she doesn't like being on her back, and I really really hate the thought of stressing her out. She seems to have bonded well with my Tazzy though, and hopefully he's helping to keep her stress level down. I am considering posting a BOI thread, I just hate to be a complainer.
oh and no it wasn't Damien, it was a gentleman from St Louis, MO.
 
What do you mean a Cut on her belly, i know towards the lower end of the tail theres what would be the remanants of a "belly button" That LOOKS like a cut. but will go away with time and some sheds. if shes an 06 hatchling shed most certainly still ahve it?

Can you post pictures? id be more than happy to help you get them online if you dont know how and such!
 
I'm sorry After i posted this here I found the General herp discussion board, I am really new to the forums here, just posted here for the first tiem today. And I am still trying to understand the many different forum titles. So this is where I copied it to http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85725. if maybe a mod can combine them or even lock one of them.
 
judging from the fuzzy pic...

I'd say that the "cut" on your snake's belly IS the scar left from the umbilical cord. Sometimes, the opening doesn't quite heal properly and the snake is left with what appears to be a cut.

Scott Nellis
 
See, but when I had a breeder friend of mine come over and look at her, he said not an umbelicle cord cut. The vet also said it wasn't that. The Vet actualy said " this is a "bur scratch". That it had to of come from something in the enclosure because it is a open wound.
But since most of you here have so much more experience than I, I have a few questions regarding that. If that was the case, should of not healed after almost 3 months? Why would of not healed in that time, but just in the 3 days I have had her it looks to be healing up. Also, why would this have not been mentioned to me in any of the emails back and forth. I am also confused as to the fact that she was in shed, is that normal practice for someone to ship a snake while they are shedding? Is it possible for a snake to take on the characteristics of being in Shed by being dehydrated? The Vet said it was, but I can't find anything online to support that.
To be honest I am in a small area where like only 1 or 2 vets in the area will even see a snake, this Vet was the only place I could get into within 2 weeks, the other place is waaay expensive, and completely booked weeks ahead of time. I didn't want her to get infected so I took her in as soon as I could.
I know I haven't had snakes for a long time, but listen, I am tearing up as I am writing this, I love my pets dearly, I love all living creatures really. I'd rather scoop a spider on a piece of paper and let it outside than smoosh it. So please believe me when I say I just want to make sure that my babies are safe and well taken care of. I've done quite a bit of research but there are many things that you can only learn through experience or from other snake owners.
I also am wondering if I should report this person to the post office. I wish I had the box, but when I came home from work today, I found that my boyfriend cleaned the house and threw it away. I do still have the bag she was shipped in. I also have the email witht he tracking number.
I will be posting a BOI post, I want to get the Vet receipt scanned tomorrow at work first so that I have all the information ready to go.

Oh! I thought of another question, when I received her, she was filthy dirty. There was no poopy in the bag, so it wasn't from that. He tummy was all brown, her cut was open enough to be dirty too. When my friend was over he washed her off for me. Her cut seemed much cleaner after that, you could still seperate it and see what seems to me as blood in the cut. But now the scales have started to heal a bit. I bought some reptiwound, any comments on how well that works?

I'm sorry to be such a pain with so many questions, but as I stated before, I love my babies, I only want the best for them. They are simply helpless and depend on us, thier owners, to give them the best possible care. That's all I want to do for them.

Thanks to anyone who responds to this with help
 
Oh and thank you to whomever combined the threads, I do apologize for my posting ignorance.
 
ok...

I was making an educated guess on what the cut was...it may be the umbilical scar, it may not be...it's hard to tell from the photo. As far as healing goes, I've found that Neosporin ointment works extremely well for minor cuts, scrapes, nose rubs and mouse bites on snakes. It's a triple antibiotic and I've had very good results using it on my snakes. I've never used reptiwound, but I'm sure it's ok.

Yes, a cut should have healed up in 3 months...maybe this one is recent. Also, filthy living conditions would keep a cut from healing up, but it also would have been badly infected if the cut was older than a week or so. Hmmm, here's a thought....anyone use a box cutter to open the shipping box?

No, most breeders will wait till a snake sheds out before shipping. The shedding process is somewhat stressful on a snake as they feel vulnerable. Shipping a snake in shed just adds to that stress. A dehydratated snake does not look like a snake in shed, unless it's going through a shed cycle anyway. At any rate, your snake should shed in the next day or two and then you'll get a better look at the cut and any other skin problems it may have...if it was kept in filth, it may have some degree of belly scale rot or blisters.

Hope this helps

Scott Nellis
 
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