Backwater ReptilesReviews of backwaterreptiles.com

Very professional, friendly communication and shipping was on point with their schedule. My baby Colombian rainbow boa came bright, healthy, and curious the next morning. Great experience would do business with them again. I work at a pet store and deal with getting shipped reptiles and this little girl was packaged very nicely with styrofoam and clumps of newspaper and of course she was in the cup with a lid with air holes and bedding in it. (Writing this mainly because I did see the negative reviews and was a tad worried, none of that happened to me though and I wanted to share.)

If I could give zero stars I would! This was our first time ordering from this company based on rave reviews from a local family-owned pet store. According to their shipping policy on insects, since we ordered on Sunday morning they should’ve shipped Monday morning. They didn’t. Instead I received an email late Tuesday afternoon saying the order was delayed because “ we want to ensure they are of proper size before shipping and working around live animals can be a bit tricker than average products.” Seemed strange from a business that you would think breeds these in large quantities but okay. I emailed them to ask if this type of delay was a common occurrence so in the future I could adapt my ordering schedule. The email I received back however was beyond condescending, insisting that I must not have read their shipping policy or the email about the delay. They did in fact email me to inform of the delay and basically that I should be thankful for their effort. I screenshot their “shipping policy” showing how it should’ve been shipped Monday morning, not Wednesday, and that between that and their email informing of the delayed shipment date of Wednesday I only questioned the frequency of delays since this was our first order with them. Again, another condescending email from them saying “great, you read our policy. There should’ve been no confusion.” Now either the place is run by morons(not out of the realm of possibility!) or they truly don’t realize I just wanted a simple piece of information so I could schedule around them. However, due to their p*** poor customer service and the little keyboard warrior they have responding to customer emails, what they did accomplish is A) losing a customer for the next 15 yrs because yeah….we bought a bearded dragon and that’s about their lifespan B) me going back to the local business that referred us and showing them ALL of the communication between BWR & myself so they can see just how sh**** they treat their customers C) and finally, I will be letting everyone I know in the reptile community know about them too! You see, advertising is expensive but word of mouth….it’s FREE, just remember though, bad advertising can be JUST AS EXPENSIVE 😉

Well let’s start from the beginning. The very first time I order from them my bank wouldn’t let me make the purchase which I know isn’t their fault. I received the order and everything was fine. The last three times I have ordered from them I have received 6 dead animals. You try to file the claim but they give you excuses to why they won’t process it. Also it took 7 days for them to get there. Thought I paid $50 for overnight delivery but I guess not. They say they love their customers but yet they treat us like we are dumb. I only purchased from them because underground was out of stock. I hate them truly and do not recommend buying from them unless you want dead animals and crappy service.

I've ordered from these guys 3 times over the years and I'm always satisfied! The new big beautiful curly hair is a replacement pet for a special needs boy age 10, who lost his last one when it got out! Thank again for the excellent T's!

Worst company ever! Tried to order some Halloween crabs from them. My bank denied the transaction flagging it as spam, red flag number one! They sent me an email stating they needed a copy of my driver's license to confirm my address, I told them no as I have moved a couple times and the address would not match and could confirm a other way. They kept insisting on having my driver's license, red flag number 2 and 3. I asked to cancel my order as I was not sending them my license, they told me to just send it and they will ship my order. I again asked to cancel it and they told me to " come back and order when I was ready to place a proper order" I tried to respond back and they blocked my email. Complete scam!!! Stay away!

This company is a scam, they wanted me to pay $100 extra for a snake that was a replacement for the one I originally bought and was told it was currently sold out. They tried to bump the price and make me buy a whole different breed of snake that I had no intention on buying. Please do not buy from this company, they will scam you, and the they will take your money.

We ordered leaf insects, and the trouble began with shipping. They claimed the insects would arrive on Wednesday. Backwater reptiles was extremely condescending with how they "reminded us" us about their shipping schedule. So, we waited all day (the only day we have off) and they never showed. They arrived the next day, but since we were at work, the insects had to be held at the facility. They were stuck in a dark, dry box for FIVE days. That leads to the next problem. Leaf insects need humidity to molt properly. There was no humidity in the shipping container. The two meager oak leaves dried to a crisp by the time I finally got to open it. One of the insects went into a molt due to shipping stress. The molt ripped off one of its forelegs, and sadly, it did not survive. So, now we're down to two leaf bugs. For all the reviews saying that people got more insects or whatever, I would assume those are fluff. The combination of poor shipping procedures, rude customer service, and lack of consideration for animal life makes this company a resounding NOPE for any future business dealings.

The worst company ever. There is a problem with their site which caused confusion about what I ordered. I took a video of the glitch on the site to show them why I thought a mistake was made only to get this reply. We also told them one of the snakes came with mites they dismissed it as if I was lying. "Please stop spamming our inbox with your rambling emails. You ordered a Normal from us therefore received a normal. There is nothing further to discuss and we do not open random files from strangers.  Thank you, Backwater Reptiles, Inc.