Ridgeway Reptiles Inc. Bad, Bad Guys

[sam4snakes]

I purchased a Dumerils Boa from these BAD GUYS at an expo in Tallahassee Fl a month or so ago. I have not been able to get him to eat. After further review, Shame on me, but I realized that I have NEVER seen him flick his tongue...EVER. I have since e-mailed and left messages asking for help in getting him to eat, NO ANSWER BACK. I explained that I was not asking for a refund or anything, just for some help to take care of this poor little guy...NOTHING. These folks are out of Port Charlotte, Florida and are not good breeders to buy from. I just hope that no one else has the frustrating experience that I have had.

 

[sam4snakes]

Am I wrong or expecting to much to think I deserve at least a reply from these guys???

 

[Joejr14]

Am I wrong or expecting to much to think I deserve at least a reply from these guys???

Hey, I was at the expo myself and I dont recall seeing Ridgeway Reptiles Inc at the show. I'm not saying they werent because obviously you bought from them.

Did you get a guarantee from them at the expo? I'm going to go ahead and email them and let them know that this thread exisits, and encourage them to come deal with the situation.

 

[Joejr14]

They have been notified

Subj:

Ridgeway Reptiles, Inc--thread about you on Fauna Classifieds
Date:

1/14/2005 1:55:29 AM Eastern Standard Time
From:

Click here to send a message.Joejr14
To:

Click here to send a [email protected]


Hello.

This is just a heads up that a thread has been started on the Board of Inquiry regarding a deal that you did with someone at the Tallahassee Reptile Expo back on Dec 11th and 12th.

The link to the thread is as follows:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61729

The jist of the thread thusfar is that someone bought Dumerils Boa from you and he has been unable to get it to eat. Apparently he has tried to contact you several times but has been unable to get a response.

I would encourage you to come respond to this thread as soon as possible to clear any issues up.

Thanks,
Joseph Cala


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[shannon]

Yeah,It doesn't suprise me.

I bought a male hypo bullsnake two years ago at the daytona show from them and it was sick and ended up dead probably a month down the road.My buddy Billy was there with me and bought a killer looking pine and it was sick also and gave him all kinds of problems and died of coarse.We e-mailed and tried to work things out but a sale is a sale with them and they even said yeah we had some sick snakes but thats just the way it goes or some **** like that.

Billy knows the story better.I just skip the both now and can't believe they are still around when they treat people like that.They look like the two guys that are hired to keep an eye on the white bat on ace ventura "when nature calls"and maybe thats them?

Anyways,I would never buy anything from them or from a four both radious of them?

L8r shannon brown

 

[Mike Greathouse]

Sam,
What type of food have you been offering the Dumerils? I have found that many young Dumerils will only eat rat pinks and will show no interst in mice. Email me privately and I'll be happy to try and help you get it going.

Best of luck,

 

[DISCERN]

yes.....my experience with them sucked as well...

I created a post about Ridgeway Reptiles after the snake I purchased from them died. Check this link:http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29586&highlight=Ridgeway+Reptiles


In a nutshell,

Me and my buddy Shannon both found killer snakes at the Ridgeway Reptiles booth at the Daytona show in 2003. I purchased an albino Southern pine, and he got a TX. hypo bull. I paid $125 for it.

Shannon's bull regurgitated cottage cheese looking crap after he had it home and quarantined. My pine was a good eater AND a good puker...unfortunately.

I called Zelph ( owner of Ridgeway ) and he said he would be honest with me. He then told me that my albino Southern was in the same rack as two rat snakes that were sick and he had to treat with Flagyl. Sometimes when a snake wouldn't eat the rat pink/chub he would throw in, he would take it out and feed the next snake in the next cage, as to not waste it. He said that because of that, that may have been why my snake got sick, due to cross contamination.

Very nice that he was that honest. Great.............

Well....after my albino Southern withered, she had tried to shed, and as I was helping her shed, she died in my hands. Very sucky experience.

