Sight Unseen purchases...

Ssthisto · #1 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:02 PM

Just an idle question, really. Would you ever purchase a reptile sight unseen - sending the money off and waiting to see what you get? If you would, is there a maximum amount you'd spend before you'd INSIST on photographs of the animals? If you wouldn't, is it because you pick individual animals for the traits that appeal to you?

I've made a couple of sight-unseen purchases; generally I've been fairly happy though maybe not 100% thrilled.

My first sight-unseen purchase was a 1.2 of geckos from a well known breeder down south. Both females were gorgeous and exactly what I wanted - better, in fact, since the albino het blizzard girl was older than I paid for and properly sexed. The male was also older and correctly sexed... but I got a male with a kinked tailtip. Along with it, I got a note stating that the tailtip had been damaged by another animal; I have since bred Kurhah, my blizzard het albino male, and it looks like the kink is genetic and potentially a dominant gene, since he produced a significant proportion of kinked-tailtip hatchlings even with unrelated females. It's not disfiguring, and it's not a health issue - but I do feel a bit disappointed that I didn't get a choice on whether to introduce that gene, particularly for the money het blazing blizzards were going for several years ago.

I'm also going in on one of the Corn Runs - and I don't EXPECT photographs for the animals I'm getting (though I'd like 'em if I can get 'em) ... because there, I want the genetics.

But if I'm making a much bigger purchase - a single animal worth over a couple of hundred pounds - I really personally don't want to buy sight unseen. I dunno, for me a £300 animal is a pretty big purchase, let alone one triple or quadruple that price... and I would want at least one photo of the animal to make sure that THAT animal is what I want to spend so much cash on.

madaboutreptiles · #2 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:09 PM

I have made several sight unseen purchaces last year and for the most part I have been very happy but I was also buying from a well known breeder so i did feel fairly safe with it.

if I was buying from a less well known breeder I think i would want pictures for sure......

Its all down to trusting the person your buying from much like buying "hets"

Its easy to say this snake is het for something but hard to prove.....

captaincaveman · #3 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:09 PM

Yeah, i did with my adult abbotts, nige knew of someone selling a few, we saw pics of two, but not the rest, i also purchased a coastal carpet python some years back a similar way

I personally wouldn't with the majority of hatchlings from serpenco on these group things, mainly cause i like to have my pick of something in the flesh, especially with something like abbotts with selecting for banding, bloodreds, stripes or motleys

Im funny like that, i dont just want any genetically correct animal, theres always something visual on a particular morph that i'd personally seek out

Sueg65 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:27 PM

We bought 2 adult female boas without seeing any pics of them. To be honest it was an impulse buy and had us up at 5.00am on a sunday morning to meet the seller who was on his way to the Rodbaston show.
I am really pleased to say that both the boas were in perfect condition and absolutely gorgeous girls we were more than happy with our purchase.

Its not something that we would do normally as I like to see what I'm getting for my money and to make sure that its what I really want.

Especially if it was going into the hundreds of pounds then i would want a lot of information and pics before making a final decision.

bradhollands999 · #5 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:30 PM

I also like to see the animal before purchasing!!

Chiltern Reptiles · #6 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:37 PM

I did it for the first time last year - with the Corns from the corn-run and four bearded dragons. All were from bigger breeders (I don't think I'd do it from an individual or smaller breeder) and I'd done research on both first - internet hunting for reputation and photos etc.
I had a lot of contact with the Beardie breeder for anout 5 months before the babies came home, so I was happy that he knew what I wanted. The corns were Serpenco, so I trawled their website and others for the morphs I would be getting to get an idea of what their babies have looked like in the past.
Both were brilliant - I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome, and the beardies are looking to be the correct sexes even though that was completely on trust - there was no way I could be sure with sexing some so small as when I got them!
The Corns were small but ate perfectly and are growing very fast, colours were all I wanted and more.

Would I do it again? Don't know - it was stressful and time consuming, but it worked well for me this time...

HABU · #7 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:39 PM

yes!!!

Athravan · #8 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:39 PM

I have done, but typically speaking I like to at least see a photo first, but I have only been disappointed once, when I paid a good price for a pair of breeding boa constrictors who arrived covered in mites, burns, not feeding, and certainly not as described... I lost a lot of money on them and it has made me a little wary in the future.

Ssthisto · #9 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captaincaveman

I personally wouldn't with the majority of hatchlings from serpenco on these group things, mainly cause i like to have my pick of something in the flesh, especially with something like abbotts with selecting for banding, bloodreds, stripes or motleys

Im funny like that, i dont just want any genetically correct animal, theres always something visual on a particular morph that i'd personally seek out

That's a good point, Jay - if I were buying a Miami or a Stripe, I'd want photos and to pick the one closest to what *I* consider a perfect Miami or Stripe. I'd hate to buy a Miami sight unseen and get a tan and orange animal when what I want is steel grey and red.

Now, on the other hand, three quarters of what I'm getting aren't pattern morphs at all - Lava, Caramel and Amel, all of which are possible hets for Butter-Topaz Motley (and of course, even if the hets don't quite pan out, at least one pair will produce guaranteed hets for Topaz). The last one is a Bloodred het for a few other bits - and it's the hets I'm interested in, plus having a homozygous bloodred male in case Calcite, my Coral Snow possible het Blood isn't het. And none of 'em are Serpenco

Royal pythons... well, I might buy something sight unseen from a big US breeder with a stellar reputation (though I'd be ASKING for photos, not getting 'em wouldn't be a dealbreaker); I'm less likely to get one sight unseen from someone who doesn't have a big reputation backing them. I just wish I could afford import costs and a big purchase from Ralph Davis Reptiles

Snakes r grreat · #10 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 01:50 PM

I have done twice now, both recently, but only from people i trust and who have good reputations.

Its not something i like to do, but to get what i have wanted, its something i have had to do.

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