Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking for anyone who has bought herps via the classified and has gotten ripped off. I was recently sent a tortoise with missing scutes and mouth rot that had eaten away the lower mandible. I also received a tortoise with a broken/mangled leg. Neither problem was mentioned in the adds. Although one was resolved I wonder what kind of person would send animals with such obvious problems? What does this say about our hobby? Both people told me that they did not realize that the torts had these problems. Come on, my 7 year old neice saw them immediately! Please, do not tell me to use the complaint forum. From all of its disclaimers it should read that "nothing will ever be resolved". Tell me your story! I may be publishing an article on this topic in the future. Maybe we need a "Beware Of Rip-Off" section in the classified. Any pics would help. Thanks.

Perhaps it is the people that would purchase tortises over the internet that are to blame? 'Buyer beware'. You are feeding a conscienceless 'beast' with no consideration for the good of the species.

So maybe we should outlaw the sale and ownership of reptiles to alleviate this problem. No criminals or victims to blame. A buyer should not have to "beware" of what is supposed to be an honest salesperson. Lets start the process and get the law into the books!

That's interesting. I raise animals for a living and I have purchased a lot of animals through kingsnake. I have only had 3 major problems, and 2 of them involved tortoises!

One was sent to me with a huge gash on it's back. It was an adult male leopard tort. that looked like it had been run over by a grass cutter when it was very small. While it was an old wound and healed, it was very obvious because it is about 3/4 inch deep and 3 inches long.-no mention of this in the ad.

Another one was a female leopard tort that was very light and her shell was soft. (you could bend it with just a little pressure). She was also an adult and died about 3 months later. She also walked very low to the ground, almost dragging herself along. (She was walking though). She ate fine, and I tried to up her calcium significantly, but it was too late.

The last bad incidence was some red ackies I bought as a package deal (about 12 of them). They were represented as all reds and all in perfect condition. First, I was sent one less than promised. Second, about 2/3 of them appeared to be yellows. I had some yellows already, and they looked identical. And third, they had about 75 toes missing in total and some just had stumps instead of front feet. The guy said he would send me some more babies to make up for it in 2 months (when the nest ones hatched) but I never heard from him again. He disappeared from kingsnake and his e-mail/cell phone were no longer any good. (The monies were collected by a "friends" pet shop so I didn't think I should complain to VISA and have the pet shop take the loss.) Looking back, I wish I had.

Rodney

Thanks, at least you were not like the last person who blames the buyer. According to him I am at fault for buying over the internet. Maybe we should outlaw the sale of herps to help eliminate this problem. No criminals or victims to blame!