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Sexing ball python

N

nohobo2

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Davie Florida
You guys are always great help so thank you inadvance. Soo I took what was thought to be a female ball 1260 grams to the vet and she was probed at 7 scales. When I got the snake it was supposed to be female. Now the breeder is saying he's 100% sure it was female because he popped her. Befor I proceed in anything further I was wondering for your opinions on the matter. If any local south Florida people want to see her be my guest as well. I just want to be 100000% sure befor I take this to the B.O.I or should I just go straight there??? Thanks again
 
If it probed 7 scales, it's definitely a male.
Popping can be inaccurate at times.
I'd go by what the vet said. If you have to go to the BOI over it, make sure you also post a copy of the vet report showing it probed 7 scales and was a male.
 
Try to work it out with the seller 1st before anything on the BOI since it will stay there forever. If you purchased it recently you can work out an exchange or refund if it has been a year or two then you just learned the hard lesson of double checking your animals. Im sure no one is 100% guaranteeing sex for life. It is your responsibility to check your animals in a timely manner.
 
Yea it's actually been 5 months...I asked if if was guaranteed he said yes like first question I asked so I believed so. He's only offering me a 100 off another snake but what if that one he sexes wrong as well? Lol also it's a local thing so it's kind of weird. When I get time I might put it all together in the boi with texts. Any breeder should know it's variable so if it's guaranteed then how am I supposed to know what time frame is ok? He's saying now 5 months is to much lol. It's my first snake and had it proved at the vet I'm a student and that's really the soonest I could get a chance. I assumed I was fine because of the guarantee I guess not
 
It sounds more like an "as is" sale if I had to verify right there and the guarantee means basically nothing down the road...
 
Snakes don't change sexes.
It's 100% the fault of the seller if it is mis-sexed. It doesn't matter if the buyer waited 2 years to check it. The seller is 100% responsible. If you sell it as one sex, you better be right.
Ive noticed lately a lot of people getting mis-sexed snakes over the past few months. Maybe some sellers need to stop selling sexed animals when they have no clue what they are doing.
 
Amen. He's not even willing to take a second look at the snake and it's a local sale. Only sell me another snake. Regardless of the snakes gender which is definitely a huge problem the customer service definetly leaves something to be desired. This weekend or sooner I will post everything to the boi. Great input everyone thanks
 
Lesson learned to always double check sex right away. I've received missexed snakes that I didn't check until years later (that's when I learned my lesson!). I've sold a missexed snake that the buyer didn't realize until years later. We're human, mistakes can happen and sometimes they are intentional but not always.

Is the seller 100% responsible? yes but it's also debatable to what extent depending on their TOS, the time frame involved and/or what the buyer expects as compensation.

Always double check sex (or have someone do it for you) so these errors can be caught quickly and it's more likely it can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. After 5 months, at least the guy was willing to offer you something.
Just my opinion.
:)
 
I really try to avoid taking things to the BOI unless the seller is clearly not trying to resolve the issue.

After not noticing it was sexed wrong for a few months I think it's completely fair to offer you a discount on another purchase. I would just make sure to have that one sexed immediately to avoid any issues. If that one ends up wrong as well and he refuses to fix it, THEN I would consider making a BOI thread. It happens, especially if people aren't probing, I don't know if that's grounds for giving him a permanent red mark.
 
i understand but who would take another snake from someone who can't sex them to begin with so that offer doesn't really help me? I'll definetly not be looking for problems which is what I feel would result. Like I said I'm new to this so that sex guarantee was very important to me which is why it was the first thing I asked. how could I have known that a guarantee doesn't really mean much down the road? What was guaranteed then? Also at least people should know with this individual that special care should be taken because of the discrepancy and the result which I'm sure many customers would not be happy with being in my position.
 
