Pet Store Breeders

Now I know how we all feel about pet stores, and their reptiles, but if you ever saw a fantastic deal on a decent snake would you just grab it up?

I work at petsmart, and we recieved a pastel instead of normal by mistake. She's is a beauty too, not to mention she's huge for her age. Ive never seen one come in looking so good, and she knocked back 8 fuzzies(40Grams) her first feeding day.

Managers decided it wasnt worth sending her because of the stress alone, much less the fact that we wouldnt have a ball python for another week or two.

They also didnt want to price is as a "Fancy" (Pastel) Ball python because priced at $249.99(As opposed to the normal price of $79.99 for a normal @_@), no one just starting the hobby would drop that kind of money on a snake, and nobody that knows what pastels are worth would pay 250 for it. So now there is this beautiful Pastel with great breeding potential in a cramped little cage at petsmart being sold on sale as a normal for $49.99.

I think im gonna grab her tomorrow after work :D

Have you guys found any awesome breeders in pet stores? gotten great deals on them?

I've seen people drop $250 easily for the perfect pastel female. But those are for the best examples of the morph.

Anyway, are you 100% sure she is female and healthy? Because if it is a female, $50 is a great deal! I would go for it.
However, if it is a male, its not that much of a discount.

I personally haven't seen any good deals in petstores or reptile specialty stores. But I understand that their high prices are to support their business as well.

For 50 bucks, I'd snatch it.

Why are you guys feeding BP's pinkies? BP's should be on at least hoppers from the day they hatch

I got my first BP (a normal) from petsmart, I really like her but when I got her she was very underweight and dehydrated.

I worked in a Petsmart and I can tell you half the time, those ball pythons that come in are so stressed out from being shipped around and put on display, I actually found it hard to get them to even eat fuzzies. We had to special order in some hoppers and the ball pythons took forever to take them. In all honesty, ball pythons usually are not in the store long enough (note I said usually) for the store to feed them the more expensive hopper mouse. Feeding them fuzzies is like putting them on a maintenence feeding schedule until they are sold. Petsmart isn't looking to grow these snakes, but sell them. Feed them enough to keep them healthy and sell them.

Now if you buy a malnourished and dehydrated snake from a Petsmart then the employees were not doing their job. I have ball pythons that hatched out small (and I can tell you half the time, the ball pythons you see in Petsmart came in as really tiny hatchlings, under 60g most of the time. Smallest I saw was 39g!) and even feeding them fuzzies once every 4 days (which is recommended according to Petsmart policy) was making them gain weight. I only recently began feeding those same ball pythons hoppers when they hit 60g.


Now to the OP. If the snake is indeed a female and you consider it a good example of a pastel then I would get her. But don't just get her because "Oh look she's a pastel." You don't want to add crappy genes to your collection just because she was cheap. But if she looks good, go for it.

Honestly, I miss working in a pet store. *sigh*

Well, It was even better than I thought. With my 30% discount I got my pastel girl for a mere 35 Dollars!!!!

To be honest, no im not 100% positive she's female. Im not an expert at popping, but I know how to do it. Ive only ever popped one male, and he was a banded california kingsnake. Im not sure if im doing it wrong or ive had the weird luck to have 8 females in a row XDD. Once I learn to probe ill have a far more accurate read. But im about 80% sure that she is in fact a she.

Beleive it or not, they do let me store use boxes of small and medium mice for the snakes that should be on larger meals. Like someone said earlier, they rarely get that large before theyre sold though. This pastel however is about the same size as my 250 gram normal alleged female. Just a little bit shorter. I measured as best as I could and she appears to be about 1'7" im guessing a little over 250 grams because she is much fattier than my normal who is all muscle.

I actually attempted to feed her medium mice right off the bat, but she seemed intimidated so I decided to try some smaller prey and she went right for it, hense the fuzzies. Im sure she'll graduate soon.

