Nervous about Buying a Baby

[watertiger21]

Hello! I'm looking into getting my first bp. This is not my first reptile, or even first snake, but it is my first bp. I've found an adorable little champagne pastel female (276g) for sale, and I'd reeeeeeaaaally like to purchase her, but I'm nervous about buying such a small snake to start off with. Is a bp at this size still considered a baby and is it still more "fragile" for a beginner? (I like the idea of a larger, more well-started snake so there is less for me to potentially mess up or make a mistake with.) Any advice would be wonderful and greatly appreciated!

Also, the seller is asking $100 for this baby. Is that fair? It almost seems low to me, but I'm also still trying to learn why one individual of a morph can go for a low price, but a different individual of the exact same morph can go for three times the price of the other!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

276 grams is a very well established animal, pretty much bullet proof at that point IF you provide the proper husbandry.

At 250 grams I would call that a juvenile.

To give you an idea out of the egg they average 50/70 grams.

And yes the price is more then fair considering the size and genetics.

[watertiger21]

Thank you!! I'm not familiar at all with weights on bp's. I had no idea if 270 was tiny or medium or what. 😅

[Bogertophis]

Those are great questions: Since it's not your first reptile or snake, you shouldn't worry about getting a young BP...if anything, they're more resilient,
whereas an older snake may have some pretty firm feeding preferences or be more stressed by re-homing. Since you've expressed awareness that "baby"
snakes might need some TLC, I suspect that your "instincts" will guide you pretty well, and it's really awesome to watch a snake grow up under your care.

If the price seems too low, that can be a "red flag"...or maybe for other reasons, that seller is motivated to downsize the number of animals they have to
care for. This is a time where you should try to research that seller's reputation...maybe ask on Fauna Classifieds too. Prices can be very subjective- males
can be cheaper than females (since many people want the option of breeding their snakes). Does the seller offer any sort of health guarantee? Can they be
reached locally...or are they only known by a P.O. box? Can they offer any references? Ask questions...is the snake feeding & on what? (live or f/t, mice or
rats & what size?) Listen to the snake's breathing (you don't want to hear crackling or whistling)...are the tongue tips stuck together? does the tongue-flicking
seem normal? any wounds? signs of diarrhea? stuck shed or eye caps? etc.

[dr del]

I applaud you for asking the question to be honest.

At that weight it is definitely eating - the only addition I would make is queirying what it is currently eating and how it is prepared/ presented as this will help you make the transition to your care as easy as possible.

Everyone previous already covered the other points extremely well

[Hannahshissyfix]

Seems your questions were all answered but just figured Id share this for a better visual for you. This guy just weighed in at 270g and you can see its far from a fragile baby.

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