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Info Richard Kensinger - Ballistic Morphs - Bad experience

H

H00blah

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I ordered a 700 gram female 66% het clown from Rich, and when the Fedex guy arrived, he held a box under his arm while marking off something on his clipboard. He handed me the box, said "here ya go!", then walked back to his truck. It did not require my signature, and I wasn't thrilled with the way he carried the box to me! I inspected the box, and I found no label indicating that there was a live harmless reptile inside the package. When I opened the box, the snake poked it's little head out and immediately I noticed that she had what looked like remnants of blood on her heat pits.

As far as the nose rub is concerned, he offered to refund my money if I was not happy with what I had received. He also agreed to let me keep her for a few days while I decide if I want to keep her or not. The feedback I got was that it should be healed up by her next shed. She appears to be well fed, and has a great attitude, so I've decided to keep her.

Here's a link to the unboxing video in which I rotate the box to show that it's just a brown box with no indication that an animal is resting inside the box.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpnzwOeirMg

Photo of the belly of the box:

Photo of the snake's head while in the box:
(I will edit these in from my phone in a minute)
 
Well apparantly I can't edit my post so I'll post 'em here.

Belly of the box:
a0cb41eb.jpg


Snake's head while in her tub:
2e7c98cb.jpg
 
My eyesight isn't what it used to be, but that looks swollen to me? If it's swollen, I wouldn't wait for a shed, I would have it to the Vet immediately.
 
Travis, please send an email to Rich advising him of this thread. I would like to hear his explaination for why he shipped this amimal the way he did. Thank You.
 
66% Het Clown? That looks like a Pastel Clown to me? Am I reading this thread wrong?

It should heal fine, but you def. should have been notified of this condition.
 
Also...I agree. That box gives no indication that there is a live reptile inside. Anyone "qualified" to ship a reptile should know that a box needs to be labled. He's probably not Fedex certified and shipped it under the radar...That's my guess anyway. Not good practice.
 
It is a Clown, I think he just miss-typed. And I believe the snake did immediately go to the vet.
 
I wouldn't be happy getting a snake with a nose that looked like that!
 
Sorry about the mistake guys. She's a CLOWN 66% het for hypo. As soon as I opened the box, I grabbed the earlier vet visit I could. She came in at around 9:30AM, and I called the vet around 10:00 AM, and I was able to get an appointment at around 11:00 AM.

The vet said it should go away in the next shed or 2.
 
DemmBalls said:
Also...I agree. That box gives no indication that there is a live reptile inside. Anyone "qualified" to ship a reptile should know that a box needs to be labled. He's probably not Fedex certified and shipped it under the radar...That's my guess anyway. Not good practice.
Click to expand...

When I asked him about the shipping, he told me he was a certified Fedex shipper. He gave me another excuse, but it was along the lines of "I want to save money". Those were not his exact words, but he mentioned not having to spend extra money on non-essential things.. Again, I'm not repeating his EXACT words.
 
Nonsense. Anyone shipping reptiles needs to spend the money to do it correctly. Boxes are not that expensive. Not to mention the potential legal (Lacey Act) /shipper (surprise, something's moving in there) issues.

The value of the animal is immaterial. All animals should be shipped correctly.
 
Travis, did he charge you for shipping as part of your transaction? Glad to see the snake is in good hands. Taking it to the vet so promptly speeks volumes. Good luck.
 
Chris Kennard said:
Travis, did he charge you for shipping as part of your transaction? Glad to see the snake is in good hands. Taking it to the vet so promptly speeks volumes. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Shipping was included with the listed price of $1500.
 
Oops. I got busted for not watching the video. :eek: . I don't see how someone can sell a snake for 1500 and not spend 4$ on a proper box or at LEAST label it.
 
H00blah said:
When I asked him about the shipping, he told me he was a certified Fedex shipper. He gave me another excuse, but it was along the lines of "I want to save money". Those were not his exact words, but he mentioned not having to spend extra money on non-essential things.. Again, I'm not repeating his EXACT words.
Click to expand...

laterob said:
Nonsense. Anyone shipping reptiles needs to spend the money to do it correctly. Boxes are not that expensive. Not to mention the potential legal (Lacey Act) /shipper (surprise, something's moving in there) issues.

The value of the animal is immaterial. All animals should be shipped correctly.
Click to expand...
I can understand being upset about the nose rub, even though it likely occurred in transit; but what is the complaint about the shipping? If it is just that it wasn't properly labeled - keep in mind both that there is a lack of agreement on just what the "proper" or required labeling is, and that many breeders/dealers don't do much in the way of labeling. (not saying I agree with that practice, just pointing it out).

Was the purpose of showing the bottom of the box anything other than illustrating that it was a small box?

From the sound of it, you were treated fairly, and appropriately, when you contacted Rich about the problem with the snake...if you were unhappy with his response, please explain.
 
laterob said:
I don't see how someone can sell a snake for 1500 and not spend 4$ on a proper box or at LEAST label it.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%!


hhmoore said:
From the sound of it, you were treated fairly, and appropriately, when you contacted Rich about the problem with the snake...if you were unhappy with his response, please explain.
Click to expand...

I don't think the nose rub is the point of contention in this thread.

But

What's wrong with asking Rich to come on here and explain his shipping methods? If he stands by his practices, he'll have no worried coming here and letting us know why he does what he does. For the kind of money we're talking about here, and given the value of the animal, I don't think it's too much to ask.
 
I think the point of showing the bottom of the box was just to show it was not marked either. You cannot see the bottom in the video.
 
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