Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so i think for the first time ever i got taken for a ride purchaseing some thayeri. i ordered some '03 thayeri from a very reputable person (not going to mention anynames) great snakes regardless, an 03 yellow milk male and an 03 bright orange/yellow female leonis, when i got the 03's in the female was alittle small, i can understand its size becuase it was proboly hibernated during that time, but the "03" male is about 12" long and as fat as a pencil, i was putting him in his container last night as was just laughing at how small he was to be an 03, the thing is though the person that i bought them from is supposed to be top of the line, and thats why i cant understand this situation, either he sold me an 04-05 as an 03 or he has neglected this animal, or kept it in hibernation for like 8 months at a time, the size and the age just dont match up,i mean for god sakes he is only going to be able to eat pinkies for a while, no where near fuzzy size, i am still going to keep this snake and try and get it to where it needs to be, but have any of you ever heard of a 3 year old snake that is 12-15 inches and eating pinkies???? and the worst part about it is he hasnt even emailed me back with a response on why that snake is so small. thanks for your time

Adam
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1.1 THAYERI (1.1 added soon)
1.2 SPLENDIDA (1.0 ALBINO/ 0.2 HYPO)
1.3 ALTERNA

0.1 PYXIE FROG
0.0.1 TADPOLES

My 2005’s are larger than that eating hoppers, that seems extremely small. However, my smaller female breeder was small when I bought her at 1.5 to 2 years because she had been hibernated two winters. She was not as big as my one year olds now and has never gotten very large.
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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

Wow, sorry to hear about that! That does seem WAY too small for an '03. My '05 Dan V.'s are already longer than 12", but I don't know exactly by how much. I really hope you get compensated for it somehow.
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1.1.0 Leopard Geckos (Booger, Gimp)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Lucutis)
0.0.1 Quince Monitor (Pollux)
1.2.0 Thayeri Kingsnakes (Korben, Leeloo, Artax)
2.2.0 California Kingsnakes (Beetlejuice, Kang, Maraca, Kodos)

Adam,

I had some of the same problems with the same guy. Snakes that were supposed to be brumated and fed came to me extremely under weight. They were no where near ready to breed. I love the snakes and have them in excellent condition now but I learned a hard lesson. I have not and will not in the future deal with that one again. I also had problems with sending me snakes that were not sexed properly.

Sorry to hear about this Adam.

Email me I have some other issues you might want to know about.

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Vichris

Vichris Variables

I too got snakes from the same guy only they were gopher snakes. To my surprise they arrived much larger than expected and for the exception of a little nose rub they were fine. Sorry it didn't work out the same for you and I know you are frustrated. I would be too. All that said some thayeri can be very pciky eaters and it is possible you got animals that are 2003s but they eat every other meal offered or only a certain type of rodent...rats versus mice.

I started to purchase some thayeri (melanistic 06 pair and a leonis female from the same clutch) but when the guy emailed me back and told me he wanted $70 for shipping "Fedex overnight - insurance included" I said no freaking way. You got to love some people's business ethics.

Russ

oh yeah, my 2005 keepers are eating fuzzies. My 2004s are eating large hopper mice or large rat pinks.
Russ

Hi Adam

Sorry to hear about your situation involving this " very reputable person". It's just crazy. Like the others mentioned, a 3 year old male should not be that small. I would guess he sold you some 05 animals or maybe a late 04 picky eater that was brumated 2 winters, which is still hard to believe. To put it into perspective, I have 03 keepers that is breeding size this year(will try them in 07) eating adult mice/rat pups and a couple of 18"+ 05 animals that I brumated and is already eating fat rat pinks. If it is an actual 03, that thing must have been in a super lean maintenance feeding schedule and was brumated 3x for a long time(which I really doubt). Once he's big enough you should try to give him rat pinks to let him catch up a bit. I hope you can atleast get some good carma in the future 'cause of this.
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Jonel M. Lopez

www.spsnakes.com

so i decided that even though i have only had these two for two days, i would try and feed them. they ate like pigs, the "03male" ate two pinkies and the "03female" ate two fuzzies, that made me feel alittle bit better about and for the snakes, they definatly needed to eat some mice, i just cant beleive that if this male is an 03 he is this size, and if he is an 03 its really sad that he is this size, atleast he is in a good home now, and i am going to do my best to get them nice and healthy and see what they can do during breeding season, i mean my 05 grey bands are just as big and eating more then this guy, its crazy, still waiting on an explination of his size from this guy we will see what he has to say

adam
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1.1 THAYERI (1.1 added soon)
1.2 SPLENDIDA (1.0 ALBINO/ 0.2 HYPO)
1.3 ALTERNA

0.1 PYXIE FROG
0.0.1 TADPOLES