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Bad Guy Off the ark exotic pets

Wow I am glad I looked at that post. Jesus the guy simply doesn't care about what he is doing and is more interested in money.

The fact that he was putting all those animals together was enough to confirm me not buying from him again. His ethics are really messed up loosing over 75% breeders due to electric going off is plain retarded. It is hard to believe that this guy is teaching some poor kids about how to murder animals. I think the most disturbing thing is he thinks he is in the right.

As I said this guy is a definite no buy. There is absolutely no excuse for getting a less than perfect animal but after reading that I understand better. He must have said to himself I am going to house some small bugs with these snakes and see what happens. Oh and yes practicing veterinary medicine and posing as a authority on matters he is not qualified for is not only illegal but he is defrauding customers and anyone who inquires about animal illness.

What a terrible teacher, business man and all around guy.
 
my .02 with this thread

I was a little frustrated with this thread for having to read through several pages of Mite treatment etc in order to get to what I wanted to know, which was about peoples experience with vinny and off the ark was... thats my .02 on that.

I have done business with vinny this year and I will just tell you my flat out experience no filler or digression.

I bought from him a BCI, a jungle carpet python, and a leopard gecko.

They were all very reasonably priced.

they all came in alive and kickin'

The two snakes were sent in a tied tube sock.

This didnt bother me at all becuase it is the same concept as a snake bag, only warmer. When you live in alaska- warm is good. they had plenty of dark breathable space and the way they were positioned made it to where they werent jostled too much. the gecko was properly shipped in the standard deli-cup.

Of the carpets that we received this year vinny's jungle carpet was the first to eat for us. and the leopard gecko couldnt be stopped from eating lol.

Vinny gave us a lot of personal attention and reassurance and went through the hassle of ensuring that our needs were met. (we very specifically needed only females)... He didnt just accept the money and forget we existed, he even wrote us afterwards to ensure they made it in okay.

I even still have the several email long discourse between us.

Unfortunately, the two snakes did hatch out mites a couple weeks later or so. but thankfully (and we believe due to our rather observant care and good quarantine practices,) it never spread to the others, we treated them only once and it never came back.

we were a little irritated about the mites, but there wasnt any visibly on them when they arrived, So I believe vinny had no idea when they shipped out that they had them.

Mites are soo common and easily spread.. And thats what quarantine protocols are for. Mites are too common a problem in our hobby to throw someones name to the ground over, especially if he didnt know that the snakes had it when he shipped them.

Now had they had an active infection in the box when we opened it, that would be a different story and certianly worth being livid upset over.

All and All vinny is a good guy IMO, I know some will disagree. He runs a small pet shop and has a pretty wide customer base. ( i mean i do live in alaska thats a pretty far stretch from his shop right?) I wouldnt hesitate to buy from him again if the need arose.
 
I waited a while to post simply to not even allow any speculations.
I purchased the most adorable little gargoyle gecko from Off The Ark and it could not have gone any better.
Gecko is even prettier than in the picture. Happy and fat and very friendly.
Shipping was easy despite the fact that I had to ask for a delay after the initial day set.
The owner was easy to touch base with via email and when I left a message at the store with his employee (don't know the name but he was very helpful as well) about the fact that I would not be home the original day after all, the message was passed on and shipping for the very next day arranged.
The baby has been here now for several weeks, has gained weight and is doing great!
 
Nix works. Tube socks? Thats great. Was it a reebok brand atleast? Yeah nix saved my animals. I had a OUTBREAK when i came to florida. I was forced to keep my cages with animals outside. Working like a dog i found myself neglecting my animals only to feed them and temp checks till the one day i decided i needed to sit with my boys and girls and do my usual sit back on the lounger and just handle them. The best word would be...."insanity" at what was covering them. I quickly got in touch with Kim Bell from Reptile Industries/reptmart and she suggested NIX EVERYTHING!!! one bottle nix to gallon of water. Hense....i nixed animals....placed all in plastic containers....then nixed a 40 gal long, 2 20 gal....4x3x4 enclosure. EVERY husbandry tool...i was NIXin EVERYTHING. Now in my own apartment finally. So far so good. Not a mite in site. Mites are just part off the food chain i guess. Proper care and precautionary measures help you and your animals. AAAAAANNNNDDD....im from nyc. And i have never stepped inside a walmart before. The first day i did...i swear i heard angels sing. WHAT YOU CAN BUY MILK AND CEREAL AND A SHOT GUN AND SHELLS IN THE SAME STORE!!!!!?????? That my friends...is just god d**m Bliss.
 
hhmoore said:
Please take the mite eradication discussion to another section - the "how to" and product comparisons don't belong in this thread....which, by the way, is about Off The Ark.
Click to expand...

hhmoore said:
Apparently, some people had a tough time interpretting my last post:

I'm not sure where the confusion lies, though...it seemed simple enough to me. Guess people just aren't satisfied until they :shootfoot
Click to expand...

