Repticon queston!

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Originally Posted by gusanr14

Yea, I visit there often to just look and they seem to give good care. I remember them telling me the breeder they get from but can't remember the name. I am probably going to ask again and look it up.
This is their website by the way, probably can't tell from just looking at the website lol. Anyways, do you know any good breeders? so I can maybe look into it and consider buying online.

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Yes i can PM you. Not sure what Deb "Stewart Reptiles" has left but there are several breeders. I know she had some posted on here.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so I will. I think a big part is what you plan on doing with your new ball. If you are looking for a single snake as a "pet" then I believe a show is the better way to find it. All the pictures posted online do not get close to what they actually look like.

I went to Repticon with NO intention of getting anything, but came back with a new pastel. Now I am sure I looked at 50 different versions at the show, (I love that morph), but when I saw this one I was blown away by her colors.

If my intention was to get into a breeding project, I would have cared much more about genes and such, but I am not so beauty was the requirement for me. As it turns out the breeder is local to me as a bonus!.

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Originally Posted by gusanr14

Hello,
Sorry if I am not suppose to post this in this forum. Didn't know where it belongs.

I am planning on my repticon visit next month to get my first ball python. I have some questions before I head there so I can be successful!
First, I was wondering if it is little cheaper to buy in repticon. Might sound cheap but I have set budget and if the price is little cheaper, I can probably look into wider range of morphs. Is it rude to ask to get 5~10 dollars off? I just saw some people saying you can talk and get some deal at repticon so I was wondering. This might all sound like I am trying to be cheap, but as college student, it would be great to save some money honestly.

What should I look for when buying my ball python? I am going to buy a baby male. I know basic stuff like dehydration, mites or stuck skin but since it is my first time, I don't know if I can look at the right stuff. Could I ask to show if it is male, to check if there's no mites kind of stuff?

Do they get sold out pretty fast? I might be there couple hours before it closes.

I am probably over thinking but first time is always a concern.
Thank you!

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My personal opinion is this......

1) Consider your plans for the future. If breeding is in your plans, look carefully for a morph that has the traits you are looking for.

2) Read carefully about how the morphs can or might effect the snakes health before you go. I personally stay away from the spider gene (my preference). Also some breeding combos are fatal.
(homozygous spiders, or homozygous womas etc).

3) Either for a pet or breeder, I always spend time talking to them a few min before buying the snake. If they don't know the personality of the snake (aggression level, eating habbits, etc) I move on. IMO a good breeder will have this information.

4) Age/ weight of the animal? I always ask this question. Most good breeders can answer this. Not a hard limit for me if they don't know but will spend more time asking questions or shopping if they cant.

5) The OOOOO and AHHHHHH effect.... Shop around and explore the entire place before you get your heart set on something specific. I went to a local repcon this weekend. Fell in love with the well behaved male reticulated python. I even held him and took a couple of photos. The price was right at 800 and for his morph was not a bad price. I went back and looked at him several times. I know I am not prepared to take care of this 15 foot 80lbs male snake at this time. I took the business card of the breeder and he lives 3 hours away. If I get prepared to house him and educated enough to do so I might go pick him up if he is still available.

6) Have an enclosure set up for your new pet in advance. Having a proper home to go to when you get the reptile home will lessen the stress of the animal until you both get adjusted to caring for each other.

7) Live up to your commitment to care for the reptile. This is the most important to me. You are saying "I know what I am getting into and am able to as well as willing to fulfill your commitment to do so!" when you make the purchase.

I am sure there are those more experienced than me that will say this list if far from complete and I would agree with them. Good luck.

I have purchased BPs and boas from shows like repticon and from online breeders who had the animals shipped. I have had good experiences with both.

I would agree with everything said so far on this thread. Look up repticon's vendor listing online and research the people on Google and on fauna classifieds. We even have a forum here to ask for feedback too. Of the breeders that have good reputations, see if they have FB pages or other sales pages (like morph market) so you can see their available stock.

If you like what you see, you can email the breeder and enquire if they are bringing a certain morph to the show or if they have a sales list for what they are bringing listing prices. You can often arrange to pre-purchase the animal online and pick up at the show this way. I have done this before with good results.

Which repticon are you planning on attending (what city)? If you are going to the ATL repticon, I know some people that vend and can give you the name of a FB group they use. You can ask there who is going and what they will have, etc.

If you are interested in a breeder recommendation, I can PM you the names of 2 breeders I've recently dealt with and had good experiences purchasing online. I know both of them have available animals now (some at very reasonable prices) depending on what you are looking for. You could also start a new thread in our feedback forum asking for recommendations.

I would be hesitant about going the pet shop route. They may take good care of their animals, but pet shops have to make money, which means marking up the the price of their stock... They may buy from the breeder at a normal or slightly reduced price, but often increase it by 200% to make ends meet. This is often why you see BPs at petsmart and petco for well above market price. Unless you can check their price for a morph then double-check online to ensure that it is a fair price, I wouldn't buy from them. It is also always best to buy from the breeder so that you can ask questions about hatch date, genetics, health, how well (and what) it is feeding on, etc.

Shows can be a lot of fun and the best part, IMO, is getting to see different examples of the same morph. It is "buyer beware" territory, but as long as you have done your research online, you should be fine. I would caution to watch for people selling many species of snakes at the same table. This is usually (but not always) a sign of a flipper who buys and re-sells animals. Also, as others noted, try not to handle animals unless you are planning on possibly buying them and always use hand sanitizer in between handling.