As far as her looks go? I wouldnt say shes the best pastel ive ever seen, but shes pretty enough that I wanted her for her. Breeding plans aside, and she happens to fit the bill for my future plans at an incredibly affordable cost, so yeah I hid her in the back room all day in the feeding enclosure until i got off haha. IM happy with her. Ill try and get some pics up soon. Not sure if I can plug my camera into my laptop or not. I have yet to try.

Forget why it was fed pinks. Why on earth would you feed it 8 of anything? Hatchling balls can go right on rat pinks as hatchlings.

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Originally Posted by snake lab

Forget why it was fed pinks. Why on earth would you feed it 8 of anything? Hatchling balls can go right on rat pinks as hatchlings.

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x2

Congrats on the pick up, need some pics though, I wanna see what your callin a pastel...lol:D

Thats a pretty good deal but i would get her switched to rat fuzzies asap. Feeding 8 of anything is way too much imo. The amount of energy she burned constricting and eating each one probably balanced out with the energy she gained from it lol jk. But in all seriousness i wouldnt reccomend doing that again.
Please post some pics, i cant imagine the pastels coming into petco are that good looking but for $50 its a good deal either way.

Can't wait till we start seeing Killer Bees at Petsmart? ;)

My local reptile/pet shop has some higher end stuff occasionally, and even has some of them a market prices. A couple months ago they had a Pastel Lesser for $1099... a little pricey IMO. They currently have an albino female (150-200g I would guess) for $399. She has no 'dots' either, nice reduced pattern.
Tempting but still not worth the risk of stressed or parasite ridden snakes.

Lets see a picture of this pastel:banana:

I just snapped a couple pictures. They arent very good. I tried to do it fast so I wouldnt stress her out too terribly much. One I get them uploaded Ill link them here

Keep in mind that she is normally much more vibrant than these pictures show. She heading into shed at the moment, but I think it shows well enough.


http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...83104771_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...70170236_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...74627832_n.jpg

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...41985300_n.jpg

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...32135740_n.jpg

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...12782183_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...76848319_n.jpg

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Originally Posted by Riv

Keep in mind that she is normally much more vibrant than these pictures show. She heading into shed at the moment, but I think it shows well enough.


http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...83104771_n.jpg

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Maybe it's the lighting or her going into shed, but I'm not seeing pastel. And having her crawling across your other BP isn't exactly practicing any kind of QT...:colbert:

That's a normal not a pastel, sorry

Well like I said, im using a camera phone and she is going into shed. Also, I handle snakes every day. I sanitize often, but theres only so much QT I can do. Not to mention Ive been around both snakes for some time seperately. Neither has exhibited any symptoms of RI, Mites, anything, so im not horribly worried.

X3 She is a Normal not a Pastel.

I mean realisticly, even if she is a normal im not too depressed about it. Theres nothing wrong with having a normal female around for breeding, and her pattern is pretty incredibly light and yellow for a normal should that be the case. I think shes beautiful regardless of the morph. Though I do really hope youre wrong and shes a pastel XDD

What color are her eyes?

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Originally Posted by Riv

Well like I said, im using a camera phone and she is going into shed. Also, I handle snakes every day. I sanitize often, but theres only so much QT I can do. Not to mention Ive been around both snakes for some time seperately. Neither has exhibited any symptoms of RI, Mites, anything, so im not horribly worried.

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I take care of my entire collection every day, and still quarantine new additions. It just takes the discipline to wash hands between animals, house them in different areas, used seperate tools, and not set them directly on top of each other to get a photo opp. For their sake, I hope there aren't any problems.

I hate to say it, they look like a regular black to me. Only a slightly redder tinge than my normal/other normal. Maybe im just awful at identifying pastels :confused:

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I take care of my entire collection every day, and still quarantine new additions. It just takes the discipline to wash hands between animals, house them in different areas, used seperate tools, and not set them directly on top of each other to get a photo opp. For their sake, I hope there aren't any problems.

