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Warning about Reptile City

L

lyndz915

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Please be forewarned that Reptile City, www.reptilecity.com in Florida has
been breeding deformed reptiles and selling them to the trusting consumers, such as us. We recently ordered a Giant Marine Toad for my daughter for a Christmas present this year. When we got it I was horrified at what I saw. The toad's right legs were missing. We called and talked to the owner "Felton" who said he would send out another toad. We still own deformed cane toad. Felton promised to credit our charge and send us a "completely healthy toad" we got a dead, blood covered toad that we just recieved today It was supposed to be shipped today and we would recieve it tomorrow. After we contacted the owner he had no sympathy whatsoever as to credit us for our pain and suffering and everything we had been through. All this for a childs Christmas present. So please do not purchase any animals in the future from this company. We are shocked and horrified at the conditions, and suffering which these animals have endured. We appreciate anyones support in this ugly matter and whatever help you can offer these animals and can further help this cause we would greatly appreciate it. Please help us stop this and help these animals, especially now at Christmas.

P.S. If any one can find a way to investigate and report them to animal cruelty please do so. Someone PLEASE contact animal cruelty on this company.
 
You may want to post you full name or risk your post being deleted..Sorry about your dealings with these folks...
 
sorry

Im sorry, I thought it was in my profile..my name is Sharon wells. Please do not delete my post, it is important that all see it.
 
SHARON, Your probably right, people who sell and send

two legged frogs should be put out of business. But I seriously doubt he bred them that way. How did you pay for these toads?
 
I have pictures of how the animals were sent if anyone is interested. The way this company sent out the second toad was very inhumane. We recieved her in a box like the other, but she was not even in a container. She was in a cloth bag with string tied around the top. There was nothing to protect her. I am more concerned about the way this company is treating and raising their animals and selling them to people like us. I am trying to report them to animal cruelty.
 
Sharon...

Do you have the ability to post some pics of the animals in question? Did you save any of the emails between you and them?
It all helps when proving somebody did wrong.
 
nicolai said:
Do you have the ability to post some pics of the animals in question? Did you save any of the emails between you and them?
It all helps when proving somebody did wrong.
Click to expand...
Of course. I saved all the emails between me and the owner. I also have images I am uploading now. A few are of the toad I have now. The others are of the dead toad I recieved and literally what it came in. They are rather large files, so be warned.

http://tinypic.com/zxtnl
http://tinypic.com/zxto3
http://tinypic.com/zxtp2
http://tinypic.com/zxtt3
There is a very large tick on the back leg of this toad.

Here are the emails. What we wrote is in green Everything else will be normal.

I want and immediate response, that measna today asap ,I ordered for xmas this item for a xmas gt for my child and imagine the diaapoint and horror when we opedned our package andreceived a toad with partial right back and forelegs if this youre idea of a cruel joke? I know they need ahome too, but this a very cruel joke to send a child and I demand an immediate and full refund and that means full coverage for overnite shipping and a new replacement, please check the condition of the reptile first. IF I do not get my response immediatly and my satisfaction in this matter, we will be forced to spread the ugly word of the condition of youre repitiles and send out picture of this sadness over the internet so everyone with children wanting these kinds of pets form youre company for their children for xmas or at all will be so warned. please respond as quickly and with full understanding of this unfortunate situation,

sincerely,

sharon wells

Sharon,

Please provide us with your order number, and another one will be sent out. But no refund will be issued, we have had over a 250 orders in the last 3 weeks, all to be sent out for this week for Christmas. We do apologize for this, but it most have been a bad choice of frogs by one of our employees.

Please reply with your order number as soon as you can, so this can be sent back out tomorrow for delivery on Friday.

We do apologize for the mistake, we aim to send out the best animals possible, but mistakes do happen.

Sincerely,

Nina
 
Keep all those e-mails and pics as proof and contact your credit card company and file a claim with them. They should start a claim file and with proof like that in the pics and e-mails you should have no problems with getting your credit card refunded. Good luck and that is just a shame. Shanell- The Reptile House
 
There were also phone conversations between us. When he called us back after the message was left that we needed to talk to him, his number showed up as a cell phone number on our caller ID.
 