I'm not saying you're not right to be upset, not in any way. I would be just as upset as you are. The issue is that once a significant amount of time passes, it's really hard to have a solid point to stand on. The seller could argue that it's not the same snake, or that they can't really do anything since so much time has passed...it's messed up that they're not even willing to LOOK at the snake, but they are at least willing to rectify the situation in some way.

I'm honestly not trying to downplay what happened; it's never ok to get a snake (or anything for that matter) that isn't what you expected. For the amount of time that's passed though, it seems like a reasonable solution that the seller has offered. If you disagree that's completely your call, I would let the seller know that and demand something else before posting on the BOI though. If they're not willing to reach a solution that you're both ok with, then I would absolutely post a negative thread on them. I'm a huge proponent of giving people as much opportunity to fix their mistakes as possible; I would hope that people would give me the same chance if I made a mistake.

Once they reach a point where they simply say they're not willing to work with you, it's absolutely justified to make them answer for it. That's just my opinion.
 
Of course I will let the seller know what I came up with prior to posting I just feel like this is where we are going to be at possibly. I have the pic of the snake he sent me so it's the same snake he gave me. It's an albino so the markings are pretty easy to tell. The snake also had a little stuck shed we discussed so definetly same snake. Denying this is his snake would be the nail in the coffin to any would be customers because it would be the most obvious cop out. I never pushed for a full refund which in my opinion I may deserve but store credit like I said doesn't make sense. Im sure to some customers like myself certain guarantees are key. Also this is a local sale and but what if this was shipped to me in another state everyone knows how that process goes. He won't even look at the snake some people will offer lifetime support for the animal. No customer is going to appreciate that, and obviously had someone had anything similar to this experience and posted about it I would never have done business with them.
 
I agree, if someone pulled that card on me (it's not the same snake) that'd be the end of it. I would let them know that the offer they gave you isn't something you agree with and see what else they're willing to do. I'm not saying the BOI isn't an option (and might end up being the result), but you should give them as much chance as they give you. If they are willing to make it right then they deserve the chance, once they start blowing you off and calling you wrong you have every right to let the community know.

I am without doubt that at some point I will sell someone a snake that I incorrectly sexed (if I haven't already). As much as I try to get things right, we're all human and we all make mistakes. I don't think he would have intentionally ripped you off, and if you felt that way I don't think you would have been asking for advice. Give him a chance and see what he'll do before doing anything drastic. Once his tone changes and he isn't willing to help you, then it's fair game.
 
That's just my opinion from a neutral standpoint, you obviously can do whatever you think is best. I think you'll feel much better about the whole situation if you're able to solve it just between the two of you though.
 
I think most sellers (myself included) will go above and beyond to make sure that a buyer is satisfied. I have only ever had one instance where someone had an issue and I went way out of my way to rectify it (even though I'm certain the issue was their fault). It's simply a matter of customer service and how important their reputation is to them. That's why I say, give them a chance, if they don't work with you in a way that you're satisfied, by all means. Obviously you can't demand they give you 10 times what you paid, but you should absolutely expect reasonable compensation.
 
Of course I get from a seller point of view it sucks to get it wrong and stings a little to give an actual refund not store credit. But 100 off store credit is something you give returning customers that's not a refund. I can't cover the vet bill which costs me that much basically with store credit. This is a matter of principle I overpaid for what I got and just want to be made whole again. Which right now I do not feel I have been.
 
I completely understand and agree. If I were the seller you wouldn't even be posting here asking what to do because I would have made sure you were happy. I'm just saying, at least give him a chance, let him know you want a different solution and see what he offers. The BOI is a pain tbh, if you can avoid it you should. Don't expect to get anything in terms of the vet bill, but some compensation for the snake itself is completely justified.
 
Thanks again, as a seller you are definetly right what defines you more is how you respond to a delema. You can get it right a thousand times but when there's a problem that's when a customer truly know how you like to operate.
 
Exactly. And I think any good business knows that. Give him a chance though, he's probably just new to it. There's no point in assuming the worst, odds are he'll be willing to work something out that you're happy with.
 
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