Reach Out Reptiles' Response to Slither Inc. Facility Photos 

Reptiles are a huge part of my life. I love these animals, and I love people who are as passionate about them as I am. Garrett is one of those people, the reticulated python community is lucky to have him, and our hobby would not be the same without him and ROR. Keep doing what you're doing Garrett!

I recently tried buying one of your retics and y’all were the first to tell me that my state laws changed to no longer allow the keeping of retics. Someone just in it for the money wouldn’t have said anything and sold me the snake anyway cause they didn’t care. Y’all did. Y’all have taught me so much about retics and snake keeping in general. Keep doing y’all.

I think the community has really needed to see this reply to help solidify a united front against Slither. This was never supposed to be a fire that spread to any other breeder besides Samson and Cassandra. Holding other people accountable for their husbandry and actions is important, but it was never the point to take the pressure off of them. I know it couldn’t have been easy to look at the photos and record your reply, but thank you for taking the time to do so Garrett!

Garrett and the entire ROR crew have been nothing but a tremendous resource and positive example for the entire reptile community. Far beyond retics, Garrett and team do the hard work of constant education, communication, and lifting the industry. Those that have mentioned Garrett and ROR with lies ARE the problem with the reptile community. They are the ones that should step back and reevaluate their actions. In my opinion, Garrett and the ROR team is the gold standard for ethics, education, and transparent communication. Keep up the good work!!!

What amazes me is all the ppl that knew Samson was a felon of dog abuse, and ppl continued to work or contribute to him. That in itself, to me, should have been enough to stay away from him from the beginning.

Thank you for helping to bring attention, we definitely need a united front on this one!

I visited a retile rescue in Kernersville, NC back in 2019. The owner made it very clear to us that he didn't approve of Samson's business practices. He said that Samson sold some first-time snake owner a reticulated python and told her that it would make a good first pet. I wasn't sure what to believe, but his assessment of Samson never left the back of my mind. I saw Slither Inc. at Repticon in Raleigh, NC a couple of years afterwards, and to say that Samson was the loudest person in the room would have been an understatement. Those are the people that I've always been the most suspicious of. It's unfortunate to see what happened to his animals, but I can't say that I'm surprised.

From my heart Garrett, you made mistakes but not informed mistakes. You truly have your heart in the right place. Going into this video I was saddened to hear about you providing him snakes but not for the mistake of doing so but for the pain I know you feel for those animals. Keep being you, we support you!

I’m new here- the fact that he didn’t want an inexperienced person receiving one of the bad-attitude snakes ‘because it would end badly FOR THE SNAKE’ speaks volumes about Garrett’s devotion to these animals!!🙂🙂❤️🐢

I'll always support Reach Out Reptiles.

Thank you for not slamming other keepers/breeders. I lost respect for a breeder I watched the other day because of the awful comments about other people. Stay positive and thank you!

Never had a doubt. Have and always will support ROR. I do know what and who you are referring to and I appreciate you not slandering and no showing the horrible pics. See you guys at reticfest!!!

Keep doing what you're doing team RoR.....all you can do is try and educate.

I will gladly and proudly stand by Reach Out Reptiles. We’ve spoken. I know you regret sending that snake now. And I know you would have done it differently if you knew those conditions back then. What I also know, is the care you take for your animals, employees, customers, fans and family. Proud to have you representing and advocating for progress in the reptile community. 👏 👏 👏 😊

Thanks for making this video Garrett. I saw some of the pictures, and it was horrifying. I know you and your awesome team are committed to do the best by these animals. Thanks for also being an amazing friend and mentor. Much love to everyone at ROR!

Thanks for the feedback Garret. I didn't want to believe you would be a part of that mess but not knowing you personally left a small doubt in my mind. I've always loved device but wasn't willing or able to handle such large animals. I found you on YT about 3 yrs ago and discovered dwarf and SD retics. Now I'm saving up for a pair! I've seen the pictures and my heart breaks for those animals. I turned 60 earlier this year and have never seen or heard of anything like this before. As someone who's been crazy about reptiles since I was a small child I've been having a blast learning about so many animals that I never knew existed. Wish I had discovered YT and this community years ago.

