Backwater Reptiles Reviews 

A huge thank you to Backwater Reptiles for going above and beyond with their incredible packaging and care!

Due to an error on my end, my order ended up spending an extra day and a half in transit. I prayed they would make it, but honestly, I wasn’t very hopeful.

When I opened the box and found both toads alive, healthy, and in great condition, I was genuinely amazed. The care and attention that went into packing them truly made all the difference.

The specimens are absolutely beautiful, and the customer service has been outstanding. It’s clear they care about the animals they ship and the people who receive them.

If you’re looking for a company that takes pride in what they do, I can’t recommend Backwater Reptiles enough. Huge shoutout to the entire team—you’ve earned a lifelong customer. Thank you again!

Great people!.. Fedex screwed up my order and they immediately sent a replacement and it was here the next day!

Half of my animals were DOA. They offered a refund of $70, then issued one for only $23. Instead of simply giving the full refund that was promised, they chose to personally insult me multiple times and told me that they did nothing wrong and my insistence on the matter made them think I must be a child who placed the order and thats illegal.

I have been researching Tarantulas and Blackwater had the best prices and selection. I ordered a GBB female. It arrived in perfect condition. The packaging was far better than I expected. Beautiful tarantula. The shipping was very easy and their guarantee of live arrival was exactually why i chose Blackwater . I will do business with them again . Quality and price were best .

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!

Fantastic process great shipping arrangements and containers, ill definitely recommend them for any reptile and reptile food needs , great prices healthy arrivals they definitely know how to do it properly

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.

I received my beautiful healthy iguana today! He is exploring his enclosure and is already eating! Would definitely do business with y'all again, I highly recommend!

I received my Cherry Head red foot tortoise 3 weeks ago and it hasn’t missed a beat. Ate as soon as it arrived and is very healthy and alert. Highly recommended Backwater Reptiles, arrived ahead of schedule in great condition. Vincent.

Great experience and very professional. Shipping was quick and easy. Prices are extremely reasonable would definitely recommend.

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

I got my beautiful blizzard baby cornsnake on time,healthy and very active. She has a super calm demeaner and is okay with being handled often. She hasn't tried to bite anyone and is gorgeous. Thank you for answering my questions quickly. I highly recommend this company! I will definitely continue buying my snakes from you guys.

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

I was a bit leery of having my Iguana shipped to me. But it went perfectly and he was fine when he arrived! I am so pleased with him! He is absolutely amazing and gorgeous! Thank you Backwater Reptiles for all your help and most of all for my baby Blue Iguana now named Godzilla!! I love him!!!

Ordered 4 golden blue leg baboons arrived perfect condition at a great price too!!

This company is true to their word. My son's new baby tarantula arrived, as promised, and is already webbing. We have had tarantulas before and never had one web within a day.

Great caring people they try to make sure everything is right. Animals have been very healthy. Have adopted several animals from them very good experience, we’ll keep doing business with them, we are very happy with each adoption we have made and next time as a very positive experience