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Ken The Bug Guy

Arachnoboards Username
kenthebugguy
Website
http://www.kenthebugguy.com
Previous Review/Report Link
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/kenthebugguy-www-kenthebugguy-com.130025/

Reviews summary

17
 
71%
5
 
21%
0
 
0%
1
 
4%
1
 
4%
Overall rating
4.50 star(s) 24 ratings
Quality
4.58 star(s)
Variety
4.71 star(s)
Communication
4.21 star(s)
Packaging
4.75 star(s)
Price
4.79 star(s)
Mostly Great
Purchase Date
12/1/2020
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
4.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Good prices
  • Healthy Ts
Cons
  • A little confusion in communication
I purchased a female A. Chalcodes from this seller 12/1/2020 and did not hear back for about a week. I sent an email out on 12/8/2020 and the seller responded within the hour and indicated that they had been sending me emails about the weather and how that impacted shipping. I think what happened is that their emails may have been put into my spam folder or just did not reach me (not the seller's fault). The seller sent out the T on that day and I received her today. She is beautiful, active, and visibly very well fed. Very happy!
Purchase Date
2019-05-22
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
I have ordered from Ken multiple times, Both times he has communicated with me for delivery and the Ts have all arrived in excellent condition. Thank you so much!
Purchase Date
2018-10-06
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Tarantula arrived quickly and showed no signs of stress
Cons
  • NONE!!!!!
I purchased a male Arizona blonde to (hopefully) pair up with my female next season before the winter stasis. I could not be happier with this purchase! The male arrived safely showing 0 signs of stress or trauma and was ready to eat less than 48 hours after arrival. He's not mature enough to breed this season, but that is fine with me because I have more time to spend with this pleasantly dispositioned T. Thank you again Ken, I can tell that you take good care of your Ts and pride yourself in them.

Attachments

Purchase Date
2017-06-02
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Awesome Packing Good communication Fast reliable service
Cons
  • None
took advantage of Ken's Memorial Day sale and picked up 4 Aphonopelma
gabeli slings and a Heterometrus spinifer scorpion. All came in great shape. Thanks again Ken!!!
Purchase Date
2017-04-25
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Response time was incredibly fast, ordered on 4/25 and received my Ts on 4/27. Ts were packed well and seemed healthy upon unpacking.
Cons
  • None
Very smooth transaction. Ken arranged for my package to be picked up at my local FedEx just like I requested. Both Ts were actually larger than the size listed on his website, but I'm not complaining! Will definitely be ordering from Ken again in the future.
Purchase Date
2017-04-19
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Communication Pricing Ease of service
Bought a female A. chalcodes from ken and asked her to be shipped on a certain day which ken did with no problem. He was super easy to communicate with and really worked with me. She came packed beautifully and was super active when she arrived. SHES BEAUTIFUL
Purchase Date
2017-04-07
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Got a lovely little Lady from Ken the Bug Guy by the name of A. Chalcodes. Ordered her Friday and watched with anticipation as she was shipped out Monday evening and got here about 2:41 PM. She was as big as I was expecting her to be drank right away and is now sitting on a leaf. I would recommend Ken to everyone I know (who's interested in owning a T, Scorp, etc). I will be buying from him again in the future!

