Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, have a question. I bought 4 Balls from on breeder and through the coarse of 6 weeks all 4 have dies. I am wondering if there could be a reason for that?

All 4 Balls were in different drawers of my rack and were in 2 different sets of racks, yet they all died and no other Balls died. 1st Ball dies 3 weeks after getting them and the rest died off 1 by one over the coarse of 3 more weeks. The 1st only ate 1 time for me, the others ate regularly, but died anyways.

Any help or idea or reason why they would have died would be great. Could the breeder have problems with a batch and i got it?

Also, i have been keeping Balls now for 3 years and only had 1 other die on me(way back when i started, had the under tank heated on a 10 gal. tank and ran it straight)(snake was burned (i think) and even after taking to vet and all, he died 2 weeks later)(this was back in Jan. 2003).

Thanks... John
-----
0.1 Albino
1.0 Pastel
1.0 (F1)Banded Ball
1.1 100% Het Piebald
1.1 100% Het Butterscotch Ghost
1.1 100% Het Yellow Ghost
1.18.1 Normal Balls

Wow, how sad. I'd be contacting the seller but in the meantime disinfect everything - even if they were in quarentine!

Sorry about your loss, did they look ok when they came in? Were they babies or adults?

They were all babies, none weighed in at over 100 grams when i got them.

This happened back in July and August 2004. I cleaned everything well back then. Nothing has died since(only the 4 i got from the one breeder).

I never contacted the breeder cause i had a problem from him in the 1st place. I kinda did not get what i asked for. When i got them(2 different shipments) they were not the sex i ordered and he made up some story for it. So i ate up the lose(not to ever again). So i figured if he screwed me with some of the deal, he would have told me that he could not help me on this.

Anyways, just want to see peoples opinions on this. My wife was really mad and wanted me to go after the breeder. Spent close to $1800 for the 4.

Thanks... John
-----
0.1 Albino
1.0 Pastel
1.0 (F1)Banded Ball
1.1 100% Het Piebald
1.1 100% Het Butterscotch Ghost
1.1 100% Het Yellow Ghost
1.18.1 Normal Balls

Wow that is awful! I'm so sorry. I hope you have used the appropriate channels to warn people about this guy!

Christy

Sorry to hear about the loss. That sucks. I would have gone after the breeder, as least to try and find anything out that you could have. $1800 for four snakes and they all died is a bit much to "eat".

Sorry again.

Circusfan

are they wild "adult" females like 1000 grams or more..or less..?

.....if they were captive bred captive born in the USA they should NOT be dying.....

if they are wild....they need parasite treatment and maybe some meds...?

I got 12 female 100 gram balls..just to try them out...they suck.......5 have died so far and one is male....so I am left with 6.....they will not eat yet and may never....I knew this when i got them....I knew I may lose all the money..they were cheap.....but I will not get wild balls ever again........

........shouldn't lose all the money but the people who sold them haven't come through with any remiance of any moneys yet for dead ones.....said he would but probably figures if he ignores me long enough I'll go away.........I haven't gone yet.I am still bugging him..........

.......have fun..good luck.......

don't buy wild stuff........

.......

JY

..............wonder if Zoological Imports reads these forums?.........
-----
.................

They were all babies farmed or wild so i was told. Also, i was told they all were good eaters.

1 of them only ate once for me, then died. The others ate anywheres from 5 to 15 mice each, 3 of them started to gain weight(the last one to die gain 70 grams for me). Just seems wierd that only the 4 i got from one breeder all died.

Sorry to hear your bad luck, but you got yours cheap, i did not. One was a morph and 3 were so called new possible morphs.

Just wish the breeder who sold them to me would take some responsability and maybe help me out, but does not look that way...

Thank you... John
-----
0.1 Albino
1.0 Pastel
1.0 (F1)Banded Ball
1.1 100% Het Piebald
1.1 100% Het Butterscotch Ghost
1.1 100% Het Yellow Ghost
1.18.1 Normal Balls

You really are taking chances with WC or farmed animals. They're really isn't any kind of guarantees, just be thankful that they didn't wipe out your entire collection.

With that being said, I may be wrong, but can a WC be a true morph or het? I would think it would be considered an anomaly until the genetics proves. But I may be wrong? Somethng for the breeders to answer.

If he didn't guarantee the health of the babies, then there is not a lot you can do. If this was an internet transaction you may be able to file with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center. You probably won't get your money back, but you may get satisfaction having done something, right? Anyway, sorry agan about your loss that sucks.
-----
Tosha

1.1.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
5.4.2 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

If a wc looks like an albino it probably is genetic. If it looks like a ghost or an axanthic you might be taking a bit more risk.

