Reptile & Amphibian Forums

update for Bahreptiles, Gargoyle420, Patoquack, Raven01...

I wanted to let you guys know that I had returned that argentine boa I had posted about back in Feb (25th-26th) and I have received a refund for the animal. I thank you for your replies and encouraging comments at the time. I believe my original thread is now on page 6 b/c this forum moves so quickly.lol. I never posted more about it b/c the company/dealer immediately came to an acceptable agreement and worked it out with me. I bought & received quality animals from them in the past so it was unfortunate to experience this, which I am hope was a one-time, isolated incident.

I had fed her 3X's and she had grown quite a bit larger in size during the short period of time I had her in my care. Plus I did a mild Gatorade soak that seemed to work well in perking her up. She took her 3 meals ok, plus she had what looked like normal stools, although I can't really see anything if at a microscopic level.

I really came close to keeping her since I’m a sucker for sweet animals that deserve a decent chance at a better, healthier life but as someone pointed out, it is never good to perpetuate the sale of animals below a certain quality. Plus, I did not have a good feeling not knowing what may have been wrong with her...maybe internal… either with her ribs or whatever.

I read something that stuck in my mind (and still does), which was the quote Gus @ RioBravo has in his signature…

"Quality is not an accident. Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

Think how great this hobby would be if everyone followed this line of reasoning. I do not hold the party who sold me that snake completely responsible, nor do I care to name drop or bash since they were only brokering the animal they had received just a short time prior to selling it to me. Hopefully it sent a message to that particular dealer to better qualify their animal suppliers/breeders in the future. I will even go as far as to give them a second chance in the future since it was not indicative of the quality I've received in the past from them. Not only that, but they were sincere about working it out with me until I was ready to decide if I wanted to keep the boa or not.

PLEASE let me know if you do or do NOT see the below pics as I tried a new method of posting them. I may be able to see them but if you can't, it could be b/c they're password protected.

IT'S NICE TO KNOW IT WAS RESOLVED. IN THE FUTURE PLEASE BE LEARY OF ANYONE BROKERING ANIMALS. I HAVE LEARNED THE HARD WAY NOT TO BROKER AND NOT TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE THAT DO.

Glad to know the dealer worked things out for you. I understand about having a soft spot for needy animals (I'm a total sucker for nursing stuff back to health or taking in strays), but you were right in sending her back if you had ANY reservations about keeping her. We should expect healthy animals when we purchase them, and you were right that by returning her you were sending a message that we as keepers won't accept anything less. Perhaps this dealer will follow the lead you set and require his suppliers to provide only healthy animals in the future....or at least not to immediately sell animals just received that are not healthy. I, too, love that quote from Gus. It would be wonderful if everyone took his approach to their animals this hobby.

Raven

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IF YOU HAVE IT SHOW IT. IF YOU OWN IT FLAUNT IT!!

I'm glad it worked out for you. I respect your cool head in this situation and your overall concern for the boa rather than just getting your "money's worth".. in the end you seemed to have learned a little about caring for a sick boa which is always a good thing to learn.

take care,
Patrick