Great video, you are always enthusiastic in your videos as well as in your snake room with your animals, thanks for putting this out.

Thank you for this. I’ve been waiting for your response, then couldn’t watch for several days due to some circumstances in my own life.

thank you for the update!

You're a classy guy. I appreciate your approach to reptiles AND humans. Take care.

You have been such a inspiration to me and my reptile journey!

What I can say about Reach out Reptiles' videos and insta presentation is that the admiration for the snakes shines through strongly. As for Garrett himself, his calm and respectful way of handling the snakes and the acknowledgement that these are smart animals (unless they're in food-mode - but then, that goes for humans, too) is what made me subscribe to the channel. This kinda sets the bar for me of what I expect from breeders. No pressure about the super high expectations I have of RoR now, though. 😁 Joke aside, I do think that this channel has a positive impact on how to keep and treat snakes and I also hope it puts pressure on other breeders (and keepers, too) to do better. 💚 As for Slither Inc, I do like to get the full image on things usually, but I do take the warning that you can't unsee once you've seen very seriously and though I'm still torn about it, for my mental wellbeing I don't think I'll check out any images. Some things just hit too hard.

Having been to your facility and seeing how you care for your animals, it is very obvious that you take great pride and care in how you take care of your animals and your passion shines through each and every one that you have and produce! I myself would never doubt you and dont think that had you known the conditions that the animals were in down there that you wouldnt have done something to rectify the situation.. they should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for what they have done.. no one (human or animal of any kind) should ever have to live in those kinds of conditions.. it honestly blows my mind that anyone that claims that they care about any kind of animal could keep them is such deplorable conditions and think that its perfectly fine! Keep doing what you do Garrett! you are definitely loved and respected in this community and nobody should ever doubt you.. EVER!

Slither, Inc. needs to be shut down. Any person who treats reptiles in such an atrocious manner does not deserve to keep or work with them.

Garret and his team are probably some of the best keepers in the reptile game, setting the industry standard that many people look UpTo.

You give back so much to the reptile community and I want to say thank you!

I have learned so much from you and your videos. They have helped to make me a better keeper. Thank you!

Much respect man. I was sent this video and asked what I thought. I thought that you told your story without attacking anyone, and I respect that. And I appreciate that you were willing to call a spade a spade, and yet did it in a calm, and respectable manner. Class. I like that.

Garrett is a icon a legend in the hobby!!!

Those of us that know you personally know you well and know your great guy and takes the hobby very seriously above all. God bless brother huge hug.

Its cool that you are straight up and honest with this stuff.

Did you make a mistake trading snakes with Samson…yes. But I think your record speaks for itself. You promote the care and betterment of retics and that’s what we need to focus on with the scary hit our hobby has been taking the last few years.

Got a lot of respect for you and what you do out there you're one of the channels I watched when I was trying to learn about retics then I learned that I can't have them in my state 😢

I'm very glad that you did say something. I've been a fan of ROR and everything you guys do for a while now and am all but counting the days until I am finally in a position where I can get a snake from you. When I heard those rumors, I knew there had to be more to the story. Like another commenter said, it was an uninformed mistake and I truly believe that if you had known, you never would have sent any animals to him. We live and we learn and that is that. Keep doing what you're doing and don't let the haters get you down! 🥰❤🥰❤

