What to ask

[AmysAnimals]

I found someone who lives by me who is selling female pastels but I am kind of hesitant to buy from them because I don't know much about them. What should I ask?

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[The Serpent Merchant]

The best thing to do is to go see it in person if you can.

You want to know the age, weight, have the sex verified, how she has been kept, how and what she has been eating. Those are the basics and should give you a pretty good idea if you want to pre sue this snake further or not.

With Pastels the main concern is "browning out." all pastels do, but to what degree, varies.

[satomi325]

Ask about the age (hatch date if they know), weight, husbandry and how the snakes are being housed. What the snakes eat and how often. Did this person breed these pastels themselves?

Also ask for pictures.
Try to get as much details if possible.

[AmysAnimals]

Thanks! I asked a bunch of questions! He answered all of them thoroughly! Soooo helpful. He is even going to set up flexwatt for me for $5.

I am going to probably put a deposit on the snake on Friday and pick up my thermostat (hopefully the reptile store has it!). I *may* need to get a different hide but I will only know when I have the snake. I'll need to get a container for the rats plus rat food. I think I'll be set after that.

I have:

12 quart tub
1 bowl hide (because that's all that fits in the container)
1 small water dish (may need to get a bigger one)
1 Thermometer/hygrometer
Aluminum foil tape
extension cord


I will need to get paper towels too.

So things I need to get:
Thermostat
flexwatt
paper towels
container for rats
rat food

Anything else I am missing?

[The Serpent Merchant]

Looks good, I would get a spray bottle for misting purposes to increase humidity as needed.

[AmysAnimals]

I have a spray bottle for misting my tarantula so I can use that. =) Forgot to list that. Thanks!

[Annarose15]

Provent-A-Mite

No matter who or where I get a new BP from, I always pretreat the tub before bringing it home. Make sure your tarantula is far far away (like, treat the tub outdoors and then change clothes), or you won't have one anymore - PAM is potent stuff.

[FrankieCarbone]

Annarose15 you beat me to it!

yeh, i was gonna say, FIRST thing i would do is grab that snake and look him thru, stare in between some scales for a while, gently grab his head and stare at his eyeballs, mites are my biggest fear ever nowadays. Then after thats done, i would ask about eveything else.

And of course, spray down the enclosure you intend putting him/her with PAM before you bring him in, and lines with papertowels so if he does have mites u can see them when they die off.

Im so paranoid of mites, every week i take my BP out and inspect him, i grab his head by his cheeks (thats what i call the meaty part on the side of his head) and inspect him thoroughly, its gotten to the point that once i grab his head there, he knows the deal, he dosent even bother to fight me he just stand still and lets me look him thru

[snake lab]

They want to sell so just asking questions isnt enough. They can tell ya anything. Go see them in person. You van get a feel pretty quick by looking at there setup. If thier setup isnt up to par and you see things that put doubts in your mind then dont buy em. Husbandry first, snakes second.

[JohnNJ]

I will need to get paper towels too.

Anything else I am missing?

You might want to pick up some fruit or cheese & crackers in case you get hungry and need a snack. Juice too!