Good Guy Martha Garcia/dovelett15, great experience!

[odible]

Just wanted to give some feedback!

I had been looking for young/juvenile three toed boxies for ages. I was definitely nervous buying a live animal sight unseen over the internet, but I also knew I'd prefer to get them from a breeder rather than a store and that I didn't want wild caught turtles. When I saw Martha's ad for year old captive bred three toeds last week, I immediately emailed her about them. After talking with her at length about them, I ended up taking all three!

Throughout everything, Martha was very accommodating. I have previous experience with box turtles, but these guys are, by far, the youngest I've had. When I had questions about their care, Martha always got back to me quickly with solid, informative answers. She even offered to assist with any future questions I may have about them. Overall, she struck me as a very knowledgeable and genuine person who was always willing to help.

Martha was also very willing to work with my schedule, making sure to ship them on a day where I could easily be there for their arrival. She provided a tracking number quickly and they arrived on time and very securely packed so nothing could shift in transit.

Even in their containers, they were all very active. Everyone appears to be very healthy - they all have good weight on them, clear, bright eyes, good firm shells and great appetites! They all settled in quickly and have been very outgoing and curious - absolutely not shy at all. They even ate well on their first day here. The longer I have them, the more they impress me. And they're super adorable!

From my experience, I'm confident these guys came from a person who cares about her boxies and how she raises them. I would not hesitate to do business with Martha again.

Thank you for everything, Martha!

Jen

 

[dovelett15]

Thank you, Jen! You were a pleasurable person to have meet.

 

[imabirdmom]

I'm glad yours made it in one piece. Sadly one of ours did not. When I told her mine was dying when we unboxed she told me her other shipment to Virginia had gone well and how pleased you were and how she ships like that all the time. Mine came in a 6x6x6 cardboard box with no heat and no insulation. They were in a dollar store use and toss container that was too big for the box so it had to ride partially tipped on end. My baby flipped over and arrived dying. The surviving baby has a cut on her head from the rough holes punched in the top. She is in trouble with Ship Your Reptiles for her non conforming supplies. You are not doing her favors posting for her here unless yours were shipped in conforming packaging. My babies flew into Seattle at 4:30 in the morning where it was 43 degrees. They had no heat and no insulation. They were packed in wet coco fiber. When we unpacked them at 11:00 when the arrived they were barely 64 degrees. The survivor is shy but eating a little. We are keeping her temps up hoping she won't get an URI from the chill. Yes she refunded me but never did she express sorrow for the lost baby nor did she apologize for the tears shed at this end.

 

[odible]

I'm sorry, I don't have photos of the unboxing. I could technically dig through the trash but I'd really prefer not to... There's dirty things in there!

I'm happy to describe how they arrived though:

I'm honestly not familiar with how you should ship reptiles. I did initially think the box was small, but it really did prove adequate. The box itself was pretty plain. There was several of holes in it for ventilation and a warning for live harmless reptiles - my fedex guy was amused. Everything seemed to be pretty clearly labeled with the shipping label covering the top. On opening the box, the paperwork was on top and, beneath that, shredded paper. Within that, there was two containers.

Both containers were placed in the box one on top of the other, everything surrounded by the paper, enough that nothing could shift easily and any jostling to the turtles themselves would be minimized. The containers were small deli cups with air holes punched into the lids. All the edges were taped to prevent them coming open in shipping and they were partially filled with moistened (not wet) coconut dirt. The two larger turtles were together in a larger container, and the smaller one was by itself. Both containers had enough of the bedding to prevent them from getting bounced around but not so much that they would suffocate. The best way I can describe it is that they were snugly nestled in their containers and appeared comfortable.

I checked out the other post and, honestly, my box did look similar, but the containers were definitely sitting flat in the box, not at an angle. There was no heat pack included, but it's been in the 70s-80s, only dipping into the mid 60s overnight around here. The day they arrived, it was in the mid 80s, so I'm not sure a heat pack would have been warranted or really even a good idea.

Overall, I didn't see any real issues. They were certainly eager to come out of their containers and move around, but they seemed none the worse for wear for having been shipped across the country. I reiterate, though, I've never shipped a reptile or received one through the mail so I'm unfamiliar with the standard practices.

I actually just gave the boxies a good soak this afternoon and fed them. Everyone is still eating heartily and seems pretty healthy and active. They spend most of their time buried in their moss but that's pretty normal for box turtles.

As for the other posters experience... I'm really sorry it turned out that way, but Martha doesn't strike me as uncaring. She's followed up with me a few times since the boxies arrived, just to see how everyone is doing. She has continued to answer my emails or texts quickly when I had questions and has been all around supportive. Throughout everything, Martha has been great and I'm honestly thankful for all her help. I find it hard to believe that she's not just as heartbroken over the other posters loss. If her shipping is lacking in adequacy, I'm inclined to think that her apparent callousness is just confusion over what could have gone wrong and hopefully takes this as a learning experience, however tragic, and never makes that mistake again.