The fact that people are screaming "You should have known about this! It's been 10+ years of neglect and abuse of animals! It's all over the internet!" 🙄 Not everyone spends hours on the internet. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Garrett has spoken about how little time he spends online. He's busy taking PROPER care of his animals and figuring out better ways to do things. We don't all sit around looking for problems or listening to/participating in drama and/or feuds between this group and that group of breeders/keepers. Anyone who has seen any of the videos from RoR should KNOW how much everyone there, especially Garrett and Joe, feel about the animals in their care. I have seen Garrett absolutely DEVASTATED when an animal has passed that was in his care, despite the fact that he did everything he could to help it or it was a crazy freak passing with no outward signs of illness/distress. Anyone saying Garrett and/or RoR KNEW of the shit going down behind closed doors at Slither Inc and still gave Pruitt animals is seriously mistaken/misinformed. He is the absolute LAST PERSON who would willingly hand one of his animals over to someone who he knew was treating animals the way Pruitt is/was. How anyone could think otherwise just flabbergasts me. No ETHICAL breeder would knowingly put one of their animals in harm's way and everything I've ever seen or heard about RoR and Garrett specifically has shown that he's the type of breeder and keeper who is always trying to do the best for his animals and constantly trying to do better than that! I am sick and tired of everyone pointing fingers at this person and that person in this situation when ALL the fingers should be pointed directly at Samson Pruitt and his wife Cass. They own the businesses, they own the animals, they hire the workers, THEY are responsible for the animals care and well-being. If things weren't being done the way they were supposed to be done, THEY should have done something about it! Not just ignore the problems piling up and continue to add more and more animals to the already overwhelming number that they had. Trying to condemn other people, no matter if they're breeders or keepers or anything else, for things that they weren't aware of, didn't have proof of and/or didn't have firsthand knowledge of (like seeing the facility and animals themselves) is like punishing someone for something that MIGHT have happened or that someone TOLD you that happened but everything you know about that person makes it extremely hard to believe. From everything I've heard and seen so far, Pruitt is very good at spinning stories and using distractionary techniques to make people believe him or forget what they were concerned about. Manipulation is a hard thing to pin down. Ask anyone who's ever been involved with someone like that after they've found out the truth and see what they say. Hindsight is 20/20 and some humans are deceitful, manipulative, prideful, power-hungry, cruel monsters behind masks of false concern, sympathy and "helpfulness". Our energy and attention as a community would be better spent on finding ways to prove the abuse and neglect is still on-going as well as, as many statements from as many reputable sources as possible. We need to get as many authorities with jurisdiction over this type of situation involved in official investigations with experts in the species accompanying them throughout the inspection so they know absolutely, without a doubt that the animals are being neglected, abused, mistreated, whatever you want to categorize it as. In my opinion, the animals in the photos I have seen were tortured and neglected until several of them passed because of it. I also know, however, that Pruitt recently moved and I'm sure the new facility has not gotten to the condition of the old one yet; it's not been long enough. Hopefully, he's hired more help and/or reduced the number of animals he has so at the very least the animals he does have are being treated better than those I saw in photos with his name clearly on them and the information from people who actually worked for Slither Inc.

We all learn from mistakes. It is never a mistake to give someone a chance. We the community need to stand together and say that we do not condone it nor will we allow it to represent the community versus attacking people. I hope people can look at the bigger picture. Keep up all that you do Garrett and RoR you guys are doing the right things.

From all the videos that came across my page the Sad thing is everyone is forgetting what is important the snakes and who actually did this. People want the truth well cold hard facts are the truth. The pictures! The rest is he said she said bullshit. Stupid high school jealously drama. The name calling is ridiculous especially when theres no hard cold facts to be seen and all this extra drama is literally taking away what really needs to be addressed. If one truly cares about the snakes and the hobby then they wouldn't focus on stupid drama. They would focus on pursuing justice for the snakes and putting the person who did it behind bars. Frankly i wouldn't buy anything from someone who belittles another person to the point of what I would call harassment and definitely slander . Even if he was telling the truth his actions to go about it makes uncreditable . Thank you for addressing what had to be said and keeping it as clean as possible.

Damn dude, I've known you for ages and I'm so sorry you're getting drug into this mess. You've always been a stand up guy and your channel shows it.

Class. Pure class Garrett.

One advancement in husbandry i would love to see and needs to be changed is enclosure size for large snakes

Really excited to see Rodney's response to this

so basically people are holding u to account for being a nice guy to someone you found out after the fact wasnt a nice guy....smh thats what u get these days for doing something nice

You are amazing Garrett!

Well said Garrett. What happened over there is disgusting and beyond shameful. The fact that you have to "clear your name" in any way is ridiculous. People need to chill.

