Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In 06 I sold a pair of Dh Snow babies to this guy well today he is saying the female I sent him was locked up with with his other female during cage cleaning he had a friend come over and probed the female and said it was a male. Nothing has been mentioned about the male that was sold with the female if some how as babies or through the time of raising them they were switched the male being female and the female being male. Anyway if anyone can give me some ideas on what to do. Its been over 2yrs before he found out what the sex was, I always double check the sex of a snake before its sold and anyone that receives a animal should check to make sure it is what its suppose to be. Now I would like to do right, this is my first and hope last missexed animal if to be true. Its been 2yrs?? Here is the email he sent me.

Hello Marc, i am sorry for the delay. Things have been a little hectic for me around here. Well, i purchased a pair of DH Snows from you back on Oct 25th 2006.I have attached the picture of the "female" that you sent to me along with the snake.

A couple of days ago i way cleaning her cage, which she overturned her water bowl, and attempting to hold her at the same time. It just wasn't working. SO, i decided to throw her in with my female albino just for a second. I mopped up all the water in "her" cage, and went out in the backyard to clean her water bowl. "She" was in with the albino girl for a total of 5 minutes, tops. Upon entering the room i peeked into the cage that held my only 2 female boas to find them locked up. I freaked out and started tapping them until they unlocked on their own and yanked the DH Snow out of the cage.

Now over the last couple of days i have stewed over what to do about this. And not trusting MY own probing abilities, i called a friend, BW Smith, over to to probe the two "females" for me. Well, the albino (shes 7#'s) IS a female.

The DH Snow "female" that i got from you is actually a male. He probed to the hilt man. Sorry.

And Marc, please believe me when i say that i am NOT accusing you of knowingly selling me a missexed animal. BUT please understand that i am a tad disappointed that i have put the last 2 years into him, hes now 8lbs, thinking that he was a female and i was going to have snows soon.

What can i do here?
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Marcs Reptiles

That's always a tough issue and one I would not raise myself after so long. But, your cust did raise the point so IMO try to work something out. I had a similar situation (not as long a time though) where a friend had sexed some yearlings for me. Both were females and I ended up selling one. Turns out it was a male. I took it back and gave the cust credit = to what he originally paid. He ended up buying a more expensive animal.

Since then I have learned to sex by palpation and keep my destiny in my own hands.

BTW, handled well, there were no hard feelings all around!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Well, I am not as experienced as some folks with sexing or refunds, however... I believe folks should sex their own animals at least within a couple weeks of receiving them (more likely right away if they are especially concerned about the sex). If you have a TOS I would add that one in after you deal with this issue, that animals guaranteed properly sexed but that there is a time frame for them to be re-sexed in order to be refunded, etc.
Also, I would investigate the fact that you say they were sent one of each sex. If they mixed them up and have no proof that the other isn't the female... how can you, or they, be sure? I would inquire and express your sincere belief that they were sexed properly, did they perhaps get switched; and then try to work something out with them. If they feel they need to be reimbursed for a huge amount for example the cost of the boa originally plus feed for the entire time, perhaps express gently that they should have possibly checked the gender themselves sooner and that most folks won't even meet them halfway on a refund if it is a year or more after the initial purchase (unless of course, it is a guaranteed het that does not prove out ).
Like I said, this is my opinion, but I realize some folks just getting into the hobby may not think like some seasoned herpers who have learned to sex their own, or have them sexed, to avoid these mishaps. Just my .02 cents...
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Steph S.
Boas...
1.1 Albino boas (Loki & Hope)
1.4 07 Het. albino boas (Petty & Lady,Sierra,Madeline,Lola)
0.1 Reverse stripe poss. het albino (Cookie)
0.1 Salmon/hypo (Scarlet)
0.1 Anery poss. het snow (Missy)
1.0 Anery (Reno)
1.0 Probable Super Salmontine(Kahn)
0.1 Salmontine (Sonya)
1.1 DH Sunglow (Gabrielle and Bonnie)
0.0.1 Hypo het anery
1.1 07 Hypo pos. triple hets (Rico Suave & Pumpkin)
1.0.1 Het. Anery (Guy & ?)
0.3 Normals (Ophelia, Sasha, & Lulu)
1.0 Surinames (Solomon & Surreal(deceased)
1.3 Hog Isles (Mr.Orange & Peaches, Tang, Isis)
0.0.1 Central American (Sassy)
1.0 ATB (Satan... seriously!)
Pythons...
2.1 GTPs (B., Monty & Jewel)
0.0.3 BPs (MJ, Precious, Houdini)
1.2 Carpet Pythons (Jackson, Charlotte, & Cassandra)
0.1 Blood python (Akaia)
1.2 Children's Pythons
Misc.
1.1 Mandarin Ratsnakes (Jack & Jill)
1.0 Boxer/Pitt Mutt (Tyson)

Hello,

Sorry to hear this! I had the same thing happen to me just last year. Sold a 'female' het in '03 and in '07 the guy advises it turns out to be a male.

Did you have a TOS that deals with this?

It's been 2 years, IMO, it's buyer beware, they should have double checked the sex as soon as they recevied it and if they found out it was mis-sexed at that time, they would be due a replacement or a refund (including return shipping charges). After your TOS or gurantee is over, I hate to say it, but tough luck.

In my case, I still wanted to try to make it better for the guy, but didn't have any replacement animals. I offered that if he could have the snake re-sexed by someone close to him that I set up and it was verified to be mis-sexed, I'd refund his money and have the snake shipped back to me. Turns out, he was okay with keeping the snake and chalking it up to a lesson learned and had just wanted to make me aware. The guy has a standing discount with me for any future purchases.

Your case is a little more tricky since there were two boas involved. Do you have photo records? Perhaps if he sent you a pic of the snake in question you could determine if he mixed up the male/female. 'Cause if he didn't check the sex at the time of purchase, how would he really know which was which anyways? If you want to go above and beyond, you could offer him a partial refund or send an '08 DH female. I don't think you would be in the wrong telling the guy that it's been too long and there's nothing you can do about it now but you do apologize for the mix-up, these are live animals and mistakes happen.

Good luck!
-April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

It was a lesson learned for both of us.
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Marcs Reptiles