Upsetting Craigslist Ad

So I was looking at craigslist to see what was on there, and found an ad that breaks my heart and I just had to share with other people who would feel the same. This person has a three year old female ball python, they say it's almost 3 feet long and they feed her a large rat once every two months! There's not any pics of what they've kept her in, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was improper too. They're asking $150 for her, and I really want to get her to try and nurse her back to health, but unfortunately I don't have that much to spend right now. I'm wondering if I could talk them down on the price. The picture is kind of blurry but you can at least see the size of the snake, which seems ridiculous for a three year old snake.


https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...a_1200x900.jpg

With the forced perspective in that photo it's hard to see how big she truly is. Her spine does not look like it's protruding though.

Also depending on the supplier's size definitions, a "large" rat every two months may be more than adequate for a non-breeder adult ball python.

Unfortunately many people get BPS and take no time to learn how to properly care for them. She does look small, but who knows, she probably hasn't been properly sexed - could be a male. Either way they definietly aren't feeding her enough, and like you said, probably don't have proper husbandy either. I rescued a BP off craigslist last month and he came to me freezing, starving, and mite ridden. So just be aware you will likely have underlying issues to deal with if you adopt her.
That being said I don't regret getting Aesir, he is an absolute sweetie and a joy to have. I bet they would go down in price, I got Aesir down to $80 off a $150 posting.
Plus you get the satisfaction of knowing you helped that cute little noodle.

I did email them, I haven't heard back yet. I figure there will be issues to deal with if I do bring her home. As far as the properly sexed part, it sounds like she was bought from a breeder. She's supposedly a granite pastel, though it's hard to tell from the pictures and I'm not super familiar with morphs yet, but she almost looks like a normal to me, but I'm not sure. Of course I don't know who the breeder was so not being properly sexed could be a possibility. I'll attach the other pics so you can see all of them.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...6_1200x900.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...n_1200x900.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...A_1200x900.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...6_1200x900.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlueFenris

I did email them, I haven't heard back yet. I figure there will be issues to deal with if I do bring her home. As far as the properly sexed part, it sounds like she was bought from a breeder. She's supposedly a granite pastel, though it's hard to tell from the pictures and I'm not super familiar with morphs yet, but she almost looks like a normal to me, but I'm not sure. Of course I don't know who the breeder was so not being properly sexed could be a possibility. I'll attach the other pics so you can see all of them.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...6_1200x900.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...n_1200x900.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...A_1200x900.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...6_1200x900.jpg

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She looks like a norm to me, if I am correct granites are more bright and have a more yellow marking pattern than the brown/gold that female has. But I could very easily be wrong. She really doesn't look in too bad of condition though.

Maybe I'm overreacting, it just seemed like it was an awfully small size for a supposedly three year old snake. Thanks for everyone's input though, I appreciate it.

There is absolutely no pastel in that snake. I do not work with granite so I can not say about that but to me looks like a normal

Yeah that's what I was thinking. The ad says the guy paid 500 for the snake. I think he may have gotten swindled. But if the snake doesn't look to be in bad condition, I'm probably not going to get her since I don't need to get another snake quite yet, especially not what he's asking for what may be a normal.

Looks like a healthy weight to me.

Based on the pictures, the owners living conditions aren't great so I can just imagine how bad it is for the snake. WTF is wrong with people. :mad: