what to do?

[garterchick]

hello y'all
i have a question that doesn't directly pertain to snake care, but it is about a snake. as some of you may know, i've been looking for an adult albino checkered garter male, without much success. then i came accross an add on kingsnake last week that offered "06 albino checkered garters". i know of course that this is not an adult snake but at least it should have a pretty good start into life. i responded in e-mail, asking if any of these snakes were male and was told that yes, males are available. so i sent my $110.00 by pay-pal ($60.00 for the snake, $50.00 for shipping) and received my snake yesterday. i can't describe the surprize and disappointment i felt when i opened the box and found this tiny little baby snake that's litterally no bigger than my puget baby that was born 3 weeks ago. don't get me wrong, he's awfully cute and i don't mind at all raising him, but i think i was ripped off. when i e-mailed the seller, questioning the age of this little guy, i got the following response:

Hi Tina,
Â
Sorry we took so long to get back to you. Things have been pretty hectic with Gary's mom in the hospital in critical condition.
Â
We purchased the snakes over 2 months ago. We were told they were late '06 babies.

Thanks,


now i just don't know what to do. like i said, i don't mind raising this little boy, i just wouldn't have payed so much money for him.
any advice?
tina

[Stefan-A]

This probably isn't going to help you in any way, but when I bought my corn a few months back, it was housed with another one, that was born the same month (July '06), but wasn't bigger than a hatchling. I mean really tiny. The clerk told me they didn't know what to make of it, it would eat without problems, but it just didn't grow at the same rate as the others. I obviously bought the biggest (I know it's no guarantee) of the half a dozen corns they had. Fortunately it was my favorite morph and it was also the cheapest.

Now, I'm not saying that you haven't been ripped off, but it's entirely possible that you haven't been. But of course you might have been, or possibly just been sent a problem feeder.

[adamanteus]

I think at the very least you should have been informed the the snake was small before they took your money. But if you're happy with the little guy, Tina, don't let his diminutive size spoil your enjoyment of him. As my mother would say "He has all the world to grow in".

[garterchick]

i do like him, but i really hate having been made a fool of. if i wasn't suspicious before, i am now because the add has suddenly disappeared (it was still posted last night). furtheremore, this is not just an individual but a herp business, so they know...
tina

[adamanteus]

As long as there are enthusiasts such as ourselves, there will always be someone out there looking for the chance to make a quick buck. You could ask for a partial refund because of the small size of the snake....but don't let it spoil things for you.

[Snaky]

It is a risk when you buy online. But like said, every individual of every litter is different. You can have very little one's, that seem like they don't grow. Others grow on air.

The most important thing is that you like him... You can ask for a little back, but don't get your hope's up and don't let it spoil the fun of the new snake.

On a site note: Snakes that are fed with mice grow most of the time faster...

[mikm]

Hey there Tina ... In the past, I have bought 'yearling' siblings where one was much larger then the other. I would have appreciated at least a mention of the size difference as well. As for buying 'online' I have done that 99% of the time and it has worked out well ... I think perhaps asking/posing alot of questions beforehand may prevent future disappoinment. If the seller is annoyed by questions I would move on ...

best wishes

[garterchick]

i have bought all my snakes on line and this is the first time i didn't get what i paid for, so the odds are still in my favor. as for this little guy, i'll raise him and just wait an extra year before i can breed him. he's
eating and he shed last night, so at least he is healthy.
tina