Bonus snake rocks!!

I think the trick is to have the item get handed out to you on one device, then have the other not able to sync until after you've placed it.

That's what happened with me. Got the statute while whacking neighboring snakes, went back to town and placed it.

When I went to go play on my iPad, the game finally had a chance to sync, and gave me a second. Likely because it confirms your snake total and hands out items once you've entered YOUR town. And I hadn't entered the town on the iPad (or synced) until after I had gotten the item elsewhere.

So the local game must validate the snake count against the prize list as opposed to the server.