Stolen Snakes

[MRO33]

Hey guys,
Hoping for some help, I've recently found out some sad news, I'll cut a long story short had a very close friend (ex-close friend) looking after a couple of my snakes for me while I moved houses etc... so when it comes time that I'm ready to take them back I get told 'my whole collection got a disease and there all dead etc...' obviously being upset asked what had happened and was told the story and that he had taken em all to the vet but the treatments didn't work so being as he was a friend I took his word for it, but recently I had a couple of mutual friends tell me that they were in fact sold and through this site, I also called the vet who also happened to be my regular vet who also confirmed that none of my snakes had been treated or that any medication was sought, so I'm hoping if anyone on here has in fact purchased any of my snakes they could please let me know details and hopefully come to some sort of agreement possibly mainly I am just hoping for some cold hard proof they have been sold.

The guys name I can't give out for privacy reasons
Lives on the Gold Coast, young guy 21yrs old has tattoos on both arms, upper body, neck etc...
The snakes that are missing are as follows:
*Female Black Headed Python Approx 2yrs old very clean markings and has a distinctive 'X' pattern towards the middle of her body on the side, she is rather high in orange contrast between her black bands and tan bands, she was rather tame at time of taking her there
*Male Ghost Childrens Python Approx 5yrs old Ghost childrens python need I say more colour morf from Dark to light tan mainly occassionally going opaque, dots evident when in lighter colours, extremely tame temperment, brought from a breeder as was unable to breed and has been my favourite pet ever since he is a baby will not hurt a fly
*Female Water Python 10 months old, typical hatchling water python, bitey temperment

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated and if possible would like to reaquire theses snakes (obviously with money exchanged refunded as the purchaser is not in the wrong here, the seller can reimburse the money and this will happen before any exchange of animal happens)

 

[Basstones]

Do you have a time frame in which you believe they were sold? If they were originally sold via the forums I wouldn't be suprised if mods/admin could still view those threads.

Horrible situation to be in though, hope it all gets resolved for you.

Edit: Also, shouldn't there be some sort of paper trail with the licensing? Or did you not officially transfer them to him? If he recorded them as dead on his books then i'm curious what details the buyer received.

 

[MRO33]

He is a dodgy person so as he has quite a few snakes on his license he may of done paper work for snakes on his license and given them my snakes, It would of been at some point between Aug last year and now as I have not been to his house since then so he may of just hidden them somewhere from me who knows but yeah any help is appreciated, I'd pay a reward for the right info

 

[Kam333]

Hey guys,
Hoping for some help, I've recently found out some sad news, I'll cut a long story short had a very close friend (ex-close friend) looking after a couple of my snakes for me while I moved houses etc... so when it comes time that I'm ready to take them back I get told 'my whole collection got a disease and there all dead etc...' obviously being upset asked what had happened and was told the story and that he had taken em all to the vet but the treatments didn't work so being as he was a friend I took his word for it, but recently I had a couple of mutual friends tell me that they were in fact sold and through this site, I also called the vet who also happened to be my regular vet who also confirmed that none of my snakes had been treated or that any medication was sought, so I'm hoping if anyone on here has in fact purchased any of my snakes they could please let me know details and hopefully come to some sort of agreement possibly mainly I am just hoping for some cold hard proof they have been sold.

The guys name I can't give out for privacy reasons
Lives on the Gold Coast, young guy 21yrs old has tattoos on both arms, upper body, neck etc...
The snakes that are missing are as follows:
*Female Black Headed Python Approx 2yrs old very clean markings and has a distinctive 'X' pattern towards the middle of her body on the side, she is rather high in orange contrast between her black bands and tan bands, she was rather tame at time of taking her there
*Male Ghost Childrens Python Approx 5yrs old Ghost childrens python need I say more colour morf from Dark to light tan mainly occassionally going opaque, dots evident when in lighter colours, extremely tame temperment, brought from a breeder as was unable to breed and has been my favourite pet ever since he is a baby will not hurt a fly
*Female Water Python 10 months old, typical hatchling water python, bitey temperment

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated and if possible would like to reaquire theses snakes (obviously with money exchanged refunded as the purchaser is not in the wrong here, the seller can reimburse the money and this will happen before any exchange of animal happens)

Truth is it is theft and therefore illegal as well as illegally dealing in wildlife. Make an official complaint to the police, it could drag out into the civil courts but usually the perp responds once the law is involved.

 

[Red_LaCN]

Ditto that. Make a complaint to the police,or get DSE to check this guys own license to see if anything matching the description of your snakes was sold by him.

 

[jaylikesbeef]

Can't believe anyone would do this to a "friend". If I were in your shoes I would just tell him I am going to get the police involved and see what he says. The snakes belong to you (still in your books) and his initially story can't be supported since you know exactly which vet he took them to. I don't see how he can get around the system.

 

[PythonLegs]

I had a snake stolen last year- take my advice and give DERM a complete miss, they're completely useless and unhelpful. Go straight to QLD police.

 

[Gibblore]

That suxs.

 

[mike83]

Sorry to hear this mate I hope you get them back or get some help with info about it.

 

[scorps]

As bad as this sounds, I honestly believe even if you had all the evidence Derm or the qld police won't do anything, they really don't care about reptiles.

The only time reptiles are involved is genuinely during raids on drugs.

There isn't many other times they bother.

I do hope you have good luck, I personally would take it into my own hands lol but that's not to legal lol

 

[Kam333]

That suxs.

Gibblore, maybe it's time to tell him about the bats! Obviously if he hasnt seen them yet, . . he's not gonna

 

[Lizzy90]

Its unbelievable what people try to get away with these days.

Hope your able to get them back soon.

 

[MRO33]

Yeah Qld Police and stuff are useless saying its a civil matter and that license isn't proof of ownership of a specific snake as license details are not specific enough etc... But pretty much sent him a msg saying he has a week to have them returned otherwise etc...

Hey thanks to whomever msg me the details but there is a for sale thread from this guy showing my bhp I don't know whether I can put a direct link too it here due to topic of conversation, but if you search 'snakes for sale' its a post from october with 2 bhps, diamond and coastal in it and in fact even has pics of my female with one highlighting her X pattern

 

[Venomous_RBB]

Couldnt find the thread but good luck trying to get your pets back. It is a shame when someone is like that :/

 

[bellany]

I found the ad, I remember seeing it a while ago, you need get something done so he knows his place ! The ad has him as sold the bhps but the rest not sure.. good luck and hope you get ur babies back !

 

[zaphyrr]

Found the post - a lovely little python and I am so sorry this has happened to you
Maybe you could post the picture of her? Maybe someone will recognise her and do the nice thing and contact you.

I sincerly hope you can get your snakes back, fingers crossed for you.

 

[Specks]

Two sides to the story sometimes
Dont believe what someone posts

 

[Frozenmouse]

This poses a stack of questions.
How long were you not in contact with him, quite a while?
Were you paying him to look after them?
Was there an agreement as to how long he was to take care of them for you ?

 

[bellany]

So a phone call from said mate saying 'oh mate I know their yours and all but do ya mind if i sell them or say they all died a whiles back would you be all sweet with that?' regardless of the arrangement and time, he should have called and said mate you need to take your snakes or mate your snakes died if that were the case. Selling them and pocketing isnt right no matter what..

 

[Specks]

bellany
Do you know what happened ?
Or just taking this as gospel