beknluke
Very Well-Known Member
Hi Guys
The following is a bit of a sad story, but with lots of money and a hell of a lot of time and TLC, it just might turn out ok...
I wasn't planning on announcing to everyone my joy at the following purchase because of the dollar figure, but since I have a well secured home and this needs to be a lesson to everyone, I thought I would share.
I don't know how many of you saw this add, but there was an add placed on a website not long ago for 12 pairs of 18mth old Central Beardies with intense colouring for $6k in Nth Qld. I am the buyer.
After a few phone conversations with the seller and some emails going back and forth with things such as "oh they're just beautiful!! I just know you'll be even more excited when you get them!! They're my babies - I had a cry when I packaged them up" yadda yadda, I was happy to proceed with the purchase.
$6000 late and I am opening the container that they came down in, almost wetting myself with the excitement of looking at them in person.
The first thing I noticed is the container that they were shipped in. It was one of those 'roll under the bed' type long but shallow containers. It only had holes drilled in the lid. Only 38 small holes were drilled in that lid - and the con note (along with the freight sticker) said OVER NIGHT TO MEL!!
Next thing I noticed was the way in which they were packed. All of the beardies were SHOVED into these small bags to the point where they were practically folded into them.
THEN, they were stacked on top of each other with nothing in between to allow air to circulate.
Still, I wasn't put off... I started to open the bags... After a few bags, I was a bit less excited, opened a few more and I was concerned, opened the last few and I was in tears.
Whilst some of these animals came down without anything majorly wrong with them other than some nose and chin rubs and the girls being under weight from breeding - some were downright nasty
Here is a link to some photos.... WARNING - they may ick some people out.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b231/beknluke/Beardies
Needless to say, I raced them up to my local vet to have it recorded that I had them seen to on the same night that I received them and I took the following day off work to get them to Canterbury Veterinary Clinic.
I took ALL 24 in and we were in there for 2 hours.
Over all, there are numerous serious gangrene on a lot of the animals, 1 animal awaiting amputation, 1 waiting to see if the lizard 'self amputates' by the rest of the limb staying healthy and the dead bit falls off, (LOTS of toes are in this way too), at least 3 or 4 cysts, and 5 or so eyes that I am putting ointment on 4 times a day so that the scabs and muck is gone and we can see if there are actually eye balls in there Oh!! Not to mention the 2 that might have brain damage from suffocation!!
2 of the animals I WAS told had been to the vet that morning, but the seller SERIOUSLY understated what was wrong with them - AND failed to mention that one of them had had its front leg amputated practically at the shoulder.
The seller had THOSE two animals stacked underneath all of the others
I have to get up an hour earlier each day (making it 5.30am) and am going to bed at about 11.30/12 by the time I am finished with them for the night.
On all of the cuts, gangrene and scabs I am having to apply Bepanthen 3x a day...
I am exhausted
I spoke to the seller while I was in the vet on the actual night that I received them and they INSISTED that the animals were 'fine when they left me' and they 'find it very hard to believe' that the animals were in the state that I was claiming they were in...
Yesterday I had to spend another $1100 on enclosures to separate them further so that I almost have 1 animal/tank so that there is limited stress, they have all access to food etc etc.
In hind sight there WERE a few subtly dodgy things about the sale that I should have picked up on, but in my na?ve excitement, I overlooked them
So guys - let this be a lesson to ALL of you, if you are making a big purchase like this, if you're unable to get references off other people who have dealt with the seller, see if you can stretch the budget just a fraction more to get a flight there and check em out.
Sorry to have gone on about it, but I am always so friendly and trusting of other sellers that sometimes I overlook the possibilities that it 'could be happening to me'
Bex
The following is a bit of a sad story, but with lots of money and a hell of a lot of time and TLC, it just might turn out ok...
I wasn't planning on announcing to everyone my joy at the following purchase because of the dollar figure, but since I have a well secured home and this needs to be a lesson to everyone, I thought I would share.
I don't know how many of you saw this add, but there was an add placed on a website not long ago for 12 pairs of 18mth old Central Beardies with intense colouring for $6k in Nth Qld. I am the buyer.
After a few phone conversations with the seller and some emails going back and forth with things such as "oh they're just beautiful!! I just know you'll be even more excited when you get them!! They're my babies - I had a cry when I packaged them up" yadda yadda, I was happy to proceed with the purchase.
$6000 late and I am opening the container that they came down in, almost wetting myself with the excitement of looking at them in person.
The first thing I noticed is the container that they were shipped in. It was one of those 'roll under the bed' type long but shallow containers. It only had holes drilled in the lid. Only 38 small holes were drilled in that lid - and the con note (along with the freight sticker) said OVER NIGHT TO MEL!!
Next thing I noticed was the way in which they were packed. All of the beardies were SHOVED into these small bags to the point where they were practically folded into them.
THEN, they were stacked on top of each other with nothing in between to allow air to circulate.
Still, I wasn't put off... I started to open the bags... After a few bags, I was a bit less excited, opened a few more and I was concerned, opened the last few and I was in tears.
Whilst some of these animals came down without anything majorly wrong with them other than some nose and chin rubs and the girls being under weight from breeding - some were downright nasty
Here is a link to some photos.... WARNING - they may ick some people out.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b231/beknluke/Beardies
Needless to say, I raced them up to my local vet to have it recorded that I had them seen to on the same night that I received them and I took the following day off work to get them to Canterbury Veterinary Clinic.
I took ALL 24 in and we were in there for 2 hours.
Over all, there are numerous serious gangrene on a lot of the animals, 1 animal awaiting amputation, 1 waiting to see if the lizard 'self amputates' by the rest of the limb staying healthy and the dead bit falls off, (LOTS of toes are in this way too), at least 3 or 4 cysts, and 5 or so eyes that I am putting ointment on 4 times a day so that the scabs and muck is gone and we can see if there are actually eye balls in there
Oh!! Not to mention the 2 that might have brain damage from suffocation!!2 of the animals I WAS told had been to the vet that morning, but the seller SERIOUSLY understated what was wrong with them - AND failed to mention that one of them had had its front leg amputated practically at the shoulder.
The seller had THOSE two animals stacked underneath all of the others
I have to get up an hour earlier each day (making it 5.30am) and am going to bed at about 11.30/12 by the time I am finished with them for the night.
On all of the cuts, gangrene and scabs I am having to apply Bepanthen 3x a day...
I am exhausted
I spoke to the seller while I was in the vet on the actual night that I received them and they INSISTED that the animals were 'fine when they left me' and they 'find it very hard to believe' that the animals were in the state that I was claiming they were in...
Yesterday I had to spend another $1100 on enclosures to separate them further so that I almost have 1 animal/tank so that there is limited stress, they have all access to food etc etc.
In hind sight there WERE a few subtly dodgy things about the sale that I should have picked up on, but in my na?ve excitement, I overlooked them
So guys - let this be a lesson to ALL of you, if you are making a big purchase like this, if you're unable to get references off other people who have dealt with the seller, see if you can stretch the budget just a fraction more to get a flight there and check em out.
Sorry to have gone on about it, but I am always so friendly and trusting of other sellers that sometimes I overlook the possibilities that it 'could be happening to me'
Bex
