NEED opinions & advice...

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Originally Posted by TaylorMade

Thanks Don, we have already agreed to her paying for the food & husbandry items, I could never spring that up on anyone. Lol. Thank you for the advice!

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Yes, we have an agreement already. I've offered super cheap IMO... $200 for the snakes & enclosures. But we've settled on just billing her... which will add up quick. So most likely I'll end up owning them. $2.50 a feeding per day adds up quick, especially for snakes. Thanks for the input & advice! :)

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$2.50 per feeding? PER snake? That's pretty high. Even if it's for both snakes.

By the way, they don't NEED to be on 5 day feeding schedules. They could be on 7 day or 10 day feeding schedules. We put them on 5 days so they grow at a better rate for our purpose of breeding them.

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Originally Posted by Aaron_S

$2.50 per feeding? PER snake? That's pretty high. Even if it's for both snakes.

By the way, they don't NEED to be on 5 day feeding schedules. They could be on 7 day or 10 day feeding schedules. We put them on 5 days so they grow at a better rate for our purpose of breeding them.

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Would you put them on a 5 day feeding schedule as young as they are (still growing) and malnourished? To me it looks like they need to put on weight even if it's not for breeding purposes but just for growing. Just my opinion but I would want them to get back into shape not just keep them alive. I'm new to snakes but I have lots of experience with other animals and usually you want to up the feedings if you're trying to put weight on them. Is it different with snakes?

I think you need to have a heart to heart about proper care. Tell her that you love these snakes but she simply wasn't caring for them properly and you would be happy to show her how when the time comes.

If I were you I would keep them. You will know they are in safe keeping. I rescued a male pastel a couple week ago. He is in bad shape but he eats what ever I put in front of him. This is what he looks like now.[IMG]http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5909/imag0307l.jpg[/IMG]

Just to let you know where I stand at the moment the former owner in question owes me $235.85 and she is aware of this and has yet to come visit the snake or even ask about the snake in about 6 month's so I figure it is probably mine at this point.

I agree with all the above advice but maybe you could have her over and explain to her what exactly she would need to keep them healthy and how to properly take care of them. I would start by showing her how you and other keepers take care of them as opposed telling her everything she did wrong. I've had a similar experience and it seems the person will either react positively and establish good husbandry with help, or realize that it may be not be financially feasible for them to keep the snakes and realize that its in the snake's best interest to go to someone with the ability to properly take care of them.

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Originally Posted by Aaron_S

$2.50 per feeding? PER snake? That's pretty high. Even if it's for both snakes.

By the way, they don't NEED to be on 5 day feeding schedules. They could be on 7 day or 10 day feeding schedules. We put them on 5 days so they grow at a better rate for our purpose of breeding them.

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Yeah, unfortunately the guy I buy my adult mice from is pretty pricey. & no offense but I disagree with putting snakes that are in this particular condition on a 7 or 10 day feeding schedule. They need the extra weight. But thanks for the suggestion anyways! :)

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Originally Posted by FroggyCrazy

Would you put them on a 5 day feeding schedule as young as they are (still growing) and malnourished? To me it looks like they need to put on weight even if it's not for breeding purposes but just for growing. Just my opinion but I would want them to get back into shape not just keep them alive.

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I totally agree with you about the feeding schedule. They need to put on quite a bit of really weight so I'm sticking to the 5 day cycle.

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Originally Posted by rasslinrinyu

I think you need to have a heart to heart about proper care. Tell her that you love these snakes but she simply wasn't caring for them properly and you would be happy to show her how when the time comes.

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Oh, many times I've tried to educate & inform her on how to take care of a ball but it goes in one ear & out the other. She thinks she's more informed. Lol.

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Originally Posted by Tye Hicks

If I were you I would keep them. You will know they are in safe keeping. I rescued a male pastel a couple week ago. He is in bad shape but he eats what ever I put in front of him. This is what he looks like now.[IMG]http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5909/imag0307l.jpg[/IMG]

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Well I have a feeling they will end up in my care ultimately. Btw, he's a very beautiful pastel! Congrats on the rescue & glad to hear he is in good hands!:gj:

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Originally Posted by RestlessRobie

Just to let you know where I stand at the moment the former owner in question owes me $235.85 and she is aware of this and has yet to come visit the snake or even ask about the snake in about 6 month's so I figure it is probably mine at this point.

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I have a feeling a similar situation will occur, however she is pretty "attached" to them at the moment. Which I can't understand, seeing as how underweight & poorly taken care of they were. :( It does warm my heart knowing there are good people rescuing poor snakes out of bad situations!

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Originally Posted by katiekat

I agree with all the above advice but maybe you could have her over and explain to her what exactly she would need to keep them healthy and how to properly take care of them. I would start by showing her how you and other keepers take care of them as opposed telling her everything she did wrong. I've had a similar experience and it seems the person will either react positively and establish good husbandry with help, or realize that it may be not be financially feasible for them to keep the snakes and realize that its in the snake's best interest to go to someone with the ability to properly take care of them.

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I've tried showing her.... doesn't do any good. I think she has realized she can't afford them but she can't "let go" so I'm "fostering" them for now. Eventually she will most likely forget about them.

THANK Y'ALL FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL ADVICE, IDEAS, OPINIONS & PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. I AM TRULY GRATEFUL FOR SUCH AN AWESOME & SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY! THANK YOU ALL! :clap:

:peace: BLESSED BE!

I'm new to this, so forgive me if this is an outlandish suggestion- maybe offer to trade these two for their future offspring? By the time you have to make good on your deal, maybe she'll be in a better position to properly care for snakes. Best case, she'll take the deal and by the time babies come around she won't be interested anymore. Worst case, nothing changes and you saved two snakes from poor care only to thrust two others into it later.

I don't envy you! Having to tell someone they're not a good pet owner goes over about as well as telling someone they're a bad parent.