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Youre right. I know better than that. It was irresponsible.. I just got excited. Im still new to the snake culture, and havent had my first clutch yet. Rookie mistake. Ill do better

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Originally Posted by Riv

Youre right. I know better than that. It was irresponsible.. I just got excited. Im still new to the snake culture, and havent had my first clutch yet. Rookie mistake. Ill do better

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No time like the present to start. I really wish you the best with her, and especially that she gets confirmed to be a "her." She has some really nice light coloring. :gj:

Thanks = P. Like I said, I wont be too upset if im wrong on one or both counts. I wouldnt mind terribly having to buy a pastel female I know to be so. Once I learn to probe Ill know for sure, and if it is female, if I pair her with a bumblebee Ill know for sure. If I get any normals from that clutch I can be positive shes normal and if I manage to get a bumblebee killer bee or super pastel Ill know that she is a pastel after all. Im gonna have to prove her out though.

I see normal as well. However, I think she's a gorgeous normal! Super clean and bright. Better than my normal thats for sure.

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Originally Posted by Riv

Thanks = P. Like I said, I wont be too upset if im wrong on one or both counts. I wouldnt mind terribly having to buy a pastel female I know to be so. Once I learn to probe Ill know for sure, and if it is female, if I pair her with a bumblebee Ill know for sure. If I get any normals from that clutch I can be positive shes normal and if I manage to get a bumblebee killer bee or super pastel Ill know that she is a pastel after all. Im gonna have to prove her out though.

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She's a normal, but just for the sake of argument, you CAN get normals from a bumblebee x pastel pairing (1/8), and you can also get bumblebees from a bumblebee x normal pairing (1/4), so neither of those results are indicators in either direction. ;)

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Originally Posted by Riv

Maybe im just awful at identifying pastels :confused:

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:gj:

Shes a normal. Pastels have green eyes too so if she has black eyes then shes not a pastel. Next time if youre interested in a snake my suggestion would be post pics before you buy to get some expert opinions on here. Regardless at least you didnt pay $249.99 for her ;)

wait doesn't petsmart only carry CH Ball Pythons... I have never been to a pet smart that didn't have CH BPs every other animal is CB, but I remember reading the only way they can keep baby BPs in stock year round was to do Captive Hatched BPs. If that is a pastel then the one I just recently got from petsmart a couple weeks ago is one too. but it isn't. Its a very pretty normal but it is just that... normal. I am not big on all the morphs but I have seen enough pastels to know that is not a pastel. a pastel comes close to looking like a normal but with yellow patering. I have seen most pastels going for around $150, The petsmart in Galveston Island does a good job with there reptiles and not over crowding (but can't keep BPs in stock) has a Sand Boa (doesn't say what kind) but I am pretty sure this is just a normal sand boa, for $100 most local owned pet shops have sub adults and juvys for about $45 to 50

anyways this is a pic of a pastel
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ifpastel02.jpg

this is a pic of my newest baby
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...eakyLapTop.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...217_180839.jpg

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Originally Posted by crepers86

...I have seen most pastels going for around $150...

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?????
I got my pastel for $75 at Repticon

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Originally Posted by RetiredJedi

?????
I got my pastel for $75 at Repticon

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You got a male right? He was talking about females i think.
Males go from $75-$125
Females $125-$225
All depends on size and how good of an example of the morph they are.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crepers86

wait doesn't petsmart only carry CH Ball Pythons... I have never been to a pet smart that didn't have CH BPs every other animal is CB, but I remember reading the only way they can keep baby BPs in stock year round was to do Captive Hatched BPs.

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Petsmart does CH because they can bring them in for $10 each and sell them for $79.99. It's a better profit margin than buying $15 CB and making $5 less per animal. Petsmart is the Wal-Mart of the pet world. Everything they do is based on the $, not love of the animals.

CB breeders hatch baby BPs year round in this country. BPs in west Africa tend to breed seasonaly. You do the math on that one...

Well you guys are absolutely right. She is a normal after all. Her eyes are all wrong. But hey im fine with a pretty normal. It just means I have to drop $150-$250 on a female pastel soon after all XD

I was refering to local owned pet store pricing.

also how does pet smart get baby bps all the time if they breed in the wild seasonaly