We have bigger issues in the hobby right now we need to be focusing on. Personal feuds distract from the real fight. Keep educating people and just ignore the drama.

Thanks for finally making a statement.

You are VERY transparent, you work with USARK, You have a lot of respect from me. I only wish I could afford to support you with my wallet!😊

I love what you do and your videos are so uplifting and amazing, which frankly is what this world needs. You can't help that some people suck. You, don't suck 😘😂 People like yourself do your best and work to promote education, conservation and the love of animals and how to help keep them in the best way possible. Just be you, cuz you rock dude 🦎🐍💗

Is the phone call with you and Sampson false or does it exist

Don't go looking for the photos if you haven't seen them! It's tragic to see such beautiful snakes and other animals living on top of there own filth and decaying away.

I knew you had absolutely nothing to hide. It kills me how these people are talking about you when they don't know you personally. Anyone that knows you knows you would never be a part of that abuse. We will always support you and ROR!

First, I think it is good to put this out, but I do have two questions. These are in no way to condemn or accuse, but out of curiosity. 1.) Did you know that he had been convicted of dog fighting when you were swapping snakes? Again, if you did and decided to give a second chance that is your decision and your right, but I am just curious. 2.) There was some text conversation put out between him and you (at least on appearance) where he was saying you had so long to apologize or he would out you etc etc, what was all that about? He was saying he had taped every conversation and things. I didn't see more about it, and I didn't look as whatever he would say would have a spin, and he is not trustworthy.

I reentered the reptile hobby very recently, and did so knowing my main goals were to enjoy the animals I acquire and give them the best life I possibly can through proper care and husbandry and love. I still have a ton to learn, but I already know that drama - at least for me - is an unnecessary and unwanted facet of the reptile-loving community. Education, discussion, and camaraderie with other folks who love and properly care for SD/D retics or any other reptile or animal is what I believe makes the community great.

When I heard Samson explaining the “dog fighting charge”, I ABSOLUTELY KNEW with a 1000% certainty that he was indeed using those dogs for illegal purposes. I’ve been showing Champion Dobermans off and on over 40 years and have bred multiple home bred Champions. Samson stated his dogs were show dogs. NOBODY involved with showing dogs in the Breed ring that are put on by reputable dog clubs would ever keep their dogs on chains and in barrels. Weight pulling and treadmills that he spoke of are training methods for fighting pitbulls! He tried to pass these shows off as fancy dog shows. Pitbulls are not a breed recognized by the AKC. THE American Staffordshire Terrier is. They come from the same breed, but spit off in 1936 when the name changed from the American Pit Bull Terrier to the American Staffordshire Terrier because breeders wanted to get away from the dark side of dog fighting and into the more respectful sport of dogs. There is NO MONEY in showing dogs!!! Trust me! The ONLY way to make money is to overbreed your dogs like a puppy mill constantly. The show community would throw you out for that. The real money is with dog fighting because it strictly involves gambling or other hassles. Dogs have no value unless they are winning. The minute they don’t, they are costing money and gone! Samson used well know “dog fighting” jargon. I never heard ONE word or reference that you would expect from a breeder that exhibits dogs in the conformation Breed ring. ANYONE that can do that to dogs, will do it to other animals! To Samson, there’s no emotional interest. They are a commodity. Period! The best thing he’s good at is the con by using the right words to suck innocent people in. I don’t know the man, but I’ve met many like him in order to clean up after them and rehabilitate dogs from men like Samson for 27 years in pitbull rescue. They lack total empathy. Sorry for this being so long. You’ve ALL been right. You can’t unsee that death and despair he caused. He’s tortured two species I hold dear, snakes and dogs!

I wish there was a way to rescue the snakes that are still in good condition from slither and get them out of there.

