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Needing shoulders that understand to cry on.

Tavia

Tavia

Elemental Exotics
I received a DOA shipment today, my very first. Not a first I was wanting for sure! Poor baby ... He was sure a pretty thing. This whole transaction has been one big screw up after another. Since I haven't heard back from the shipper yet, I'm going to be sparing on details but I just needed a shoulder that would really understand the horror of opening a box to find the reptile inside dead.
I'm thinking this little one is another heat pack fatality. Heat packs sure scare me!
RIP little one ...

:crying:
 

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Aw that is so sad, not to mention disappointing. I'm sorry you have to experience this. I hate to think of situations like this, and can only hope he went fairly quickly with minimal suffering. I hope you're able to sort it out with the shipper. He's gorgeous though, what kind of snake is that?
 
He is an Oreocryptophis porphyraceus pulchra or most commonly called a Yunnan mountain rat snake.
 
Poor baby. Was the shipment in a delay? I'm hoping the seller will be able to offer you a replacement or make it right somehow.
I dread this kind of thing from ever happening to me, but even more so as a seller than as a buyer. Though it would suck either way. I'm not sure about this particular species, but with corns I try to not use a heat pack unless there is actual danger of freezing temps (in which case it's usually wiser not to ship) Heat seems a lot more likely to kill during shipping than cold.
 
No, the package didn't hit any snags and arrived roughly around 10:15 this morning. The package was well done, the heat pack how it should have been packaged and it probably wouldn't have been a problem if this was a more heat tolerant species but as it was I'm not sure why a heat pack was used at all. The temps were a bit on the cold side but not bad, as far as I know, I didn't check what had been forecast all along the route. These guys don't do well at temps over 84 degrees for long periods of time though. I grabbed my temp gun when I realized he was unresponsive and took a reading, it was all over the place as I moved the point of aim but I got a reading of 115 at the top of the box, practically on the heat pack and somewhere around 80 to 87 degrees in the nest in the newspaper at the level that the deli cup had been at.
Because there were no delays and his body condition looks good, my best guess right now would be overheating.
 
ghosthousecorns said:
I dread this kind of thing from ever happening to me, but even more so as a seller than as a buyer. Though it would suck either way. I'm not sure about this particular species, but with corns I try to not use a heat pack unless there is actual danger of freezing temps (in which case it's usually wiser not to ship) Heat seems a lot more likely to kill during shipping than cold.
Click to expand...

Oh yes! The very first coxi (cousin to this species) baby I shipped out this year, I didn't sleep or hardly eat for the two days leading up to shipping or the night of shipping. Didn't help that the highs were in the 90s in some of the places she was going to go through and end up in. We would have waited but it was going to do nothing but get hotter at the buyer's location so we picked the coolest window we could get and prayed. I ran box and ice pack tests for those two days leading up, in different sized boxes indoors at room temps and outside in direct sunlight on a surface reading 110 degrees, to see what worked best. Have to admit I really wondered if it was all worth the stress during that time shipping! The next ones were easier though and I only lost sleep the night of.
 
So sorry! What a beautiful baby!

I rarely use heat packs. When I have to, I usually charge customers more to use a bigger box so that I can isolate the heat pack further from the snake than a small box allows for. Such a shame - poor little guy!
 
Thank you everyone! Have talked with the sellers a bit today. Will update once that's concluded, I don't expect to be completely satisfied as they only offer a credit on problems like this in their TOS and I'm not really sure I want any other animal from them but at least something is better than nothing, so, (shrug.)
 
That's awful. Hopefully you get it fully sorted. Porphs are so beautiful too.. I have never had a doa shipment but did receive the wrong snakes altogether last year. Unfortunately, the seller refused to solve the problem and blamed me for changing my order.

On a lighter note, I didn't know you were getting into pulchra too! You will soon have one of every subspecies.
 
Scratch that. It wasn't even last year, it was this March. One of the animals had a bad stuck shed and two of the animals were nonfeeders, despite being sold as eating f/t consistently.
 
Tavia, I used to go night-driving with friends, my mom, my sister, my professors,...and alone.

When I think about all the cool species I have never come across alive...only DeadOnRoad,...I feel (a little) of your pain.
Even females with not quite mature eggs--all mangled and freshly strewn all over the road.
 
Oh, Tavia, sending ((((((hugs)))))) to you and you always have lots of big shoulders here to cry on. I am so sorry.
 
So sorry to hear of this...I've only had two arrive DOA and one was from excessive heat. I use heat packs if the temps are very low and I'm shipping tropical species, but I never put a heat pack on the top or bottom of the box. I put it on the side on the short side of the box so it's farther from the deli cup, tape the edges in place and put a barrier of shredded paper between so it can't fall over and lay directly on the cup or bag. I've never had a snake overheat this way. I did have a GTP shipped that I thought was dead as her bag was laying directly on the heat pad they put in there with only a small layer of paper between. She was very hot to the touch and not moving....but she was alive and she's still alive today thank goodness!
 
Well sounds like they might replace this one, hopefully more successfully shipped! Unfortunately communication is not this seller's strong suit, so I'm not especially sure what's going on yet.
 
Hopefully they will ship without heat. A snake like that shoud do just fine without it.
 
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