Anyone ordered from First Choice Reptiles before?

[Codes89]

So I think I made a terrible mistake. I ordered an adult BTS from these guys on 7/15/17 and they still have not shipped it out. They won't answer my emails and their phone number is disconnected. Every other dealer online was sold out of BTS's and this one was a good price. Has some else had any similar problems with them?
Their reviews are horrible as well, I keep finding complaints about them.

[tbets]

No I haven't, but while browsing and searching for a baby northern BTS a month ago I found reviews on them. They're what people refer to as a "drop shipper" meaning that they don't ever see the animals that they sell to you because they don't actually have any animals in their possession. They have other breeders (who most of the time aren't all that great) ship you the animal, they just list the animals on their site.

Sorry you got duped, they said they were still in stock back when I was looking, but due to reviews I steered clear of them.

[Codes89]

Oh man, that's not what I need right now

[kingofnobbys]

Talk to the bank about a charge back if you paid by credit card or debit card. (Fraudulent seller)
If you used PayPal , put the transaction in dispute (fraudulent, never received item). paypal will chase them and investigate and you will likely by covered by their guarantee and you'll get your money charged back .
Worth talking to the cops too.

If you sent them "cash" , kiss it goodbye. You might be able to cancel the cheque if you paid by cheque and they haven't deposited it yet.

I'm sorry you were ripped off, there are some real scumbags in this hobby.

This is a risk you are taking when buying sight unseen from a seller who is not where you can actually visit them and buying live animals by mailorder.

[Codes89]

Thanks for the information. Yeah it was PayPal thank god, this is why I use PayPal everywhere. Hopefully they can get it back to me soon cause I've been BTS ready now for almost 3 weeks lol.

[splashy07]

Reputable breeders/dealers do not use brokers, and if the price sounds too good to be true, it is. These type sellers often mis-label their animals, and if you are not looking for anything specific you won't have a clue what type of BT they actually sent you, more than likely a wild caught import full of mites and whatnot. They do not know themselves, blue tongue skink has become a generic term for them all to these people. Australia has not exported since the 70s, so what they would sell you would be an Indonesian import, not a chance of it being captive bred. If you have to go with an import, at least try for a baby you can raise yourself that will hopefully not remember the horrible way it was captured and transported. I have raised many such animals that have gone on to become great pets.

[Codes89]

Thanks for the info. Luckily I cancelled the order cause of no communication.

[kingofnobbys]

Reputable breeders/dealers do not use brokers, and if the price sounds too good to be true, it is. These type sellers often mis-label their animals, and if you are not looking for anything specific you won't have a clue what type of BT they actually sent you, more than likely a wild caught import full of mites and whatnot. They do not know themselves, blue tongue skink has become a generic term for them all to these people. Australia has not exported since the 70s, so what they would sell you would be an Indonesian import, not a chance of it being captive bred. If you have to go with an import, at least try for a baby you can raise yourself that will hopefully not remember the horrible way it was captured and transported. I have raised many such animals that have gone on to become great pets.

.... I'll add that only poachers or those involved in crime (illegal reptile imports) sell wild caught reptiles .... please don't encourage these scum.

Buy only captive bred from reputable breeders and never from a pet shop ( I've read many horror stories about how petshops in the USA and other countries treat their live reptile stock and source from disreputable breeders who essentially breed their reptiles to death and provide very poor care to them , even allowing ADV infected reptiles to breed ).

[starscream3232]

Unfortunately this happens to many people that order from big online sellers. First choice and backwater are among the worst. It's always a crap shoot what species you'll get if you order from one of them. I know backwater uses a picture of an eastern (tiliqua scincoides scincoides) as a stock photo. Very misleading since easterns are very rare in the USA and are in the hands of breeders. Not to mention they are $800 each. Also most of the time there is no communication when the animal ships. You just come home to find a box sitting there with no idea how long it's been there. Just be thankful you didn't get the skink. They come from those places covered in mites and full of parasites. You'll end up spending at 3x the price of the skink on vet checks and meds vs if you got a cbb baby from a breeder.

[kingofnobbys]

Unfortunately this happens to many people that order from big online sellers. First choice and backwater are among the worst. It's always a crap shoot what species you'll get if you order from one of them. I know backwater uses a picture of an eastern (tiliqua scincoides scincoides) as a stock photo. Very misleading since easterns are very rare in the USA and are in the hands of breeders. Not to mention they are $800 each. Also most of the time there is no communication when the animal ships. You just come home to find a box sitting there with no idea how long it's been there. Just be thankful you didn't get the skink. They come from those places covered in mites and full of parasites. You'll end up spending at 3x the price of the skink on vet checks and meds vs if you got a cbb baby from a breeder.

$800 for an Eastern ? They must be very scarce / rarely bred in the USA.

Gee I think I paid about $50 for each of mine from a breeder (but I live in NSW - Australia) and easterns are mega common .... I even get regular visits from a wild eastern BTS in my garden very frequently especially in summer. I sometimes toss him a raw chicken egg I see him out sunning or grazing on the clover and dandelions (flowers and green seed heads) or the toaststools/mushrooms that pop up after rain , he loves those chicken eggs .