Post #26 and post #32

I suggest all take note before responding.
 
I know this is old, but while looking for information on Off The Ark, I had to painfully read through this mess. I'm saddened for having read this.

I don't want to stir up much, but I'm pretty sure cold blooded animals don't generate heat. A sock is not going to be warmer than a snake bag.
 
y

SoCalAce said:
I know this is old, but while looking for information on Off The Ark, I had to painfully read through this mess. I'm saddened for having read this.

I don't want to stir up much, but I'm pretty sure cold blooded animals don't generate heat. A sock is not going to be warmer than a snake bag.
Click to expand...

Ask yourself, why do we ship in insulated boxes?
 
Yes, I know this is an old thread, but since it was revived I read through it. I think a picture of the packing (if there was such an issue with it) would've helped. Either way, it sounds like this wasn't a problem others had with the company.

evilcowboy420 said:
Oh yeah mites ARE a form of Lice and are quite close relatives. Wikipedia works wonders.
Click to expand...
This is why I wanted to respond - just to be clear for those reading things online that might take something as fact if it's not disputed - mites and lice are not at all closely related. One's an insect, one's an arachnid... not even close. I don't even need to look on Wikipedia to know that.
 
Mike Schultz said:
Ask yourself, why do we ship in insulated boxes?
Click to expand...

Insulation doesn't keep things warm. It simply acts as a barrier to slow down the movement of thermal energy, in the summer, it slows it down from getting INSIDE the box... in the winter, it slows it down from escaping the box. In order for insulation to be "warm", there needs to be a heat source. That is why when you lay under a blanket, it warms you up, by trapping your own body heat. If you put a snake under a blanket.... it does absolutely nothing. Same goes with an insulated box. If you ship a snake in an insulated box, the only thing it does without heating or cooling packs, is keeps the temps inside the box a little more stable, for a little longer. Styrofoam makes it hard for heat to travel through, so it keeps heat out on hot days and holds it in on cold days... but not indefinitely... It will eventually reach outside temps if left long enough, including freezing weather. It just takes longer than a regular box without insulation. If you pierce holes in the box through the foam you are also reducing the capability of the box to regulate temperatures.... there is no reason for holes when the box is taped up right!


Having said all of that.... a few years ago, I did buy from this guy. I bought an albino banded water snake that was not cheap at all. The box was shipped to me on a relatively cold day and when i opened the box, I found nothing more than a long-expired hand warmer in the box. The snake appeared to be dead. I layed it out on my counter about to take photos of it and suddenly I saw it's chest cavity puff once. I took the little snake into my hands and I eventually was able to get him to come to. I emailed them, I cannot remember for the life of me what exactly I said but the guy didn't seem terribly concerned. The snake was never able to make a full recovery and eventually died. I was told I would get a replacement via email and then I never heard from him again. I wasn't the person I am now... so I never pursued it or posted about it. I should have... but I do know this, I will never ever do business with them again and anyone that has ever asked me about them, I told them my experience.

I may or may not be able to dig up the emails... this was YEARS ago. :shrug01:
 
Thank you Shannon. That's the only point I was too lazy to make. Although giving it more thought, I'm wondering if using a thick sock, being that it is extra insulation, has any affect on how long a shipped animal can maintain body temperature. I feel like it would be an insignificant difference to use a sock or snake bag, if there was not a warmer or ice pack involved.

Sorry to hear about what happened to you. I had an issue with a place that ruined me for a while. I had worked my way up through breeding and trading to a very nice pair of boas, that were pretty valuable at the time. An unfortunate fondness of Honduran Boas let me to trade the pair I had (Ghost and het Anery if my memory serves) for a 2.2 of Adult Honduran boas. They were worthless upon arrival because they were old and diseased. I remember it felt like I traded $3,000 for $0.

I created a long post on the BOI here and got a lot of feedback. The post, along with many other posts lead to the demise of Reptile Ranch. It didn't matter though. Shortly after that, Laura was doing business under a different business name, and when the world found out it was her, she changed the business name again. It sucks that some people are just slimy slippery jerks that don't have a conscience.

I always keep an eye out for her. I will continue to make sure she doesn't forget that mistake. She has a business near the coast of central CA right now, but I don't think she is doing online business. It boils my blood to think about it Haha!
 
Oh, wow. :(

Good guy, bad guy ... I personally don't know; but that kind of ending is tragic on multiple levels.

Thanks for the update, Diem.
 
LauraB said:
Oh, wow. :(

Good guy, bad guy ... I personally don't know; but that kind of ending is tragic on multiple levels.

Thanks for the update, Diem.
Click to expand...

Seems like he was entirely too young to go into cardiac arrest so yes, it is incredibly tragic.
 
He did seem too young. I didn't personally have him as a teacher, but his students really seemed to love him.
 
I imagine the list of people that wanted to kill Vinny could have been very extensive.

Be surprised if the cops ever figure it out.
 
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