I then emailed Zelph, very politely and nicely, and he offered $100 credit towards any snake off of their site ( which by the way...hardly any snake was under $100 to begin with ) but I had to pay for postage....and also he offered me a hybrid grayband. Talk about being kicked in the nuts......

I asked for money back...even asked for HALF of what I paid...he refused.

So...yes...Ridgeway are very bad. Heck....my whole freakin collection was put in jeopardy!

Check out that link...I did post quotes..it is all there.

Take care!

Billy Fraser

 

[ReptileRay]

I do not know anything about this snake deal but I live in the same town with Zelph Ridgeway and have purchased several snakes from him over the years and cant say I had any bad dealings with him. He has been in the snake business for over 10 yrs and anyone can tell he is at tampa and daytona shows everytime. I think its more of an issue of him not getting his email rather than saying he will not back his snakes up. This is a guy that has albino retics, albino boa's, albino ball pythons, and you guys think he is going to not take care of a dumerils boa? I know him better than that and will call him and let him know this is on here so he can reply himself. He works full time in port charlotte and since christmas and hurricane charlie nobody is back to normal. Good luck guys and I will call him to let him know he needs to find out whats going on.

 

[sam4snakes]

Thanks Ray,
Like I said, I am not looking for anything from him but a reply and maybe some advice.

 

[ms_terese]

I think its more of an issue of him not getting his email rather than saying he will not back his snakes up.

Actually, if you read Billy's thread, it has nothing to do with him not getting his email and everything to do with him not backing his snakes up. Sam mentioned in this post that he's emailed and left messages, so I would think that unless he can't get email or his answering machine, it's intentional.

This is a guy that has albino retics, albino boa's, albino ball pythons, and you guys think he is going to not take care of a dumerils boa?

Owning expensive animals has no bearing on someone's reputation as a seller. There are lots of scammers out there that made enough money to buy high end snakes by ripping people off. I'm not stating that's the case with Ridgeway, just explaining why his collection is irrelevant.

I called Zelph ( owner of Ridgeway ) and he said he would be honest with me. He then told me that my albino Southern was in the same rack as two rat snakes that were sick and he had to treat with Flagyl. Sometimes when a snake wouldn't eat the rat pink/chub he would throw in, he would take it out and feed the next snake in the next cage, as to not waste it. He said that because of that, that may have been why my snake got sick, due to cross contamination.

Hmmm. This, on the other hand, is pretty indicative of the care he gives animals.

Let's see, he was emailed about this 4 days ago, and someone has called him about it as well. I'm sure he'll show up soon and give his side, even though he didn't do that in the other thread.

Good luck getting this one resolved. I hope some on here can help you get the Dum eating. Too late for the other people whose snakes didn't make it.

 

[plizardman]

I'm curious to see how (or if) Ridgeway responds to this thread, but I am responding to a more immediate question. I don't know what the meaning of the snake not using it's tongue is (unless through defect or accident it does not have one), but I agree oft times nothing picks up a baby dumerils appetite like a live pink or fuzzy rat. Another issue is that often at this time of year they go off their feed and don't start again till spring. That is what I notice up here in the north, although things may be different in sunny Florida. I don't worry about mine and they don't seem to incur any noticable weight loss over the winter fast. I have bred mine for 3 years now and have noticed this with babies each year. In fact, I have a few left overs that I just hang on to rather than sell over the winter when internet buyers will be agonizing over imagined feeding problems, and calling me every week. They don't need the worry and I don't need the aggravation. I'll sell in spring when they eat anything that moves. Hope your problem is just a seasonal thing. Good luck.

