This is what I have been trying to say for the longest......

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Posted by Fred Albury on September 14, 2002 at 20:04:51:

In Reply to: The importance of buying from a reputable breeder. (long) posted by gila7150 on September 14, 2002 at 13:00:36:

:Let me just start by saying...I'm an idiot. I'm usually very selective about who I buy my reptiles from. I went to Dr. Seward to purchase my banded gila, I went to Ron St. Pierre to purchase my red tegus, and so on. I had every intention of doing the same with my first indigo but I screwed up....big time!
: I've been researching Texas Indigos for quite a while and had saved up the money to purchase one. First, I contacted Dean Allessandrini who seemed like a great guy. He was sold out of babies but put me on the list for next year. (I definitely hope to get one of his babies next year). Next I contacted Virgil Willis...another great guy. He had one female hatchling but wasn't sure if he wanted to get rid of it and told me he'd get back to me. I had placed some ads in the classifieds and got a response from a guy who said he had a captive born, healthy, feeding 2 1/2 year old female and agreed to sell it for $350 shipped. This seemed like a great deal even though I had never heard of this guy before. I agreed to purchase this snake. A few days later Virgil Willis got back to me and offered to sell the female. I told him that I had agreed to purchase another indigo and couldn't afford both. He was very understanding and even offered to help me with any questions I had with my new indigo (again, a really good guy).
: The person I purchased the snake from is Michael Crowder from Las Vegas. I had a gut feeling that this deal was too good to be true and I was getting bad feelings about this guy. Still, like an idiot, I sent this guy a money order.
: The snake was shipped to my work yesterday and arrived in horrendous condition. The snake had a large abscess and retained eye caps that look like they have been on forever. The snake has such severe conjunctivitis in the left eye that the conjunctiva is actually swollen out around the entire eye.
: When I tried to call Michael I found that he had given me a wrong #. He doesn't answer his emails (his email address is ct2608@aol.com). Fortunately, I have an excellent reptile vet and was able to get the snake in there first thing this morning. He lanced the abscess and is sending the samples of for cytology. He irrigated the abscess and has started her on Baytril until we get the results back. We were unable to remove the severely retained eye cap that is virtually cemented on. I am administering baytril at home and have an appt to bring her back in a week. We're hoping that the eye cap will be easier to deal with when the conjunctivitis subsides a little. He also performed a fecal exam which was suprisingly negative. We're going to recheck that next week as well with a better sample.

: I'm glad in a way that this magnificent snake is out of this jerk's hands but I'm obviously angry that I was misled and even more angry that this indigo was mistreated and neglected by him. I plan to spend whatever it takes to return this indigo to the condition it deserves. I also plan to persue this conman to the fullest extent. I'm not the kind of person who would make public accusations without proof. I have all of our correspondence saved if anyone is interested. This photo should speak for itself...this is the indigo as I received it yesterday morning.
: Needless to say, if you're going to purchase an indigo buy it from one of the reputable breeders who frequent this forum and seem to show a true love for the snakes they breed. I've learned my lesson.
:I'll post updates of this girl's condition as she hopefully improves.
: Chris

:***By the way, I did some name dropping in this post and just so there is no confusion...
:Dean Allessandrini and Virgil Willis = great guys and reputable breeders
:Michael Crowder = dirtbag

Folks,

I have spoken about these type of transactions before, and received alot of grief over it. I have talked till blue in the face about buying from reputable breeders, who werent necessarily in this for the money, but really focused on the snakes. for that I received quite a bit of grief, people telling me that I thought more of myself than I really do(Much more)
HERE you have a classic tale of what not to do when buying a Indigo , or any other snake for that matter.
The person here tried to buy from reputable breeders, and would have had his snakes the next year had he waited. but he,just like me, wanted to get one NOW. In the process, he ended up not being able to buy one from reputable breeders because of unavailability and was left to buy from someone that probably neither produced the snake, nor had it for any length of time(*READ-BROKER*)
Now that has become an almost dirty word to me, but especially brokers that no one really knows anything about. Had it been a Siegel or Dembenski, this whole thing might have turned out okay.

The guy sold our hero this snake, sent it to him(What ball-balls!!) and then didnt contact him back after the customer complained. WE all make MISTAKES, and the guy could havve just screwed up on his end, but he should have tried to make SOME attempt to pay this guy back, maybe over a period of 4-5 months so that things were set right.

THIS is waht I am talking about. You dont have to buy from me, butdont buy from someone that no one ever heard of BROKERING the snakes. Matter of fact, with this type of snake,Id suggest that you buy only directly from the breeder him/her self. Dont get me wrong,I am a champion of the little guy, but you can be alittle guy and still have integrity. I know some snake breeders that produce AWESOME snakes, maybe 30 a year, and no one even knows who they are, but because they are in this...not for the money, but for the love of the snake, they get a 4 star rateing in my book. no, being a big breder isnt bad either, but I have seen some TRULY sleazy lieing big name breeders that treated their customers like cheap prostitutes in Las Vegas.

In short...take the time to get to know the breeder, ask them for alist of former customers with email addies and numbers to verify their status, check the Board of Inquiry about their reputation, and DONT BE IN SUCH A RUSH TO BUY. the snakes will still be here next month, next year, and after that. Slow down, think things out and buy from someone that you feel is truly a good guy and that OTHERs more knowledgeable than you think is a good guy also. Im not talking trash,Ive made the same mistakes, gotten badly burned, and had little or no recourse, other than griping endlessly about ti to whoever would listen. Well thats all for now. My rant is done..........

Fred
(Aztec Reptiles)
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Follow Ups:

I agree with you 100%! gila7150 09/14/02 (0)
Re: This is what I have been trying to say for the longest...... froggystyle34 09/14/02 (0)