Probing price - is it worth it?

man that really sucks, a local reptile vet costs like 20 dollars for the visit and 40 dollars for probing, lol, i just found a local reptile store with some real pro's they probe for 5 bucks, i havnt got my BP probed yet, but i will soon, lol.

My vet visit to an exotics vet cost $15. for the visit and $10 for the probing. Well worth it to me, she completely looked Monty Joe over...looked in his mouth checked for possible lumps under his skin etc.

Do your snake a favor and just have it done by a vet, that way you get a health check up and the probing.....Well worth the cost IMO.

Good point Ironhead. I've decided that I'll make an appointment tomorrow for it to have it. I sure hope it's a female, cuz then I could get a male for her to breed with alot cheaper...since females are more expensive.

I paid $5 once to have a snake probed. In reality its what you can afford...but in the long run depending on knowing the sex of the animal is worth as much as you make it to be.

i got both of mine probed for free from a breeder.

18 bucks seems a little high.......ok.....REAL HIGH, I would keep looking.

If you know any local breeders i would try and get in touch with them.

Yeah, it does seem really high. I just thought that way the vet might look over it to make sure it was healthy. Maybe I'll check around a little bit more..

but then again 18 bucks isnt that much for a lifetime of knowing what sex your BP is and if you can get her checked out then thats a plus too.But i think it would be smart to keep looking if you can, if not, like i said 18 isnt THAT bad.

Have you tried to get in touch with a local herp society? If so, there's probably someone there who could reliably sex your snake.

K

I don't think there's a local herp society around me...I'm going to make an appointment today for the vet...I just think I would trust someone like him better than a guy at a petstore, and the proce isn't realy an issue right now...

Depending on your area your alternatives may be limited - at any rate I don't think $18 is too high to have it done (despite whatever local alternatives may be available to other folks). If you think it important or have any future breeding aspirations pay a professional to do it and don't quibble over the price. Sloppy probing (and "popping" mature specimens) can damage reproductive organs which would run quite counter to your purpose - you'd have a eunuch of a snake you couldn't breed and if you'd damaged my gonads I'd want to choke you :P