Attachments

Purchase Date
2017-03-02
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • My items were shipped quickly and packaged very well. All inverts arrived happy and healthy. They kept in contact from purchase to reception.
Cons
  • The only constant is that I don't live in Arizona so I can't physically go to the shop twice a month.
I ordered a few inverts from Ken the bug guy. 1 Hogna sp. Tuscon, 2S.Polymorpha, 2T.Gigas, 2V.Confusus, and one striped tailed scorpion, which the Latin name escapes me currently. My order was shipped promptly and arrived with a heat pack and securely immobile. All inverts got to me healthy, at the size I was told they'd be. They're all currently snug in their enclosures and as happy as inverts can be.
Purchase Date
2017-03-16
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • He takes great care in shipping and sells for good prices.
Cons
  • None
This is my 2nd FB Auction I have won from him. This recent purchase was for 2 oligoxystre Caatinga, which was a very interesting species for him to sell due to them being not common at all in tarantula keeping (based off the lack of info about them that i have found). After bidding and winning, he sends a fb message with a copy of the auction details and info clearly explaining what to do next. When paying through Paypal, the only problem I had is the email I got stated the seller's name is way different than being Ken the Bug Guy. But after rechecking my sent payment info, I figured it was sent correctly.
Most responses I receive back from him are done at night, so for those who need a response I would advise to wait until the next before trying to contact again. My 2 purchases have been shipped a few days later (which i think is due to clearing payment and/or being the weekend).
Once they arrive(which you MUST be home for or else) the package is nicely taped standard shipping boy with proper warnings for anyone who handles the package. When opening the box, the sides, top, and bottom have been covered with styrofoam slabs. Lifting the top slab and you are greeted by newspaper and slowly removing the newspaper you are greeted by what you've ordered on top of more newspaper. So I've purchased slings and i don't know if other "pets" are packed differently but I will explain how mine are packaged. Mine come in individual vials which are just big enough to hold the tarantula and tissue. The tissue is like very thick soft kleenex and is rolled up to cradle this little baby so well that i don't think it would feel any disturbance from the shipping process. There is room for it to move around but not by much so that it won't get hurt. The appropriate lid is secured on there with some masking tape with the species name written on it. The holes bring in sufficient air and when you take off the lid, there is a round cut up small tissue that needs to be removed to see your little buddy. When removing the tarantula, i take my tweezers and softly pull on the tissue. It's tight in there so you must be very careful. Mine showed up hungry or testy lol, so i fed them in their vial so they were busy eating and less busy attacking my tweezers. Once i have the wound up tissue out, i slowly unravel it in their new enclosure and lightly scoot them along. They usually get off the tissue fairly quickly. 20170321_110640.jpg 20170321_110842.jpg 20170321_114915.jpg
Purchase Date
2017-03-06
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Healthy Ts, fast service, good prices
Cons
  • Few of the Species were out of stock
We bought five Ts about a week ago but unfortunately three of them were out of stock. Communication was great (A few problems at first on our part) and he offered other great species for replacement which we gladly took. The three species we ended up getting were C. sp hati hati, H. maculata, and C. huahini which all arrived healthy. I'll definitely be buying from him again.
Purchase Date
2016-09-01
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
4.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Ken has great variety and price.
Cons
  • Bugs i ordered were a bit dehydrated and had really small abdomens. Doesn't take a ton of time answering your emails, but he's probably extremely busy so I can understand that.
I know Ken is very experienced, and I am very satisfied with my order. His L. hesperus are only $5.00, which is really cheap compared to some sellers (although I understand where he is they must be everywhere). There are also many spiders of interest that I can't seem to find anywhere else, so his website stands out! My only concern is that many of the true spiders I ordered (5/8) had extremely thin abdomens, and one was even doing the "death curl limp." Luckily after some water and a meal they were fine, and Ken did include an extra spider so I really can't complain at all. It's possible they were all field collected soon before shipping out. Overall great dealer! :)
Purchase Date
2016-09-09
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
4.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Amazing Prices, Great Stock Choices
Cons
  • Email Issues
I ordered 5 slings, Brachypelma Vagans, Grammastola Sp.Maule, Heteroscodra Maculata, Chilobrachys Fimbriatus, and Lasiodora Itabunae ( also ordered some feeders ) . There were some email issues, Ken's email for whatever reason seems to get filtered into spam and junk and my email was deleting a message stating that the Chilobrachys Fibriatus and Lasiodora Itabunae was out of stock. It seemed my emails had a hard time going through as well. I decided to call Ken's shop directly, the email situation was sorted out , and I was able to replace the two out of stock spiders with a Chilobrachys Huahini and a Lasiodora Parahybana. Very friendly service. The slings arrived overnight alive and in perfect health and a few were even larger than I expected, a plus for me ! I highly recommend shopping at Ken The Bug Guy, I will order again from him in the future. ( The feeders also all arived alive and in good health, not one dead among them )
Purchase Date
2016-06-24
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
4.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Received two Dictators in great shape.
Cons
  • none
Good Scorpions, quick reply, fast shipping. They both ate a roach the night on their arrival.

Ken is a nice guy and easy to communicate to. Don't see what could go wrong ordering from here.
Purchase Date
2016-05-17
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
3.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Great prices perfect packing impressive variety of stock
Cons
  • communication is a bit slow, but Ken's a busy man
I've ordered from Ken in the past, and he always has interesting stock from abroad. This most recent purchase was from one of his Facebook auctions. There is surprisingly little interest (and therefore, competition!) for these auctions, so everyone should check them out! I realize I'm hurting my own chances by telling y'all this, but Ken deserves the attention. Shipping is covered by winning an auction, so I added a few more specimens to the total and got them shipped with the same group. I'm a happy girl!
Purchase Date
2016-04-30
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Everything
Cons
  • None
This was my 3rd transaction with Ken. I purchased a P. liosoma at around a third of the cost of every other dealer price ive seen with them.Not to mention he is the only dealer that had Liosoma's at all.

He also sent a freebie which instead of being just some random species, this freebie was another P. liosoma. Very cool.

I will continue to buy from him.
Purchase Date
2016-03-02
Transaction Type
Trade
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
I've been dealing with Ken for about 5 years. Every transaction has been positive. On the rare occasion that something has gone awry, Ken is always quick to remedy the situation. Communication may be terse, but is prompt and effective. He provides high quality stock, excellent packing and arranges shipping to fit my crazy schedule.
Purchase Date
2016-01-23
Transaction Type
Purchase
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Variety
5.00 star(s)
Communication
5.00 star(s)
Packaging
5.00 star(s)
Price
5.00 star(s)
Would you purchase from again?
Yes
Pros
  • Good Selection. Great packaging. Good communication.
I have been buying from Ken for a little over two years now.
I have never had any problems. He has always been on top of orders and has some great sales.

Just ordered 5 slings Wednesday to pick up on Saturday since I live two hours away and bought 4 more!
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