I think people are losing focus on the main issue and just want to point fingers. The main issue here is the animals that are still in Samson's care, the animals that have passed away. The animals should be the top priority. Getting mad and pointing fingers is all child games and isn't doing anything for the animals currently in his care. Tbh I don't want anything to do with people who are pointing fingers at someone because they aren't doing absolutely anything for those animals. I support Garrett and Reach Out Reptiles. The people we need to worry about are the ones that are continuing to do business and support him even after knowing what he is doing. Not everyone that has bought or sold a snake to him is a bad person. Lets focus of getting the place shut down and these animals saved.

So so glad you decided to do this one man. Keep up the great work!

What's the smallest retic made at this point? Sorry of topic, just been out of the hobby for a couple decades.

💯💯💯💯

Happy hump day everyone

I feel like if you knew about the abuse and conditions with Slither, you’d have avoided them just for sheer business purposes less the moral animal welfare issues. The claims didn’t make sense to me. I also think it’s so easy to trust people on the internet and fall into some bad shit like this.

I just cried. poor poor little defenseless creatures!!!! unbelievable and disgusting!!!! someone should put that man in a tiny little cage with stale moldy water and no place to go to the bathroom until he turns into a wet pile of decomposed topsoil

You seem like a good dude who cares about the animals, and it's a shame some of this mess is spreading to you when you don't deserve it.

I love your content and i don't think for a moment that you would do anything to harm any animal. Don't sweat the drama we know you're not involved. BTW the baby i recieved from you is doing great and is still a sweetheart! #CL22019

Accountability is a huge step towards a better future. The community has to continue to stay loud about these things. On a side note, I received my SD retic from ROR last week. She’s from #CL23010. I work in animal welfare and have seen anything from dogs and cats to goats, crocodilians, and snakes. I’ve seen a variety of conditions. When she arrived she was happy and curious and clearly well cared for. The work speaks for itself. Thank you for being a wonderful company to purchase from as well as great advocates for these animals. The accountability and transparency is not going unnoticed by those who matter.

People expected you to do a wellness check for the snakes you sent him. Holy bleep, people don’t know what common sense is anymore. Samson and whoever else is responsible for the abomination of care, deserves prison time. Some of the snakes didn’t even look like a snake, just a blob of matter.

the real question is, did you contact Rodney first and offer to return his animals?

this is insane I at first only seen one pic, I thought okay maybe he has a big place and accidently didn't label a tub or something and 1 snake was neglected, Then I dug around and omg how do you abuse soo many animals unless you simply Do not give a shit about animals, and don't deserve to care for any.

Garret, the only thing ppl wanted to hear is what you had trouble saying on MJ’s podcast. We wanted to hear you say you’ll never do any biz again with Samson. Thank you for finally saying it. I don’t care about why you gave him Robs retic to the turd, that’s strictly between you, Rob and Rodney! Thanks again. We need PEACE, please.☮️

Garret fam you shouldn't have to explain a thing man we know you do good business actually GREAT business

There isn’t a single way you can be roped in or blamed for this. The guy was hiding dirt. Not your fault, not your problem.

Saddened to hear your involvement with Sampson, but at the same time if you truly regret it we all make mistakes. Help sink slither, and as far as I’m concerned I believe your regret.

I think Garret should challenge the owner of slither to a cage match. Then put him in a headlock. Team Garret !

I’m distracted by the beauty of that snake haha

I don't breed anything "unmanageable", but moving forward I think breeders should pay attention to who they send out animals to... Samson's had an animal abuse rap sheet going back years. For anyone to have done business with him this year just simply means either you didn't know or you didn't care. Obviously it's not the latter, but it's still disappointing how well-known the whole sitch was, so not knowing means not paying attention at all 😢 Maybe bigger breeders should start checking with whom they "do business". I love Garrett and ROR, but that is a sad fact.

This should be good

Honestly looking at how you care for your breeding stock (really a crap way to phrase it but accurate) thinking that you would condone or have a part in .. that... is laughable. I'm pretty particular in who I watch, who I would consider getting a critter from and just in general where my support goes and when I say that my penny jar is earmarked for one of your babies at some point means that ye all have my faith fwiw. Take care and all the best.

After you defended them

I wouldn’t have even made this video to further associate yourself with his name. It’s quite obvious how much you care for these animals everybody and anybody who has ever watched any of yourcontent very clearly knows that.

