Vets and Vet Bills???

[Stuwy]

Hey all,
I'm still waiting for April 23rd to roll around so I purchase my first ball. I was wondering, how many times a year or month do you need to bring your ball in for a check-up or emergency? And how much does it usually cost?
I'm still a college student and I need to know of any expenses before they occur (budgeting is rough as a student). Your help would be much appreciated.

[recycling goddess]

you never really know when or if an emergency will pop up. i suggest finding a reputable reptile vet in your area and calling to find out how much an emergency visit would cost and set the cash aside.

hope that helps...

[frankykeno]

Great suggestion Aleesha. Find yourself a herp vet and heck you can even take a bit of that tax money and start an emergency account there if you are worried about something happening down the road (drop a $100 bucks off and have a credit with the vet sort of thing). Basically though if you buy your snake from a reputable breeder, who has it already well started, it's healthy and has been sexed for you, you are already way ahead of the game. If you buy it from a petstore you may be setting yourself up for issues and expenses. If I was worried about vet costs, I'd probably go with the breeder option as it tends to work out better usually.

[rabernet]

To help you find a qualified HERP vet (not one that primarily sees dogs and cats and an occassional reptile) near you, here are two links for you:


http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist

I generally take mine when I first get them for wellness check. I've not had an emergency yet (knock on wood).

My vet is the exception to most vets, he charges me $0-$15 for the office visit, plus any tests. Most vets will charge about $50, for an office visit. But find one from those links and call to find out!