Just start the process through your credit card company and get things started OR You could also call the company and let them know that if they do not get you what you paid for or your full refund(probibly - shipping) then you will start a claim with your credit card company as well. Shanell
 
no denying those pics...

wow, i dont know how they would even defend themselves against pics like that. If they are smart thet will refund your money immediately and apologize for this tragity.
I think a few well worded emails from the forum members ought to get things started off on the right foot.
If he does indeed do a large amount of internet sales then he will want to rectify this situation before it hurts his business in the long run.
 
SHARON, under these circumstances I would contact

the VISA people and dispute the sale. Thats easy. Secondly, I would let the sellers know that they can expect a "chargeback" on the sale. If your smart I would not purchase anything else from these people, and I would like to add that Toads are not that difficult to purchase that would require you to have them shipped from out of state. Their are many avenues open even if you need help in locating a herp. Thanks for bringing this company to the BOIs attention. At least when someone puts in a search, they will be forwarned.
 
Well my charge has been credited. I just dont want to see this happen to any one else. I would hate for this to happen to someone else who was buying a Christmas gift for their child and opened the package to find a toad missing 2 legs or a dead toad that had been sitting at the post office over the long holiday weekend. Isnt there anything that can be done to protect the animals? I have no idea how to contact animal cruelty in florida.
 
I dont think they breed them? i meen does anyone captive breed cain toads, even so he shouldnt have sold you one that was missing legs.
 
i just reread, and the fact that it has tick(s) on it should warrent a refund. Did you know this was a WC animal when you purchased it? I think they put your whole family at risk by sending you guys animals with ticks on them.
 
Vince said:
i just reread, and the fact that it has tick(s) on it should warrent a refund. Did you know this was a WC animal when you purchased it? I think they put your whole family at risk by sending you guys animals with ticks on them.
Click to expand...

At risk for what, Vince?


I'm really sorry that your family had to go through all that. I'm even sorrier for what the frogs had to go through. I'm sure someone somewhere breeds the cane toad (Bufo Marinus) but most of the animals offered for sale are either long term captives or wild caught. When these animals are kept en mass and in tight quarters (like at a wholesaler's facility), they can and will cannibalize each other or just remove and eat each other's limbs, which is what looks like happend to your toad. As long as the one who is missing legs is concerned, he should do well for you.

I see you live in Chicago. I'd go to one of the excellent reptile sales they have there. Lee Watson's Reptile swap is twice a month. You can surely find a cane toad there and you get to see what you're buying and talk to the seller too.
 
Fortunately, ticks don't spread and 'infest' like, say, mites would. I could only imagine if they did...yikes! However, the risk of being bitten by an exotic tick carrying a foreign pathogen is definitely there. I believe the buyer is in her full right to expect a replacement toad, but I also agree with the other poster that the one with the missing legs/feet will probably do just fine as well. Just think of it as giving the toad some extra 'character' ;)

All that being said, I just personally have to ask, how old is the child you were getting the toad for? My concern is simply that these toads are *very* well known for the noxious, irritating poison they produce from the enlarged glands on the sides of their heads. I would imagine that your child is old enough to realize the dangers of ingesting this poison, but this just worries me a little. What's wrong with everybody's child favorite leo or beardie? lol Anyway, just be careful, and always supervise your child when he/she interacts with any herp, but especially potentially poisonous ones. Oh, and good luck with getting either a refund or another replacement!
 
reptile city

There are several threads on them, I would suggest doing a search next time and adding to another thread instead of creating a new one. As I understand it, they do not handle any of the animals themselves, but leave it up to others, and then contract your order out. I believe they are basically brokers, and do not have much in stock, and find the animals as orders come in. As far as I know, there are not any breeders out there for cane toads, and you get WC animals. The animal you received was definetly unacceptable, however, I would discourage you from contacting anyone that has anything to do with animal cruelty. In my opinion they are nothing but bad news for the industry, and have no positive impact on it whatsoever. Also, I would like to agree with Chance in that they are not a good pet for anyone with children, they secrete quite toxic substances, and you would not want a young one handling the toad and then licking their fingers. I have dealt with reptile city, and after realizing the nature of their business I requested a refund, and received one promptly and got nothing but courtesy from Felton.
J. Dustin Loy
 
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