when Buying hets?

[Timbuktu]

I am wondering when buying a so called het for something how do you know that it is? is it just the trust if the breeders word or is there some way to tell? do you require some sort of documentation from breeder? I am looking to buy my first and dont want to get screwed.thanks.

[Patrick Long]

Most breeders will give you the paper work that proves it is Het.


Ill add Most "respectable" breeders will give you the paper work that proves it is a Het.

I would not except that it is Het without paper work.

I bought a male blood that was suposedly het for albino, but I wouldnt hold my breath on it, cause there is no paper work

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Paperwork means little to me. If you buy from a reputable breeder, you are usually OK. Not saying there isn't the occasional mix up or screw over. Thats one of those things that there is no set rule. Reputation and trust mean just as much if not more than a piece of paper.
Just my 2 cents

[frankykeno]

"just trust the breeder" and paperwork that anyone can produce don't cut it for me. For my husband and I it's about doing the work ourselves to get to know breeders, to check on people's reputations over the years they've been around, to know people that have proved out this breeder's hets before, to know the breeder over the long term say through this website and by talking to them on the phone - that sort of stuff. Then when we do buy a het from a person like that, we have no real concern about the genetics because we have already built a relationship of trust and respect with that breeder.

There are quite a few people I might buy a snake from, there's a very short list of who we'd buy a het from.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I wish I had that kind of time!
If the breeder has a good reputation and has been around the herp community for a while, chances are their hets are as good as anyones.
This goes into buying hets for genetics but on a personal level, I have strict lines on who I will and won't buy from when it comes to animals period. The person has to have a love for the animals, not just be one of the people in it for the money. That goes to moral rather than guarentee of the hets