Backwater Reptiles (www.backwaterreptiles.com/)

[Alltheworld601]

No. Just no. Don't do it.

These guys are drop shippers. My package from California arrived with a Florida return address. They do not see or know anything about the animal they are shipping you.

The reviews on their website are fabricated, mostly written by the guy that runs the site.

They have an option to request a sex, stating "we cannot completely guarantee the sex but we can guarantee someone very experienced with arachnids/reptiles/amphibians etc will do their best to sex the animal for you." Its a disclaimer that covers their butt because they don't have a clue what they sell you. I requested a female and got a male.

The truth of the matter is, they don't have the animal at their facility, and therefore cannot show you a picture.

My A. Avic arrived to me alive, but in poor condition. He had only seven of his legs, was male, and was damn near death curl when I unpacked him. They also didn't cushion his trip very well, i imagine he got banged around a lot on the way to me, and am amazed he survived. He is doing just fine now, so I suppose overall I am happy with my pet. But I am very much unhappy with their service, and I don't think they care about animals one bit.

Don't bother. You get what you pay for..their prices are dirt cheap, and I got suckered by that and the fake positive reviews on their website. Never again.

 

[illegalacid]

Backwaterreptiles (www.backwaterreptiles.com/)

I purchased a Theraphosa blondi from him over a month ago and that was one of the t's I wanted most in my collection I soon found out today that what he had actually sold me was a theraphosa stirmi. I am not too happy as that is not what I wanted you can go to his website now and see his birdeater says theraphosa blondi under it. I am not going to order from him again and I have sent a message to him to see what all he says about it I will update everyone on what his response is. I am satisfied I received a good healthy t but not happy for it is a different species of what I wanted if I were to try and breed this one with a blondi all would have gone to waste. So as far as all of this goes I would not recommend backwaterreptiles to anyone and sorry to those this might offend this is just my experience with them and I do want people to know to be careful.

thank you.

 

[chadmd80]

Being new to T's I wasnt sure where to get my first one. There website is nice but mine as well came from florida. Not packaged very well and I assume that she had a bumpy ride. Its only been 2 weeks and she seems to be fine but I would have preferred that the person I was dealing with and sending money to was the person that actually had the T on hand. I requested a female as well. I guess only time will tell if it is actually a male or female. I named her Clarice so I hope that its a female, lol

 

[Mello]

I got my L. Violaceopes from this site and she arrived healthy and perfect. I even sent an email asking if they knew her age and they said about 12 mo. Reading the reviews on here for BWR makes me scared but I had a very positive experience with them.

 

[xallmylovex]

I have never had a smooth transaction ! I order my T.Blondi from them back in Feb. as well and she is a Stirmi. I was given a partial refund after bickering with "Sam" for over a day. She has never been in good condition, no matter how much I do for her.

I ordered crickets from them twice now and each time they didnt show up when they were suppose to. I only ordered from them this time because they offered overnight shipping and the other place I've ordered from does not.
I spent 20 dollars more, so that I would have them when I needed them.. and they are not here. Its annoying, I feel cheated.

 

[remainpositive]

Backwater Reptiles (www.backwaterreptiles.com)

Negative

Let's just say, if you want wrongfully sexed scorpions, and gravid ones at best (they were supposed to be males) then this is your place to go! They also ignore emails too.:biggrin:

 

[MikeInNC]

(Update: One DOA confirmed)

Disclaimer: I cannot judge the health or well-being of the T's I received this morning as I won't be able to house them until after work today. It will be a few days before I can post whether or not they're thriving. This is only a quick observation concerning their shipping method.

I went with Backwater Reptiles because they had the species, and size, I was looking for at this particular moment (if another breeder had them, and I somehow missed it - oh, well).

So I ordered a 3/4"-1" B. Smithi, and B. Boehmei Saturday night. They shipped out Monday and arrived this A.M. Temps were very nice at delivery time thanks to heavy overcast (so no chance of them getting too hot overnight/this morning while flying/riding).

I opened the box, removed the packing peanuts, a small cool pack, and removed two containers (see pic).

