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Inquiry Mike Souza

Here is the photo of the snake in question.
Mike
 

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After reading this, the concern that stands out to me is: “Maybe all the probing, caused trauma to its hemipenes” & “I will not want that animal back, it has been too traumatized” and then in his response/comment, “the constant trauma to its sexual organs by probing or popping, made me not want that particular animal back”. Blake offered an exchange but the buyer would only accept, if Blake shipped the new animal first. Which I’ve never heard of before. This leads me to believe the buyer is very concerned, that the animals sexual organs have been injured. Especially, if he’s not willing to ship first! Blake offered what any good breeder, would. I’d be concerned on the condition of the animal when returned. A customer does not have the right to get a refund/exchange without returning the goods...so to speak. I think this is important for Blake, to think about. Cheers and good luck

Canadian Snake Queen
 
Canadian Snake Queen said:
After reading this, the concern that stands out to me is: “Maybe all the probing, caused trauma to its hemipenes” & “I will not want that animal back, it has been too traumatized” and then in his response/comment, “the constant trauma to its sexual organs by probing or popping, made me not want that particular animal back”. Blake offered an exchange but the buyer would only accept, if Blake shipped the new animal first. Which I’ve never heard of before. This leads me to believe the buyer is very concerned, that the animals sexual organs have been injured. Especially, if he’s not willing to ship first! Blake offered what any good breeder, would. I’d be concerned on the condition of the animal when returned. A customer does not have the right to get a refund/exchange without returning the goods...so to speak. I think this is important for Blake, to think about. Cheers and good luck

Canadian Snake Queen
Click to expand...

I'm happy to see this being squared away. But after reading the text exchanges, the only red flags I saw was from the accused. Not the OP. I read that correspondence three times. The accused had no problems subjecting the snake to additional probes. And the civility came from the OP. The "red square" comment spoke volumes. I changed that.
 
Chris:

I am really amazed by what you wrote about me and the red flags. I am not the one who sells snakes without sexing them first. I am sure you know that a small baby snake who was just shipped is stressed to begin with. I did not probe excessively I probed maybe 3 times max but I could tell the snake was not comfortable. The probe came back showing as a female. The reason I decided to wait the extra days was only to let the snake calm down and not be put through popping techniques also. Mr. Wilson's comments about "me being out of my mind" and "unprofessional" were uncalled for and dramatic. I made the comment about his red box after having several conversations with him in which he tried to goad me into his dramatic verbiage, which of course were not mentioned.

I was sent a wrong sexed snake, plain and simple. I am not the one calling Mr. Wilson anything on these posts. I have very well regarded people who have stood by my character on this BOI and recently had a very good review by one of my customers. I am not the bad guy here. I would have never brought this to the BOI personally but Mr. Wilson wanted to attack my character through this medium.

I just want the snake I paid for properly sexed. I never wanted this to be escalated to this level or cause any bad feelings to no one. I apologize for taking up anyone's valuable time when this could have been settled much easier.

Sincerely,
Mike Souza
 
The text screenshots are there for everyone to see how you reacted. You are absolutely 100% in the wrong here and why this came to the BOI stop trying to make it seem otherwise.
 
Blake;

It came to the BOI because you wanted to check to see if anyone had previous dealing with me and instead you turned it into a drama queen show.

The only wrong thing I did was to reference your red box from prior issues you had....I apologize for that.

You send out snakes that you don't sex yourself prior to shipping and I would put it to a vote here that most seller's never do that. I don't accept that.

So you slice it any way you want....if it makes you feel better to say I was wrong then so be it....but you will never convince me of otherwise.

Sincerely,
Mike

ps: do not forget to send me the return label today so I can send you your animal back tomorrow per Robert Walker. Thank you
 
Baby carpets are notoriously hard to sex. I pop mine directly out of the egg, and do not regularly re-sex those animals, unless they pop female, as their muscles strengthen and there is more resistance to sexing.

I would not want a 6 month old (confirmed) male animal back from someone without knowing their skills. Improper sexing could do some damage for sure, and if this snake is subsequently confirmed as a male, there can be no assurance of ability to breed in the future.

I understand the OP's concerns for sure.
 
I hope this is resolved to both party's satisfaction. I'm hopeful that it seems to be moving in that direction.

For the future, it might be helpful for the seller to have an established TOS regarding sexing and whether he personally sexed them and whether the sex is guaranteed. It would also be good as a buyer to inquire who sexed the snakes and what will the next steps be if the snake turns out different than expected.

I can see this from both sides. The buyer expects an accurately sexed snake. The seller doesn't want a snake incorrectly sexed or injured by the buyer. Both of these parties seem to be experienced snake keepers, but hypothetically you could sell to an inexperienced person who injures the snake and then blames it on the seller and wants a different snake.
 
