Trades

So lets just say "my friend" stumbled across a beautiful female Mojave, and does not have the financial standing to afford said snake, but can dream. My friend spoke with the owner, a respectable local breeder, and was told that the Mojave could be acquired in a trade for his male 386 gram Pastel male, let's say his name was "Wyatt"...plus $100. So his $75 dollar "Wyatt" plus $100 for a gorgeous, 4-500 gram female Mojave with a semi-striped back...Otherwise the guy is asking $325 for her

In all seriousness, am I a total jerk for even considering this? Is there an unspoken rule to keep your first ball python?:colbert: Have you all had experience with trades? If so, I'd love to hear your stories and how you felt about it. I'm not some breeder with a million snakes, Wyatt is my first and only BP.:snake:

Most importantly, I don't want to sound like I'm "over" my little guy, because I still adore the dude. He's single handedly got me hooked...:rolleye2:

Grrrrrrr...I almost wish the guy hadn't dangled this carrot in front of my face. Oh, and here are a few photos of said snake (quality sucks)...Maybe I'm crazy and she's just a plain jane mojave. I'll be at Repticon Orlando in a week or two, and Repticon Tampa in June, so I'm in no rush and had no plans of bringing home anything new yet... Thanks for the readily available help guys, you all rock

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/...f225e67d12.jpg
http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/...b484970614.jpg
http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/...42a1f6f41a.jpg

Depends on which one you want more. If it were me and I would rather have the mojo female then I would personally do it. If you would rather have your male pastel then keep him. If you do decide to trade just check the mojo over and make sure it is healthy, eating good, really a female etc.

If you are able to give up your first snake, then go for it. If I was in this position, assuming the breeder takes good care of his/her animals, I would've taken the deal in a heartbeat. That is an amazing Mojave!! And a female to boot!! :gj:

If you feel you can part with him, I'd make that trade. He could possibly also put Wyatt back up for sale and you could purchase him back when you got more funds together.

Thanks all around. Keep the opinions/comments coming! Any first hand experiences?

I know that I wouldn't give up my first, or really any of mine.

It's really all up to you, but speaking for experiences, I would say no.

I personally sold my first BP after owning her for a year, because I decided I wanted to focus on geckos...

5 years later, and I still regret that. Of course the geckos were kind of a phase and now I really miss my dear Cupid. I have tried and failed many times to contact the person I sold her to, just to see how she is doing and all... still wish I could have my baby back. The funny thing was, I was SO SURE of myself when I gave her up. I just wasn't as "into" her anymore as I was this new project I had, and I needed funds to help start it..

So, I have to say, that knowing what I know now, I would definitely not give up your pastel. It may seem like a sweet deal, and this might not be the case for all people, but there's a chance that when you get the female after the initial excitement wears off, you'll be feeling pretty empty. That was and is me. I personally wouldn't risk it.

Plus, if you just save up the money, not only will you get to keep your boy, but you'll feel extra rewarded when you can finally get that mojave after saving for it.

Just a different viewpoint and my 2 cents.

When I'm attached to an animal I just won't trade it, I worry about where its going and its future husbandry. Then I start to think about the habits of the animal I'm picking up. But then you might ask me. Wow then you must never pick anything up? I do I'm just really picky I observe the animal and look at there weight and ask the owner alot of questions before I do anything. Good luck.. By the way she is a hott mojo.

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Originally Posted by Emilio

By the way she is a hott mojo.

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I think so as well, but you all know better than I do, being such a newb to all this

I have to say I'm rather surprised that the breeder would do that trade to begin with, but with that being said...

Trades are great, as long as you are pleased with the outcome.

If you are attached to your baby as you say you are, just make sure you aren't going to regret the action later.

Good luck!

Personally, I could never give up my first snake. But it's you who has to make the decision for yourself.

Any other people with first hand experience?

I'm not sure I'd give up my first BP *shrugs* But thats just me.


Depends on what you want.


I will say that mojo has some beautiful striping, what I would want in one. But I don't like the idea of trading. There will always be good looking mojo's out there but there's only one opera. And I wouldn't give her up.

