Red Tail Boa died after purchase, help!?

Ok, so here's the thing. I own a beautiful ball python, and I recently purchased a gorgeous baby Peruvian Red tail boa. However I was delayed from buying the snake for a few days because it had a poor transfer from the breeder to the pet store, and it got mites (the breeder had put unchecked wood in the box and the mites got on the snake). After treating the snake for a while the mites soon were gone, but the ugly scars and bumps were still left on, which is normal.





*Now the warranty for the snake is one week, unless something is wrong with it, then I am supposed to return to the store and sign a waiver that prolongs the warranty by another week. A month later after I had purchased it, he was having major difficulty with shedding, due to mites bites. All the conditions were good, and he had good humidity and water. I also used the moist pillow method to help him. I eventually just manually peeled the skin by myself, from the bottom of the top half to the tail. So he still had skin remaining on his head, thus I still couldn't feed him (he had refused the last pinky dinner at the pet store too.) A little later I discovered him dead.





The situation right now, is that the salesperson who I bought it from is trying to convince his manager to give me the refund on this $300 purchase. The thing is, is that I was outside of the warranty and didn't sign the extended waiver. However the snake I bought from them was sick and wasn't shedding properly (they aren't buying anything from the breeder anymore). What should I do? That a lot of money for me, not even including the appliances that I have spent on the snake as well as the initial cost for the snake....Help!



Helping your snake shed will not KILL him, its very damaging but it is not fatal.


More than likely it was a disease cause from the wood and mites


If they refuse to give you a refund, then theres not a whole lot you can do besides threaten to not give them business and to talk to a lawyer




They should have never sold you the snake to begin with it should have been returned to the breeder. The snake sounds like it was sick when it arrived at the pet store; they should give you your money back ot a replacement snake.




I am very sorry for your loss. TECHNICALLY, they don't owe you anything, but I would still try to get your money back. Do not try to sue, because unfortunately, they don't technically owe you anything.


Again, I am sorry for your loss.




They should give you a refund and if not SUE!!!!!




I'm not trying to rub salt on your wounds, but it is most likely your fault that the snake is dead. Never try to "help" a snake shed its skin, even if it looks like its having trouble! There are a number of things to introduce into the snake's terrarium to help it ("dead" rocks, wet moss, wood chip bedding), but peeling it off for your snake could, and in this case most likely DID, cause much of the live skin to come off as well, leaving the snake open to major infections. Nevertheless, the pet store did sell you a sick animal, so they are to blame, as well.





I disagree with the first poster.. I think if you tried to sue them, you would spend much more than 300 dollars. Still, try to get your money back. If they refuse, go to the store director (every retail store has one!) If they refuse, HAND WRITE a letter to the CEO. That almost always works. Because the customer is always right. ;) But then again, they may argue that because you didn't tell them the animal was sick to get the one week extension, that it was your fault the snake died. Just try to play it by ear, and try to learn from this experience. Never buy a defective animal. The stress of dealing with it and having it sometimes die, as in your case, is not worth it. Invest in something healthy from a reputable breeder next time.