Just for the record....I am not a novice to sexing snakes either by probe or popping or looking for spur size. In this case I was extremely careful, used my smallest probe with lots of jell, had my wife hold the main body of the snake as I probed very gently..making sure not to force anything. It probed female for me just like the female that was sent as a female from this pair.
The trauma I was talking about was not physical but the mental stress on a baby snake. Lots of snakes do not like to be held in this fashion to endure probing. I have seen snakes stop eating or become completely different personality wise after this type of "trauma".
This animal had just been shipped across the country and that is stressful in itself.
Everyone is jumping on my hurting the animal during my attempt to sex it. I sex all my animals I receive to make sure things are right and have never hurt one of them during this process of over 40 years of being in the Herp business.

I just wanted to clear the air on this particular point....Blake this post isn't directed towards you, just FYI

Sincerely,'
Mike
 
Thank you Mike. I think that's where a lot of confusion was coming from on my part and others as well. I agree this has probably been very stressful for the snake. Thanks for clearing that up.
 
I have never dealt with Mike but have dealt with Blake and he is a very honest and stand up guy to deal with. Mike seems the same and glad you guys are working this out. -Claudia Flores
 
snakeman236 said:
Just for the record....I am not a novice to sexing snakes either by probe or popping or looking for spur size. In this case I was extremely careful, used my smallest probe with lots of jell, had my wife hold the main body of the snake as I probed very gently..making sure not to force anything. It probed female for me just like the female that was sent as a female from this pair.
The trauma I was talking about was not physical but the mental stress on a baby snake. Lots of snakes do not like to be held in this fashion to endure probing. I have seen snakes stop eating or become completely different personality wise after this type of "trauma".
This animal had just been shipped across the country and that is stressful in itself.
Everyone is jumping on my hurting the animal during my attempt to sex it. I sex all my animals I receive to make sure things are right and have never hurt one of them during this process of over 40 years of being in the Herp business.

I just wanted to clear the air on this particular point....Blake this post isn't directed towards you, just FYI

Sincerely,'
Mike
Click to expand...

In you text correspondence you stated you "popped" the snake. Now you claim you probed it. Which is it?
 
I probed it first and then at the suggestion of Blake I attempted to pop it 4 days later...so I did both. FYI we have settled our issues and have come to a mutual understanding on this matter...I see no sense in continuing this thread, all parties are happy and satisfied and from what I understand that is one of the purposes of the BOI.....correct?

Thank you,
Mike
 
snakeman236 said:
I probed it first and then at the suggestion of Blake I attempted to pop it 4 days later...so I did both. FYI we have settled our issues and have come to a mutual understanding on this matter...I see no sense in continuing this thread, all parties are happy and satisfied and from what I understand that is one of the purposes of the BOI.....correct?

Thank you,
Mike
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct, and I'm glad you two are working things out. I'm simply pointing out what I see as discrepancies. I question why you are just now mentioning "probing". And why someone who claims to have 40 years experience and is "not a novice" at sexing snakes needs someone else to suggest popping a snake that probed female just like the other one you have. Maybe you probed the other one incorrectly? Better pop that one too.
 
snakeman236 said:
I probed it first and then at the suggestion of Blake I attempted to pop it 4 days later...so I did both. FYI we have settled our issues and have come to a mutual understanding on this matter...I see no sense in continuing this thread, all parties are happy and satisfied and from what I understand that is one of the purposes of the BOI.....correct?

Thank you,
Mike
Click to expand...

And for what it's worth, the BOI works for guys like you, and also works for people who have questions about dealing with you guys in the future, thus my questions.
 
What do you mean "guys like me?" Most of my experience is with BCC's, colubrids, Hots and Rosy Boas....I wasn't aware that pythons could be popped like a kingsnake....really haven't worked with lots of pythons in the past. You are making it sound like just because I have 40 years of experience I am an expert in all herps, I'm not and never claimed to be...just like I'm sure your not an expert in all herps but common sense would tell you that, right??

I would like for some of the other Admin's to read this Thread....I have showed no disrespect towards anyone...so what does "guys like me" mean to you???

I already wrote that I wanted this thread to end....all has ended well yet this person continues to drag it on and then disrespects me with his comments..is this is what you want Fauna to be about?
 
snakeman236 said:
What do you mean "guys like me?" Most of my experience is with BCC's, colubrids, Hots and Rosy Boas....I wasn't aware that pythons could be popped like a kingsnake....really haven't worked with lots of pythons in the past. You are making it sound like just because I have 40 years of experience I am an expert in all herps, I'm not and never claimed to be...just like I'm sure your not an expert in all herps but common sense would tell you that, right??

I would like for some of the other Admin's to read this Thread....I have showed no disrespect towards anyone...so what does "guys like me" mean to you???

I already wrote that I wanted this thread to end....all has ended well yet this person continues to drag it on and then disrespects me with his comments..is this is what you want Fauna to be about?
Click to expand...

Lighten up. I was referring to both of you referring to how the BOI works. Anywho, have you popped the other one yet?
 
And just out of curiosity, why mention your 40 years of experience and not being a novice at sexing snakes if it is not pertinent to this particular situation?
 
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