Backwater ReptilesReviews of backwaterreptiles.com

With High hopes without reading reviews (lesson learned) will never buy from them again and recommend everyone stay away from this place. I bought a frog, arrived fine till a few hours later. Woke up from a nap and found him dead. I took a pic of him in his tank, and tank itself. I was trying to get info on the possibilities issues, and got a response later after i had to dispose the dead. The email gave specific instructions to take a pic of the frog upside down and on the box it came in. Could only send a pic of the frog dead in its enclosure and the box itself. The next email response indicated that they couldn't verify the date the pic was taken. Wasn't looking for a return, just knowledge in general and the way i was treated as if being a customer didn't matter. Their lack of responsibility, and overall way of taking care of things the right way is at its best below everything i've ever seen. I will never go through them again, and have found better places with far better results because of this. Thank you Backwater for letting me experience this so i can achieve better results from others more reliable and dedicated!

Backwater Reptiles attempted a bait and switch scheme. You cannot trust their website. I attempted to purchase a $130 sand boa through their website along with a $70 tarantula. They failed to ship either of those items but went ahead and shipped $55 worth of smaller goods for a $55 overnight charge. I didnt want to spend $110 on a few axolotl eggs and some feeders but they didnt contact me till AFTER they shipped. Then told me they were sold out of the Boas and offered me completely different snakes as though i were a pet shop that took substitutes. After this i went to the website and lo and behold, you could still add 5 different morphs of Sand Boas and proceed to checkout. Something that seems odd if they were “Sold Out” of Sand Boas. Bait and Switch. This is not a real store with a dedicated location. I can only assume its some ignorant drop ship setup. The staff is lazy and unprofessional. This was my first order and i will never do business with them again.

Ordered two D. Hydei fruit fly vials. They arrived completely dead with fly counts well below the advertised 50-100 per vial. I contacted them immediately with photos at 12:04PM the same day. Their first response was a copy-pasted cricket care template — they didn’t even read my email. When I pointed this out, they told me the same concept applies to fruit flies and that my bank dispute mention was “wildly unnecessary.” I gave them the 2+ hours they asked for. Still completely dead. No refund offered, no apology for the wrong template, just defensiveness. Avoid for live feeders. Poor quality control and worse customer service.

I purchased a Bullsnake from them in October 2024. Sadly she has crypto a fatal parasite. We raised he for 1.5 years and she had some regurgs. She became More symptomatic and tested positive for crypto. Do not purchase animals from them. I personally have had many snake pets and never had a snake with crypto. Since she has been fully quarantined throughout her time with us, our head veterinarian, Dr. Bloss is confident that this originated with the breeder.

BackwaterreptileS ARE JUST SCAMMERS. They sant me a dead frog. they don't answer calls (scammers) emails only. They asked me to pay again 34.99 usd for the new shipment so I did send them the money. I received few days later and empty smelling cup filled with tiny worms. NO FROG!!!!! I tried to contact them and not they say that the cup was full so they don't car. These is not a real company, its just a group of scammers ready to steal your money with bad bad bad reptiles and fraudulent transactions!!! BE AWARE

This place has been terrible. After purchasing, they have changed item availability several times and have made it extremely difficult to cancel my order or provide a refund. And most recently, their email response was insulting and lacked all levels of professional service. Be wary of ordering from them.

NEVER EVER EVER PURCHASE ANY REPTILE FROM HERE! I wish my child had read the reviews before he spent his hard earned money here. I am posting the hopes people see this and go elsewhere. Our newt arrived dead just like almost all the reviews warned about. Then they want to charge you to ship another one. The box they shipped him in didn’t even say there was a live animal in the box which violates not only IATA but also is a FedEx requirement. They don’t care that they are out here killing animals. I

Do NOT buy a fire skink from backwater reptiles. Despite multiple vet visits, my little guy didn't last more than 3 weeks after receiving him, who clearly had many underlying health issues stemming from his husbandry at their reptile mill. If you want to slowly watch your new family member emaciate and wither away no matter the variety of diet or how well your enclosure is set up, by all means buy from here. I ignored the bad reviews and severely regret it, I'm willing to bet you will too. Please buy from a breeder that cares about their reptiles.