 

[ReptileRay]

ms_terese

First off Ms Terese , I dont know you and dont want to judge you but I could pick apart post if I wanted to word it however also. I am not taking sides and just wanted to add that it sounded like a communication problem to me. As far as him coming here and sticking up for himself I cant say for sure but can tell you this. We live in port charlotte florida were hurricane Charlie totaly crushed our town , That is no excuse but Zelph along with myself work in construction. We dont just sell snakes we also work 70 hr week jobs. SAM , I see you live in florida also and sure you see him at all the shows. I hope you get this resolved and wish you luck. I am waiting on some snakes and can only tell you his cages are clean, he has all freedom breeder cages for rats ($$$$) and alot of big high dollar breeders. Its not the amount I am just saying this is no fly by night guy selling corn snakes and dumerils. He has a huge collection of snakes and wish you guys could get this worked out.......thats all ! Just trying to stick up for what I know of him and would do that for anyone else I know is good! Sam, my email is [email protected] keep in touch and let me know what happens .

 

[ms_terese]

Ray,

I'm not picking apart posts, I'm simply pointing out reasonable interpretations based on what's been stated in the thread.

I think it's good that you've come on here to post, because you've given the forum additional information about Zelph's history and some possible explanations of what might be causing the communication problems.

Were you able to reach him to let him know that Sam is having trouble?

 

[DAND]

Imho

Zelph along with myself work in construction. We dont just sell snakes we also work 70 hr week jobs.

he has all freedom breeder cages for rats ($$$$) and alot of big high dollar breeders. Its not the amount I am just saying this is no fly by night guy selling corn snakes and dumerils. He has a huge collection of snakes.

Ray,

Seventy hour work weeks and a huge collection of snakes sounds like there is a good chance there isn't enough time to do both. I used to work construction and know that after a 10 hour day I wanted to do nothing more than take a shower and relax. It would take a really dedicated person to come home after a 10 hour work day to make sure the cleaning/maintaining snake cages/tubs and breeding/cleaning up after rodents was done. This person who can't reply to an e-mail from a customer with problem snake that was purchased from him does not sound like too dedicated of a person to me.

 

[sam4snakes]

ReptileRay...

Did you ever get in contact with Zelph?? I have neither recieved an e-mail from him or seen him answer this post. I also work 65+ hours a week, but when someone e-mails or calls me I certainly find time to respond!!! I manage a LARGE(over 100,000 sq ft, over $40 million) retail store. Yes, I understand busy(my store services over 3500 customers every day,) but I also understand customer service. No matter how busy I am, I NEVER put a customer off and ignore them...NEVER!!! Thanks for trying to contact him for me, but I just wanted you to know that there has been no response. I am sure that I will see him at reptile shows in the future and will have the opportunity to question him on his business practices. Who knows, I may even have the opportunity to let some of his potential customers know what a stand up guy he is...who knows.

Thanks
Sam

 

[sam4snakes]

Well, Well...Suprise, suprise...

Still no response from Mr. Ridgeway or from ReptileRay. Snake is still alive, still no tongue flick or eating. I am close to trying to force feed him a pinky...I am just worried of the stress it would cause. I have tried everything everyone had suggested to no avail. What does everyone think of forcefeeding a pinky??

Thanks
Sam

 

[MarcAntony]

Several years ago I purchased a Dumeril's Boa that I couldn't get to eat. After all other options, I tried a f/t chick. I left it in the enclosure overnight, and the next morning it was gone. I did this 3 more times, after which I tried a f/t rat pink. It ate that, and was on rats from that point until I sold it about a year later. This Dum apparently needed a chick to "prime" it's eating response.

 

[The BoidSmith]

Sam,

Is the temperature and the gradient right in her enclosure?

Regards.

 

[boamaster]

Ii bought an albino boa baby from them .
doing great.
bob clark bought 20 albino's boas from him . a few weeks ago at daytona.
my buddy bought 2 adult gtp's ,had mites on them,but they're alright?
here's thier # 1-941-255-0602
zelph seems like an ok guy to me ? don't know ?

 

[Cat_72]

Selling snakes with mites is OK....?