Yea, I may just hope to find a mojave that is similar one day... Wyatt has been too great of a purchase to see go away I think...

Your first is always special to you, BP or not. My husband and I got out first BP as an adult, and while we loved her, she never felt "mine".

Eventually, she proved to be too much snake for us to handle, and I knew the right thing to do was to see to it that she was taken care of by someone who knew more than we did. She was miserable here, crabby all the time, she went off food, in our inexperience she had a sub-standard home that I'm sure did nothing to improve her mood.

After she left, I was content to be without for a while, but eventually I knew I wanted another. This time however we were prepared, we knew what they needed and how to provide it. I have never regretted giving up our first female, because we just didn't know enough to give her what she needed. I still miss her of course, but my new babies are my favorites, and are happy and healthy here.

That being said. You will always be attached to your male. However, keeping in mind this is a breeding size female Mojave which are hard to come by from what I have seen, if you can bear to part with him this is a good deal in my mind. Just ask yourself honestly, "Will I regret this later?" If you hesitate to say no, then don't do it.

Gale

Personally, I would never give up my first BP, but then again she was a pretty FEMALE normal.

In the other hand I cant really say anything, because I ended up losing her anyways. You never know what will happen in the future, so if this makes you happy now, I say go for it. Is not like you are gonna be losing out anyways.

The trade would be better for you than the breeder on a professional level. I agree with Heather, hard to imagine the breeder wanting to make that trade :confused: On a personal note...I have over 100 BP's and 2 of them are my first purchase...and the first snake I ever produced. Neither will ever go anywhere.

She may not have been my first snake, but she was a snake I was attached to. Then I decided that she no longer fit my current breeding plans and I could always just produce a female pastel from my male pastel. (she was a female pastel). I sold her to a "friend" who then didn't finish paying for her. (I figured this friend was good for it and let her take her home before finishing payment). Well not only do I regret letting her go before her payment was finished, but I regret selling her in the first place. I miss her like crazy. :(

If you are attached to your pastel and think you might regret it, then do not do it. Also, I would not personally trade a 4-500g mojave female that looks that nice for a male pastel + $100. (unless the male pastel was super nice, with really awesome color and lots of blushing, and he was close to or at breeding size.)

I wouldn't and my reasoning is it's breeding season , there will be plenty of snakes to choose from this summer , and you could have time to save up for one you really like and still keep your first. There will always be another pretty snake you want but only one first snake .....BUT on the other hand , if you aren't very attached or a sentimental sap like myself lol . then go for it.

Well from the looks of it u only have 1 BP and no real want to breed. B/c u need 2 to tango. haha
Wyatt seems more like a pet than anything else, do I don't see the need to just trade for another snake for the fun of it b/c the colors are better.
Is the trader good? YES
Is it worth it? IMO no
Personal experience, when I was younger my rents made me leave my Leo with the new buyers of the house when we moved "because it got to cold in NC for reptiles". Beyond my youngness and stupidity at that age I did what they said and left her. I bought more leos because I missed her sooo much over the years and no other leo will come close but I am making them try. haha If I had to do it over again I would have found a way to keep her.

I feel like I wouldn't do it only because my first guy(that i bought a couple months ago) has gotten me where I am today...in a house with 9 snakes lol...he started it all and he is the one that lives in a tank in my room and not in a rack, so I have to say I would keep him only because I feel like that is where it all began.

There will always be pretty Mojos around, but there will be only one Wyatt...

I have 6 BP's currently. I paid for 3 of them, got two het albinos from a breeder friend and then I also got a mojo as a "rescue" (the man was moving and couldn't take the snake with him). I have thought about trading some of them in the past but I just can't, its not a monetary thing for me I just really like the animals I have. I want to prove my hets out then I will likely pass them on as I have no use for hets if I have visible morphs.

Basically in all my rambling I am saying that I would wait until I had the money to purchase the morph. The main reason being that when you do finally get that hot little morph your wanting your going to likely want to see what your two hot snakes will make, at least I do. Wait it out you'll thank yourself later.

Mike

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

There will always be pretty Mojos around, but there will be only one Wyatt...

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This sums my decision up. Thank you all for the advice!