2019 Snek Acquisition Plan

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Ideally they'll all be in seperate rooms for 90 days or longer.
Once healthy and out of quarantine they can go into the same rack.

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Originally Posted by MR Snakes

So individual tubs with tops in 3 different rooms? How much handling do you do during this time?

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Ideally, yes.

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hey craig! i just wanna jump in here (not to step on your toes :)): i quarantine snakes i got at the same time in the same room together. my two new animals' tubs are literally right next to each other. for animals you get from separate shows, you should QT them separately as any new additions to QT resets the "QT clock" for all animals back to 0.

but just a reminder that QT is not something to take lightly; it is a very important part of keeping multiple snakes. the best time to start practicing QT is when you only have one animal. ;)

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Originally Posted by MR Snakes

Thanks for the advice Craig. I'm wondering, when purchasing from a breeder at a show, should there be a concern with mites?

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me and the breeder i got one of my new animals from joked that we'd bet our life savings there were mites at the show. you should just assume there are and follow QT when you get home: immediately strip out of your clothes, toss them in the wash and hop in the shower! that's what i do after every show.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

hey craig! i just wanna jump in here (not to step on your toes :)): i quarantine snakes i got at the same time in the same room together. my two new animals' tubs are literally right next to each other. for animals you get from separate shows, you should QT them separately as any new additions to QT resets the "QT clock" for all animals back to 0.

but just a reminder that QT is not something to take lightly; it is a very important part of keeping multiple snakes. the best time to start practicing QT is when you only have one animal. ;)


me and the breeder i got one of my new animals from joked that we'd bet our life savings there were mites at the show. you should just assume there are and follow QT when you get home: immediately strip out of your clothes, toss them in the wash and hop in the shower! that's what i do after every show.

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That's much better if we buy 3 snakes from the same show I can QT'em together.

And can't a visual inspection of the snake at purchase determine if there are mites?

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Originally Posted by MR Snakes

That's much better if we buy 3 snakes from the same show I can QT'em together.

And can't a visual inspection of the snake at purchase determine if there are mites?

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yes and no: they could have one or two, and maybe those one or two lay eggs; the eggs don't hatch right away, then a week goes by and you have a full-blown infestation. (everything you've ever wanted to know about snake mites [PDF warning]).

there's plenty of examples on here where people bring home a new animal, a week later they find mites and they seem baffled as to where they came from lol. it happens, but it's not the end of the world.

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Originally Posted by MR Snakes

Meeting up would be great! Let me ask you a question since you have attended both. It looks like the NY show is much bigger than the NH. Is this true and is my thinking that husbandry items acquisition would be better in NY better because there would be more suppliers?

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There are plenty of husbandry suppliers at both. However, depends what you are looking for husbandry wise. You have a lot of time, assuming you stick to your plan :). You might want to consider ordering what you need from reptile basics, for example, and getting cages or racks made by Boaphile, AP, etc.

Just a thought.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

hey craig! i just wanna jump in here (not to step on your toes :)): i quarantine snakes i got at the same time in the same room together. my two new animals' tubs are literally right next to each other. for animals you get from separate shows, you should QT them separately as any new additions to QT resets the "QT clock" for all animals back to 0.

but just a reminder that QT is not something to take lightly; it is a very important part of keeping multiple snakes. the best time to start practicing QT is when you only have one animal. ;)


me and the breeder i got one of my new animals from joked that we'd bet our life savings there were mites at the show. you should just assume there are and follow QT when you get home: immediately strip out of your clothes, toss them in the wash and hop in the shower! that's what i do after every show.

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Thanks, Taylor. I've never had more than one animal in QT at a time, so I could be going into overkill mode. But I do think I would personally still want them in seperate rooms, especially if they came from different breeders. But hey, that's just me and coukd be overkill.

OP, like Taylor said, plan on there being mites somewhere at the show. Unfortunately, expos and mites often go hand in hand.
Follow Taylor's advise on post-show washing, etc...

Think of it this way:
- table X has mites
- Person A handles snakes at table X.
- Person A then moves on to table Y
- Person A now handles snakes at table Y, table Z, etc...
The mites could have traveled very easily from person A from one table to another. Now think of hundreds of people all handling snakes all over the room...

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Thanks, Taylor. I've never had more than one animal in QT at a time, so I could be going into overkill mode. But I do think I would personally still want them in seperate rooms, especially if they came from different breeders. But hey, that's just me and coukd be overkill.

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nothing wrong with overkill, and this is good advice! to OP: if you can QT every animal in separate rooms, then go for it! if you're like me and have only a few spots where you can tightly control the husbandry, it's not the end of the world but you will need to pay closer attention to any behavior changes in the animals.

sidenote: if i bought different species at the same show, i'd QT them separately.

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Originally Posted by dakski

There are plenty of husbandry suppliers at both. However, depends what you are looking for husbandry wise. You have a lot of time, assuming you stick to your plan :). You might want to consider ordering what you need from reptile basics, for example, and getting cages or racks made by Boaphile, AP, etc.

Just a thought.

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Do they not attend either show? I was hoping to see their products up close.

Just some tips from my experience......

1. If you have a particular morph in mind to buy, seek them out first at the show. The amount of animals will be overwhelming and you don’t want to spend a lot of time talking to a breeder that doesn’t even work with the morph you’re interested in.

2. Look for the breeder with a smaller display of maybe 50 or less snakes, preferably 25. From what I’ve found in my short time in the hobby is the mega breeder with 200 snakes for sale doesn’t know what the snake you’re looking at is or where it came from. (Some don’t even keep up with hatch dates)

3. The biggest one....if you’re planning on breeding in the future, have a plan before you buy. Find your absolute favorite morph on Morph Market and start your breeding plans with the goal of producing that morph at some point.

You sound like you have a rock solid plan! That’s a good thing. Stick to it and enjoy the shows. They are a blast to attend!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Jbabycsx

Just some tips from my experience......

1. If you have a particular morph in mind to buy, seek them out first at the show. The amount of animals will be overwhelming and you don’t want to spend a lot of time talking to a breeder that doesn’t even work with the morph you’re interested in.

2. Look for the breeder with a smaller display of maybe 50 or less snakes, preferably 25. From what I’ve found in my short time in the hobby is the mega breeder with 200 snakes for sale doesn’t know what the snake you’re looking at is or where it came from. (Some don’t even keep up with hatch dates)

3. The biggest one....if you’re planning on breeding in the future, have a plan before you buy. Find your absolute favorite morph on Morph Market and start your breeding plans with the goal of producing that morph at some point.

You sound like you have a rock solid plan! That’s a good thing. Stick to it and enjoy the shows. They are a blast to attend!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Thanks for the sound advice. And as for #3, believe it or not I spend almost as much time on MM as I do here! I have always wanted to plan on owning the right morphs so if we ever want to breed we'd be a bit ahead of the curve. So many sneks, so little time....

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Originally Posted by MR Snakes

Thanks for the advice Craig. I'm wondering, when purchasing from a breeder at a show, should there be a concern with mites?

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Ya, you betcha! Even from what appears to be a great breeder, their snakes could conceivably pick up a mite from being in proximity to others that brought them, or
the mites could be transferred on someone's clothing that handled them & then didn't buy. Look closely & hopefully have good luck.

In terms of quarantine, it would be easier if all snakes came from same breeder, but that also makes it more likely that they are all related*, which may or may
not be to your advantage in terms of breeding. *Some sellers (when asked) may tell you what you want to hear rather than full disclosure.