Interesting offer

So the other day,my boyfriend was at work,and started talking about snakes to a customer who was just leaving the store (he works at a gas station). The guy offered to trade an adult Columbian Red Tail Boa for one of my young BP girls. He wants to breed in a few years,and his males arent ready yet,but the only female he has is very moody.. So,interesting offer,but I am considering it..
What do you guys think?

I would require a lot more info, how old exactly is the RTB, is it in good health, how has it been housed/taken care of. Will this guy take good care of my BP that he is getting in the trade, etc.

Well,the guy has a few,ranging from 1-7 years old,and said we could visit our girl anytime and trade pictures,because he would also want to keep tabs on the boa

What Bp girl is he looking at? If its a normal, I'd go for the boa :p

Half the fun of owning snakes, in my opinion, is raising them from babies to adulthood.

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Originally Posted by Bobbafett

What Bp girl is he looking at? If its a normal, I'd go for the boa :p

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I agree, are you trading enclosures as well? Housing boas can get expensive if you buy and time consuming if you build. Or are you going for a rack?

All of my bp's are normals,as far as I know we are not trading enclosures,but I will find out for sure,since my spare tank may not be big enough,he wanted my year old girl,but my bf said hell no,as she is our newest addition,a normal that was born with one eye,that holds a special place in his heart lol..but I really do want a redtail boa,he has babies and adults,so maybe I'll get a young adult..kinda bugged me when he said I overfeed my 2 month old bp,every 5 days its a small mouse

Ok...if he said you Overfeed a 2 month old every 5 days, that's a red flag to me. At the least, I would ask this guy a TON of questions on how he keeps his snakes before even thinking of trading with him. Too many people out there are convinced that snakes, even babies, only eat once a month or something ridiculous like that... Be Careful.

He said we need to feed our girls once a month and if not twice. He also said that we need racks because they are better than tanks. He said his 5yr old boa is like 18"...I know males are smaller than females but it should be bigger than that at 5 years old..

Ummm, *quietly shy's away from offer*

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Yea,were thinking that too after he told us about the male boa,if anything I might buy one off him and take proper care of it

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Originally Posted by Fester_Fang

He said we need to feed our girls once a month and if not twice. He also said that we need racks because they are better than tanks. He said his 5yr old boa is like 18"...I know males are smaller than females but it should be bigger than that at 5 years old..

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I agree about the rack vs tank thing....but everything else, just no.

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Originally Posted by Fester_Fang

Yea,were thinking that too after he told us about the male boa,if anything I might buy one off him and take proper care of it

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Stay away....stay far away. If this person has a 5 yr old boa (even a dwarf) that's the size of a baby then there's something going wrong there. My advice is to kindly decline any offer from this individual and buy from someone who knows what they're doing. My .02

Yea,something sounded off when my bf told me that,I do appreciate the advice everyone

Glad to be of service. :) And glad you'll be avoiding that guy... sigh.

Oh, and Daybreaker... Tanks can work just as well, if not better, for some people than any tub. ;) True statement.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Oh, and Daybreaker... Tanks can work just as well, if not better, for some people than any tub. ;) True statement.

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Not doubting that at all! I just personally prefer tubs/vivs over tanks; sorry if I came off that tanks are never the way to go. I have a corn in a tank who's my display snake :gj:

I think its personal preference =)..My girls seem happy in tanks,except when its getting close to feeding day,then they roam a bit. But when you're young and hungry,you cant help it :)..Maybe I'll try to get a redtail boa soon,been wanting one :(! This offer sounded great until we started learning more about his snakes and how he takes care of them,apparently his snake rack (which he has 20+ snakes) fit in a small corner of a room.. I'm starting to think his adult male either has some horrible condition,or was stunted from birth from being in a small space,his other ones sound ok,with one of the adults about 7-8 foot long..but too many red flags. My girls can't go to just any home

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I think its personal preference =)..My girls seem happy in tanks,except when its getting close to feeding day,then they roam a bit. But when you're young and hungry,you cant help it :)..Maybe I'll try to get a redtail boa soon,been wanting one :(! This offer sounded great until we started learning more about his snakes and how he takes care of them,apparently his snake rack (which he has 20+ snakes) fit in a small corner of a room.. I'm starting to think his adult male either has some horrible condition,or was stunted from birth from being in a small space,his other ones sound ok,with one of the adults about 7-8 foot long..but too many red flags. My girls can't go to just any home

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Originally Posted by Daybreaker

I agree about the rack vs tank thing....but everything else, just no.



Stay away....stay far away. If this person has a 5 yr old boa (even a dwarf) that's the size of a baby then there's something going wrong there. My advice is to kindly decline any offer from this individual and buy from someone who knows what they're doing. My .02

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I agree.

My 5 year old male is easily pushing 7 feet.

Even my newest 2 year old girl is 3+ feet and she hadn't been 'fed to grow' but is rapidly making up for lost time.

18 inches at 5 years is just...weird.

:O

[perhaps the guy meant "5 weeks/months"?]

Idk,kinda doubting it,he said he had it since birth,that the boa just turned 5years and said it several times..I can get an adult rtb for a decent price from my breeder,though he has a 3 month old tiger retic 100% het for about $200

If you're looking for a boa, I'd say just pick up one from a good local or semi-local breeder. You'll get a snake with a GOOD history (18" at 5 years... My corn snake is bigger than that! By a lot) and you'll be able to get to do the 'raising from a baby to an awesome big animal' experience.

Hold onto your BP girl. You don't want her going there to be fed once a month :rolleyes:

A male sand boa might be that size as an adult but wasn't he talking about rtb

What a 5 year old boa at 18"? That's a baby size! My 3 month old BP is that big .-., the local breeders 5 year old boas are a minimum of 8 foot whenever I go there!

I'd be shying away from this offer. Better off going to a trusted store or breeder in the end!

Yea,I'm going to my breeder,he has a lot of boas for decent prices,had my eye on a brazilian or jungle carpet..and every animal you get through him gets one free vet visit

Sounds like a crappy guy who starves his snakes. I'm surprised that rtb is alive.

And just fyi keeping a snake in a smaller enclosure will have no effect on its growth rate. I'm inclined to believe he is starving his animals by the way you have been describing him.

Thanks for steering clear.

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