You know I love ya bro. Could you send me the snake from this video for free? 😅😂😊

It's crazy that people are saying that you keep your animals in similar condition

I think you are Rodney need to have a live conversation

The only rumors I heard is that your getting your 50% kalaotoa 100% het ocelots from me 👀👀👀 😂😂😂

You just didn't know and couldn't see any red flags. Even i'm trying to identify whats the logic behind investing into so many reticulated pythons just to neglect so many..

Thank you for clearing that up!🐍🤗

My only comment is: the "reptile community" would do a lot better if we showed less loyalty to personalities/influencers, and more loyalty to the actual species that depend on us. for one its a business, and the other it's survival. I won't mention names/companies, but some "entities" are treating specific breeds as "their products", and that is a toxic mindset for the "reptile community" no matter how you look at it.

Im sorry that you did send him animals and that gave you a very small connection

Did you watch the videos from that Rodney guy? You totally misrepresented what he said. Lol. I can't imagine anyone that watched the other guy's videos would swallow what you said here.

Just get the snakes back and stop playing dumb.

I've always supported you bro. I was appalled when it came out you did business with Slither. I've only been in the reptile industry for ten years and although I own 3 retics, I don't breed them or ever plan too. But I love the species and really got behind you breeding the localities that would bring these amazing animals a chance to be more mainstream pets by staying smaller. But I knew about Samson! Everyone knows. Just the dogfighting conviction was enough to mean I would have never, ever have touched him with a barge pole. I also vended a few shows he vended and his display was disgusting. It smelled, had mites running around you could see from 20 paces and he's just creepy. The animals looked underweight and sick. So maybe you never saw that as he's mostly east coast. But you heard the same info I did. You saw the rap sheet posted online over the last ten years. You'd have had to live in a vacuum not to. So while I'm happy to see this video I truly wish you'd come out less in defending your relationship with him but instead have been stronger in your condemnation of him. He's an animal abuser. He's a hoarder. He's mentally ill. Both the time you've taken to post this and the justification in it sits wrong with me. Brian K came straight out and I cried along with him in his video. Just not feeling it in this one bro, I'm sorry. Step up and be the person and keeper we know you are! There is absolutely no doubt that how you keep your animals is spot on, it's what drew me to you in the first place. Show that! And if those animals you sent him are still alive, get them back!! I hear he's hurting for money so make it happen. I'd be having nightmares if I'd sent him anything.

I can't even watch this as he f f f a a ag s out on an explanation. Samson had some great genes is why u worked with him. I have a snake from him that u can't buy now

My only question is why you made thst apology video to samson when if he did actually record yalls phone conversations without your permission that's illegal

Whole lotta nothin. Talk about why you were so quick to make a public apology after he txtd you to do so. And just admit you sent the snake to spite Rodney lol own it.

Bruh it’s kinda weird that you never mention Rodney’s ternate. We see you.

Stay in yr lane bro.

Better late than never. I'm just not sure I can believe that you didn't know what this guy was about. Is this an honest account of how much you knew? Or are you just realizing that your business will be impacted by your connection to this guy? I find your tone a bit disingenuous, but I guess I'll never know for sure.

I do not believe at all that any accusations against you are true. I've seen the "puppy mill" equivalent of reptile breeding and you are NOT AT ALL the kind of guy that would do such a thing nor be involved in it nor cover it up. You put WAY too much effort into education and long term projects - you see this big picture. People that run shoddy facilities and don't care about the well being of their animals are short sighted people.

Im sorry but this guy’s body language is screaming LIAR

It’s not drama. The photos are as real as the accusation of you giving him that last retic out of spite. You are obviously better at breeding than lying. What you did was wrong! Be a man and own it! Nothing but love and respect….

After everything I've seen regarding Garrett, and from Garrett, he's literally the last person I would have even considered being involved in something as atrocious as this. People who know you know there's no way you were involved in any way. (Carson @RoseCityRoyals, just happen to be on my personal account.)