Here's what bugged me (no pun intended)........

1. The Boehmei is just sitting there, in the open, with no protection against any jostling, shaking, tumbling of the box. I guess he could only hold on for dear life.

2. The Smithi IS in a pill-type container (which is what I've been used to seeing), BUT the container is loose within the larger plastic container. Result, the pill container is going to bounce around like an out-of-control carnival ride.

They should have A) put both T's in pill jars (not just the one) and then, B) put some kind of loose packing material around the pill jars to prevent them flying about.

So, for shipping (only), I'd give Backwater a C. I hope to be able to provide a good review once I know that the T's are okay.





I went ahead and opened the containers (the T's are too small to go anywhere fast) and........

The B. Smithi shipped in the pill jar is alive.

The B. Boehmei (not shipped in a pill jar) is DOA. I touched the abdomen and rear legs with a pencil. No response. Tilt the container to one side and the T just rolls over. No motion whatsoever.

I've contacted Backwater for a refund on the B.B.

What a shame, considering that the little guy was alive about 24 hours ago.


Abby emailed me to confirm that I'd get a refund for the B.B. in 2-3 business days.

It may have helped that I included a picture of the poor guy

-Mike

P.S. - I sent her the pic at the top of the thread. She had mentioned that she'd see what could be done to improve the situation. At least I can't complain about the level of communication.

 

[skippydude]

NEGATIVE

I ordered twice from these guys and both orders were a very bad experience.

1st order was a Therphosa apophysis female. What had arrived, was a piss poor packed male, with a busted abdomen DOA . I had to cough up $39.99 to reship another and after telling them that I wanted a female AGAIN, they sent another male.

2nd order was for a female baby Cherry Head Red Foot tortoise. Again they sent a male that was near dead because of poor packing and no heat pack, I had to nurse him back to life in an ICU and to top it off had deal with a fungal infection on the poor little fella.

If you buy from these guys you should know that they DO NOT raise or care for the animals, instead they get them from any Tom, Dick or Harry across the country that breeds and some of there sources take very bad care of the animals, they breed for profit and could care less about the animals.

I'd never, ever, ever do business with these fools again

 

[wolfs79]

I got my two burgundy goliaths from backwater reptiles true the packaging could be a little better but they did arrive alive and ate right away for me. These actually did ship from Sacramento or Rocklin California so they did not come from some other state maybe some donI don't know. But the whole time talked to backwater reptiles they were friendly and answered all my questions. I have had bad experiences with other dealersnin the past so it happens.

Also they gave me two jumbos instead of one and only charged me 30.00 extra so I saved 30.00 on the male. That's was very nice of them.

 

[Sentinel]

Just got my Lasiodora Parahybana from them today. Spider is alive, no missing legs. Did not come with a heat pack, but it's summer, and it came from Rockland CA, so I don't think that was too much of an issue. Was packed with newspaper, I've ordered fish before from places like LiveAquaria, so this wasn't that bad.

I WAS surprised by the size of the spider. She is teeny weeny eensy little and small six ways to Sunday. Maybe I'm bad at spacial measurements and inches, but she definitely seems smaller than the 3/4-1" they proclaimed she was.

Overall, happy with the purchase. I was surprised at the container used, but I was IMPRESSED at how they even managed to make airholes on something that small and delicate.

Spider came packaged with Eco-Earth as the bedding and a wet piece of paper towel to drink from.

They claim it's a female, I hope they're right.

 

[B1ueEyes]

Backwater Reptiles (www.backwaterreptiles.com)

POSITIVE

I ordered two slings from Backwater Reptiles: a Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens and a Brachypelma smithi. I am happy with the transaction. It was quick and easy. They arrived healthy and ready to eat. It has been a month now and both are doing good.

The one thing that could have been done better is the packaging. They were loosely packed in a deli cup with a paper towel. Aside from that, everything was perfect.

A side note for those that care: The slings I ordered came from a location in Florida, not California.

 

[MrDeranged]

New review item can be found here.