I had two different experiences years ago with corn snakes (morphs, obviously captive bred) that seemed to have some sort of disease (protozoa? I don’t know) that killed them any other snakes they came into contact with fairly quickly. Where the ones that died shipped in separate containers? They might well have been housed together at the importers. Maybe the right med could have saved them but hard to know.

who was the breeder

and what were the symptoms leading up to death wheezing,crackling in body,stargazing,sores,listlessness any more info would give a better understanding

OK, the 1st to die seemed to get skinny and skin was crackling(like dried out). The other 2 just were dead when i checked on them for routine watering(each a different day). The last and Orange Ghost was like blouted. It was all fat and very smelly.

As far as the breeder that sold them, he sells on KingSnake all the time. Very popular breeder.

I bought 3 in one order, it was going to be and i paid for 2.1 of a strage look(possible genetic), when they came to the Airport, i saw that they were all labeled Male. I contacted him asking which was the female and he said that when(at the last minute) he checked them before shipping he found out that the so called female was male. So instead of calling me or trying to arrange an adjustment in payment, he just sent them. He had my home phone number as well as my cell number. So my guess was he was just trying to move stock and i was the sucker. Originally i was only buying a male($600), but then like right before i sent money(a day or 2 before) he asked if i would like 1.1 of the same clutch for extra $150, i said OK and added the funds to the money order.

So the bottom line was i was getting 2.1 and got 3.0 and he knew it and did not contact me or adjust the price or anything. Then to beat that, the 3 died as well as the other(shipped earlier).

I guess life's a [bleep]. Small breeders(if having 1 clutch so far) makes me a breeder, but i have no clout. The big breeder would say it did not happen and all i did is ruin my name, so maybe someday when i have some snales for sale, he will tell people to stay away. Who will people believe? Me, who has not track record or a breeder who has make 1,000's of sales(that when good) and maybe 5 or 10 that people got screwed(but won't come forward about)? I will be dismissed and sell nothing.

Bottom line, i will not buy from him ever again. I would only give him a good reference if he did contact me and make it up to me. I think he knows i was screwed. As of right now, when i see someone ask on the forum about him, i send them an e-mail telling what happened to me. Till he makes it right by me, i will continue to do that.

Oh well, life goes on... John
-----
0.1 Albino
1.0 Pastel
1.0 (F1)Banded Ball
1.1 100% Het Piebald
1.1 100% Het Butterscotch Ghost
1.1 100% Het Yellow Ghost
1.18.1 Normal Balls

never heard of the name big breeder.....LOL....must have a real name......

oh wait...doesn't matter...they all lie and rip people off....that's how they grow........

yep.......

........little people are better deals........

.....and i don't ship to or from if at all possible.......shipping sucks and I think it can screw alot of stuff up.....

....
-----
.................

I do agree, but i have boughten Balls from large breeders with greaat results. Corey Woods, Ralph Davis, etc...

I can agree shipping can be a problem, but my snakes all died well after shipping. The last died 6 weeks out. So i do not believe shipping them was the cause. Plus, i have gotten 30 snakes shipped and all lived and are doing great(all but these 4).

Thanks... John
-----
0.1 Albino
1.0 Pastel
1.0 (F1)Banded Ball
1.1 100% Het Piebald
1.1 100% Het Butterscotch Ghost
1.1 100% Het Yellow Ghost
1.18.1 Normal Balls

I dont understand why people have an opportunity to keep other people from getting ripped off but they still choose to keep it secret, of the people they got ripped by

There could be a number of reasons: 1. It's against the TOS to bad mouth another person/company 2. They really are afraid the "big breeder" is going to smash thier reputation or 3. It didn't really happen. Any are viable reasons. If the poster would like to personally e-mail me I'd appreciate knowing who the breeder was. Thanks
-----
Tosha

1.1.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
5.4.2 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

zoological imports was not where I got them......zoological imports has always been kewl with friends and all and with hot stuff.....

Zoological Supply is where I went.......

.........once........
-----
.................

With what little information you've given on the snakes it'd be hard to tell what killed them. If you could provide their age, how they looked when you got them, if they ate, what they acted like, if there were any signs of illness, etc. it might help in narrowing it down to something. Hopefully since you've only had them for 6 weeks and they have been dying, you've kept them quarantined so there's not a possiblity they've infected the rest of your snakes? Disinfect everything, take the snakes to the vet to find out why they've died and contact the person you got them from. Sorry about your loss, I hope that you took care so that if it is something contageous you haven't spread something to the rest of your collection.
-----
Tosha

1.1.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
5.4.2 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

This happened a while back, all my other snakes are fine. Thanks though, all will work out. I did reply to another with more info.that your asking about.

Again, thank you... John
-----
0.1 Albino
1.0 Pastel
1.0 (F1)Banded Ball
1.1 100% Het Piebald
1.1 100% Het Butterscotch Ghost
1.1 100% Het Yellow Ghost
1.18.1 Normal Balls