Personally, I feel like I've made a friend with someone who enjoys her box turtles as much as I do mine and wants to see the best for them. If her shipping methods should be improved and she makes those changes, though, I'd still be willing to purchase from her again.

Jen

 

[imabirdmom]

If you go to Ship Your Reptiles the shipping service she used they have clear videos on appropriate shipping. You really should check it out. A plain cardboard box is beyond insufficient. They are not protected from anything including crushing and temperature extremes. I'm glad yours got to ride flat in the box and didn't spend the trip sliding down and then upside down for hours. If I hadn't experienced it myself I'd never believe it. Come over to the Herpetoculture Feedback and inquiry page on facebook. I posted complete screen shots of the many text we had that day. Not once did she say she was sorry or felt bad. Show her a picture of the deceased and I'd get my refund. I wanted both of them. I would have paid more for appropriate materials.

 

[LauraB]

Kathy, if you have screen shots of the texts between you and Martha relative to your really unfortunate transaction, then please post them here, rather than asking readers to go to some Facebook page to view ... especially since you posted your own Bad Guy thread here. Facebook posts can be deleted; the REAL BOI posts will not be deleted.

IMWO, there is no reason that a young, healthy tortoise should have died during shipping had the two been packed and shipped correctly, so please post those texts here.

 

[imabirdmom]

Oh absolutely. The group showed me how to save them I didn't have them before when I first posted. I will do!

 

[imabirdmom]

Ok how do I do it? Computer dork here.

 

[imabirdmom]

Screen shots of conversations from day of shipping tortoise that died

Here are the 1st of several pages of conversations between me and Martha the day of shipping.

 

[imabirdmom]

Text messages continued

Here is the ongoing dialog.

 

[imabirdmom]

More from that day

Sorry it's so long but her refusal to acknowledge wrong doing or fault ticked me off.

 

[imabirdmom]

Last message from that day

This is the final one.

 

[bcr229]

I'm honestly not familiar with how you should ship reptiles. I did initially think the box was small, but it really did prove adequate. The box itself was pretty plain. There was several of holes in it for ventilation and a warning for live harmless reptiles - my fedex guy was amused. Everything seemed to be pretty clearly labeled with the shipping label covering the top. On opening the box, the paperwork was on top and, beneath that, shredded paper. Within that, there was two containers.

Both containers were placed in the box one on top of the other, everything surrounded by the paper, enough that nothing could shift easily and any jostling to the turtles themselves would be minimized. The containers were small deli cups with air holes punched into the lids. All the edges were taped to prevent them coming open in shipping and they were partially filled with moistened (not wet) coconut dirt. The two larger turtles were together in a larger container, and the smaller one was by itself. Both containers had enough of the bedding to prevent them from getting bounced around but not so much that they would suffocate. The best way I can describe it is that they were snugly nestled in their containers and appeared comfortable.

I checked out the other post and, honestly, my box did look similar, but the containers were definitely sitting flat in the box, not at an angle. There was no heat pack included, but it's been in the 70s-80s, only dipping into the mid 60s overnight around here. The day they arrived, it was in the mid 80s, so I'm not sure a heat pack would have been warranted or really even a good idea.

Overall, I didn't see any real issues. They were certainly eager to come out of their containers and move around, but they seemed none the worse for wear for having been shipped across the country. I reiterate, though, I've never shipped a reptile or received one through the mail so I'm unfamiliar with the standard practices.

Standard practice is to line the interior of the box with Styrofoam insulation, even when temps are ok and no heat/cold pack is needed, for strength in case the box is dropped or something falls onto it, to help prevent it from being crushed and the animal inside from being injured or killed. This site has a good description of how it's done: http://arbreptiles.com/shipping/index.shtml

 

[dovelett15]

Thank you BCR 229 for your guidance. I now know that this could have been preventable on my behalf if the box had been properly packaged and I continue to reiterate my apologies for the demise of the tortoise. I have learned that in the future, I will post a pic. with the shipping box to be used.

Best regards,
Martha aka: dovelett15

 

[imabirdmom]

Finally got a picture of the head wound from the holes in the container

Please use reptile approved containers as well as boxes.

 

[dovelett15]

Hello Kathy,

Life is a learning curve at least I hope for most, such as myself. I do agree of the necessity to properly ship to help avoid any tragic events for occurring. As with my other customer's I offer to you aftercare advice. The best way to reach me is through my contact number which you have as my work schedule does not allow for quick accessibility to a computer.

Best regards,
Martha aka dovelett