Buying-At shows or Online?

i really dont care either way. Ive gotten some off the net and they were healthy and i got one in the cold that died on the way. I also have bought some a shows also. Ive heard to be careful about the shows b/c with the r.i and the i.b.d is air bourn and with so many snakes at the show you might wanna be carefull that none are transmitting the virus to your snake before you get it. so it always a 50/50 thing just qt right and it shouldt matter

I prefer to buy online as going to larger shows FREAKS me out with the amount of animals tossed in one room with no QT. Im paranoid ill bring something home there for i never go to shows and buy from reputable ppl i know. I also dont go into local pet stores either

It depends on the breeder or owner for me as well. I spend A LOT of time talking to people and asking questions. If they'll answer my questions and not avoid me for asking (i don't ask anything toooo revealing, just basic husbandry, parents --where did they come from, about the business, how long have they been breeding, etc) then i'll consider buying from them if they have animals i want.

At shows, i love talking to breeders. What i like about the monthly local shows here is that they are monthly. Every time i go to a show i see what breeders come back, how they treat customers, etc and that helps me learn about them.

Some of my animals came from the 'net - my spider and my pastel
some of my animals came from trades (local, but were started online) - anery boa, crested gecko
Some of my animals came from shows - cinnamon, hogg island boa, my leopard geckos (2).
One of my animals came from a reptile specialty pet store -- aspen, normal.
One of my animals was a rescue - franky, normal.

two of the animals i got from shows i ended up trading for one reason or another. Not every show animal is perfect, and not every species is a perfect fit for every person. :)

I have purchased most of my balls in person. I purchsed 4 balls over the internet and wish I hadn't purchased one of them. I purchased a mojave female that came looking thin and not well cared for. I have approximately 20 other bp's that all meet my standards except for this one female. She is about 4 feet and only 800 grams. She has scales that appear to be in shed. If everything turns out to be bad with her, I will give some feedback on the breeder. I am waiting to see.

I prefer to purchase snake online, and the vast majority of my snake purchases have been online without any big disappointments. I have nothing against buying in person, but there really isn't that much selection where I live. The shows are small, infrequent and require several hours of driving to reach, and the pet stores in my area are even more limited. Really the only disappointments I have had with buying online have been with buying from big corn snake breeders who didn't post individual pictures. The morph and gender were correct, but I just didn't really like the snakes' pattern or feel that they were a great examples of their morph. I also got a couple of really fussy feeders online, but I don't know that it could have been avoided if they had been purchased in person. You live and learn! Nowadays, I only purchase from online sellers that post individual pictures, and I always ask out feeding status and emphasize that I don't want a picky feeder. So far, so good!

The majority of my purchases are made online or over the phone, if I do happen to buy at a show it's usually for something I had not planned on getting but just had to have once I saw it.