Backwater Reptiles Reviews 

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

Wonderful experience! I have now owned my bearded dragon for a year and she is extremely healthy and so friendly! I’m absolutely in love with her! The process was really smooth and I couldn’t have asked for a better dragon! She’s had no health problems over this first year of her life and eats great! If anything, she’s a little chubby!
I would definitely purchase from this company again

I just got my baby iggys and they are beautiful. And healthy and within an hour in there new enclosure already eating . I’m very happy with them I will older more from backwater

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.

Ordered two Whites tree frogs. Backwater Reptiles shipped the animals with a heat pack in 90-degree weather. Both frogs arrived dead.

Their resolution: have me pay them $34.99 for discounted reshipping, or lose the original 55$ in shipping. So I either hand them more money, or I eat $55 in shipping costs for a delivery that killed the animals due to their own packing decision. There is no option where I get my money back, and they expect me to pay them for murdering animals. That's by design.

When I pointed out that their negligence, not transit risk, killed these animals, they hid behind their Live Arrival "Guarantee", and proceeded to insult me several times. Agreeing to a guarantee policy is not a blanket waiver of liability for negligence. Those are legally different things, and they know it.

I've filed a chargeback and a BBB complaint. As well as reported them to animal authorities. I'd rather have just had live frogs.

Ship live animals. Pack them correctly. Honor your mistakes. This company does none of those things.

Backwater Reptiles inconsistently chooses shipping partners. The address was labeled hold at FedEx. They chose UPS. They said I can update the package delivery but put restrictions on the package. They have a custom service number which is an empty line, their mailbox is always full. There's no way to contact them. They do not care for animal wellbeing. I am completely at a loss and those poor frogs may not survive the transit nightmare. I do not recommend this business to anyone. I am not even mad, I am exhausted from the 6 times I called ups to confirm, I even drove to the UPS store and they confirmed the same exact problem. All they had to do was call and correct the issue, but instead spent hours going back and forth with me.

Everytime I have dealt with them they have been great..I live in Missouri so obviously there is closer reptile shops but I would rather cross the country bc I know I won't have any issues and should I one arise I know it will be addressed and corrected such as I ordered and paid for lil hatchling snake that happened to be out of stock...within minutes I received an email forming me of this and listing several options and which route did I want to go..From purchase time to actually delivery even with an unavoidable circumstance....my son in law was holding his lil beauty in less than 72 hours..customer service is great as well as all my critters I have ordered..they have all arrived alive and are doing great till this day..
From missouri to cali...5 stars backwater!!!!

My gecko arrived nice and healthy I’m definitely going to be ordering some more

Very friendly customer service, extremely fast shipping, and 2 healthy Leos. Couldn't ask for an easier experience getting a new pet.

They were more than helpful when I got confused and they sell beautiful little critters. I just got me beautiful Asian Forest scorpion Senora and that 100% alive guarantee is real

I know this company has a lot of negative reviews, so I was honestly hesitant to order. But my experience ended up being very positive.

I had been searching for a baby skink for a long time and couldn’t find one anywhere. I knew Backwater Reptiles had one available, but I avoided ordering at first because of the feedback I’d seen. After calling around to places all over the country with no luck, I decided to take a chance.

The ordering process was smooth. I placed my order Sunday evening and received a tracking number the next day. I reached out because I didn’t think I got the tracking email, and their customer service responded quickly. They confirmed it had been sent and even resent it for me, which I appreciated.

My baby fire skink arrived the following morning at around 9:30 AM, which was faster than I expected.

I can only speak from my own experience, but everything went smoothly from start to finish. Based on that, I would recommend them.

Thank you to Blackwater Pets for an amazing experience. From start to finish, everything was handled with care, professionalism, and genuine love for animals. It truly shows how much they care about both pets and their owners. I am very happy with the service I received and will recommend Blackwater Pets to all of my friends and family. This is a place you can trust with your pets.

Simple and standard page layout for picking your new little friend, with what seems to be fair pricing, FAST shipping, and they pack the little critters with care.

I got a leopard gecko and they're BEAUTIFUL. Seems very healthy and active even after making such a long trip all boxed up. Very satisfied.

They sent me a frog so emaciated I don’t think he’s going to make it. It’s heartbreaking. So many reviews of same experience. They are ignoring my emails but that’s not a big deal. What they are doing to living creatures is unacceptable. They need to be shut down.

Ordered here for the first time ever. My blood red python came with mites, I messaged them right away to let them know about the issue and they told me that it isnt a health concern and to hang a cat collar for flea and tick by the cage and give it a little tlc and all should be good. So much for a health guarantee and healthy snake. Then, I ordered a high white king snake, they sent me a black and white banded california king snake and I let them know that they sent the incorrect snake and they basically gaslit me and told me that it is a High white. I will never suggest nor shop here again. Horrible customer service and horrible care.