What would you do?

[Kinra]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma here and I could really use some advice. Last night I e-mailed the breeder of my female hypo jungle boa to give him an update on her. I've had her almost 6 months now and the guy I got her from really seems to care for his animals so I thought he would appreciate the update. He did and he thanked me for the picture and the update, but he also sent me a picture of a male he has for sale. The male is really nice and would be a great mate for her because he is also very clean and has great color. I'm 95% sure I am going to buy him.

What I am unsure of is what I should do with my other male boa. I have a male hypo boa that I won from one of Ben Siegel's facebook auctions. I wasn't really planning on winning him, but for the price I ended up paying I was extremely happy. He does have some nice color to him, but he is very freckled. From a business stand point, it doesn't make sense to keep him. I don't want to get heavily into breeding boas, I just think my girl is too pretty not to try to breed eventually. If I keep him then that is eventually going to become another 5-7ft snake I have to feed and house, but have no real use for. I'm not overly attached to him, I've only had him about 2 months, but I still consider him a pet.

When I started building my collection I never thought I would sell or re-home any of the snakes that I purchased or decided to hold back. I don't think it will be hard (emotionally) to sell babies because I know going in that I intend to sell them, but I have a very hard to thinking of sell/re-homing any of the snakes in my collection. What would you do? Logic tells me I should sell him, but my heart is telling me he's part of the family and I can't just "dump" him when something better comes along.

[VEXER19]

To me this is hard to do and is easier to do with a snake then say a dog that gets emotionally attatched to you as well. If you consider the boa family and you have the means to keep it then do. Its not as if the boa will care if he moves onto a new home just make sure its a good one. So it really has to come from your opinion on how many snakes you wanna house and keep for now and the future. Remembering just cause you make babies doesn't mean you will always sell them immediately. But don't worry about the snakes feelings cause as much as we all love our snakes their love for us doesn't go that far and it won't effect them. It won't have abandonment issues or anything. So if you want something else then get soething else. But if you have enough love for this snake and are willing to pay for its upkeep then do. Either eay whatever makes you happy is best. The snake will be fine so its really up to your situation and feelings.

[Egapal]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma here and I could really use some advice. Last night I e-mailed the breeder of my female hypo jungle boa to give him an update on her. I've had her almost 6 months now and the guy I got her from really seems to care for his animals so I thought he would appreciate the update. He did and he thanked me for the picture and the update, but he also sent me a picture of a male he has for sale. The male is really nice and would be a great mate for her because he is also very clean and has great color. I'm 95% sure I am going to buy him.

What I am unsure of is what I should do with my other male boa. I have a male hypo boa that I won from one of Ben Siegel's facebook auctions. I wasn't really planning on winning him, but for the price I ended up paying I was extremely happy. He does have some nice color to him, but he is very freckled. From a business stand point, it doesn't make sense to keep him. I don't want to get heavily into breeding boas, I just think my girl is too pretty not to try to breed eventually. If I keep him then that is eventually going to become another 5-7ft snake I have to feed and house, but have no real use for. I'm not overly attached to him, I've only had him about 2 months, but I still consider him a pet.

When I started building my collection I never thought I would sell or re-home any of the snakes that I purchased or decided to hold back. I don't think it will be hard (emotionally) to sell babies because I know going in that I intend to sell them, but I have a very hard to thinking of sell/re-homing any of the snakes in my collection. What would you do? Logic tells me I should sell him, but my heart is telling me he's part of the family and I can't just "dump" him when something better comes along.

This is a great question and I would suggest that you should just sell the snake. Let me give you my reasons. Things change. You were doing everything right when you took the snake in. You seam like one of the good guys. It sounds to me like you can and will keep this snake until the day it dies if you can't find it a good home. If you are seriously just looking for someone to tell you its ok to start looking for a good home for the snake then look no further. Its a completely different story if you sell or give the snake to someone who you don't feel will provide a good home or you go into it with bad intentions. I am not saying that you need to do a background check or hire a private detective either BTW.

[Kinra]

To me this is hard to do and is easier to do with a snake then say a dog that gets emotionally attatched to you as well. If you consider the boa family and you have the means to keep it then do. Its not as if the boa will care if he moves onto a new home just make sure its a good one. So it really has to come from your opinion on how many snakes you wanna house and keep for now and the future. Remembering just cause you make babies doesn't mean you will always sell them immediately. But don't worry about the snakes feelings cause as much as we all love our snakes their love for us doesn't go that far and it won't effect them. It won't have abandonment issues or anything. So if you want something else then get soething else. But if you have enough love for this snake and are willing to pay for its upkeep then do. Either eay whatever makes you happy is best. The snake will be fine so its really up to your situation and feelings.

Thanks.

I know he's not attached to me and re-homing him won't be a big deal for him, but for me it is. I've only re-homed a pet once and it was because it was the right decision for him and for me. This case feels different because I would only be re-homing him because I essentially replaced him. I also know babies won't sell instantly and I'm not really worried about that. I feel like babies will be different because I don't plan on naming them. I plan on assigning them IDs so I can keep track of their care but they won't be like the rest of my collection with a real name. It doesn't make that much sense I know, but for some reason having a real name makes a huge difference to me.

I think I will eventually re-home him, but for now I'm going to keep taking care of him until he clears QT.

This is a great question and I would suggest that you should just sell the snake. Let me give you my reasons. Things change. You were doing everything right when you took the snake in. You seam like one of the good guys. It sounds to me like you can and will keep this snake until the day it dies if you can't find it a good home. If you are seriously just looking for someone to tell you its ok to start looking for a good home for the snake then look no further. Its a completely different story if you sell or give the snake to someone who you don't feel will provide a good home or you go into it with bad intentions. I am not saying that you need to do a background check or hire a private detective either BTW.

Thank you.

I think I was looking for someone to just tell me it's okay. I don't want to become known as a flipper and I will keep him until I find the right home. I'm in no rush to part with him and I want him to clear QT before I try to find him a new home. Once he's out of QT I think I am going to see if anyone in my local herp society wants him and if I can't find a home for him there I will try here.

[CCfive]

I don't know how you feel about trads, but that's also an option.

[Kinra]

I don't know how you feel about trads, but that's also an option.

I hadn't considered a trade but that is a possibility. I'm currently leaning more towards selling him but I'd like to make sure he goes to someone who has experience with boas or at least boids.

[DellaF]

Wait until you get the other one and then decide.