Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About two weeks ago we purchased a collection of snakes from a guy we both knew and in the beginning there was to be "X" amount of snakes and about 6 extra were thrown in two of which are very large Red Tail Boas. The male was in shed and the female was larger than life (to me anyways) She was over 8ft and 24 lbs. Gave her a couple of days to get used to the enclosure and life in a new place before offering her food, she didn't take it... she did smell bad so I proposed to my boyfriend we bathe her. As we are bathing her in the tub we notice this wheezing/puffing noise, we both know that is not good. So we take her back down stairs and I call the Vet, my partner raises her temps and I make an appointment due to the sound, it wasn't little it was huge.

Today I took her in to the vet, take her out of the Rubbermaid and notice mites (*Great) and the vet who was so kind and wonderful does a full exam on her, letting me know that not only does she had mites but she has alot of loose skin, she has not eaten in a long time, she has mouth rot and when she opened her mouth to show me, it was horrific, she had a black and yellowish ball at the back of her throat the size of a small egg, she said she is in really bad condition with double Pneumonia. She wrote out an estimate and said it would cost around ~!475.00 not including the medicine afterwards but this included to hospitalize her, anaethic, to lancer her and run culture tests on her etc. but in her estimation she was not doing well and had not been for a long while. I with regret and tears chose to put her down, the vet said it was a wise chose judging by her condition.

My question to all is how or do you approach the person I bought all these snakes from? As when I bought them from him, he said he guaranteed the health of his animals, and I also know there are always unforeseen circumstances but in this case, I am still paying for the lot of snakes and I am just curious on what others would do in this case?

Advise would be more than appreciated.

And should I bring the male in see the vet as well?

That's a tough one. Was the sick female a "free" snake? If so then I am not sure I would do anything but let the guy know, see what he says. AS far as the other animals, I would isolate them and treat them for mites as well.

I agree with bthacker. I would let the seller know what happened. Isolate all others and treat for mites. It wouldn't hurt to look all other snakes over closely. I would also let the guy know that you are concerned about the others. It is good to give him a heads up, just in case something happens. Tell him that it is upsetting that the snake had gotten so bad that you had to put it to sleep. Keep a real close eye for awhile on all of the snakes. How many snakes did you receive? That is a tough one. Good Luck. Let us know how it turns out. Derek

personally id go beat the crap out of the guy but ehn of course id have no one to blame but me for not inspecting the snakes before agreeing to purchase them. you could remind him that he guaranteed the snakes to be healthy and make him reimburse you for the vet bill and whatever he recieved monetarily from you. of course, he will probably refuse to do that since he probably knew the snake was in bad shape to begin with. i hate to say it but if i were you id keep all paperwork regarding the purchase and vet visit. id also right down any time that you spoke to the seller (whether by phone or in person) and have at least one witness to verify these dates/times. then if he still refuses to cooperate and refund your money, take him to small claims court.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

IMO, the "free" snakes should not come with your obligation to take it to the vet and ultimately put it down. If the person did gaurantee the health of the snakes then it should extend to the entire lot. I feel he shoulod be liable for the vet visit and euthanasia. Also for any further vet visits for the rest of the lot. As the other posters responded, now you have to be concerned with the entire lot and possible exposure to the rest of your collection. Again, IMO, anyone that would "unload" such a sick animal by giving it "free" with other purchases is despicable and I would be very concerned about the health of the rest of the animals. Either this person didn't know or didn't care, either of which is just plain wrong!!
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats