Looking for a Piebald

My 11 year old daughter wants a piebald and we are new to this, so where is the best place to get one? I don't really know any breeders and our snake is from a pet store and would really like to use a breeder this time.

There are a ton of great breeders out there. BHB Reptiles, Royal Contsrictor Designs, J Kobylka reptiles are just a very small sample of reliable breeders out there.

Where are you?

You're prepared to pay pied prices? There's a pretty wide selection out there right now. Your choices are more limited if you live in a cold place this time of year: a lot of people won't ship until temperatures warm up. But there are still enough pieds out there that we can probably recommend a local breeder.

If you live someplace warm, you can basically ship one in from anywhere. I'd check the For Sale forum on this website, Fauna classifieds, and the ball python classifieds on Kingsnake. That'll give you a good idea of the market price. Justin Kobylka did have a pied sale a month or two ago, but I think that cleaned out his supply pretty well. I do like buying from him, so he's still worth checking out.

We are in Texas and now I am showing my son picture (he is 4 years old) an he wants a ghost. What one is cheaper?

Ghosts are cheaper than pieds.

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Originally Posted by loonunit

Ghosts are cheaper than pieds.

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By a mile!

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Originally Posted by Ballpython007

We are in Texas and now I am showing my son picture (he is 4 years old) an he wants a ghost. What one is cheaper?

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My son loves his ghosthttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/11/geta8aba.jpg

Rob If you don't mind me asking where did you get your ghost from?

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Originally Posted by Ballpython007

Rob If you don't mind me asking where did you get your ghost from?

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Brian at BHB. He's top notch, I always have had a great experience going with them.

Since I am new too this, how do you go about shipping a snake? I am always afraid to buy any kind of animal online only because you don't know their temperaments.

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Originally Posted by Ballpython007

Since I am new too this, how do you go about shipping a snake? I am always afraid to buy any kind of animal online only because you don't know their temperaments.

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Call the breeder you choose and tell them exactly what you want. Most will be more then willing to help you find it. Then they box it up and the next day mr. Fed ex hands you your snake. :)

I live in the middle of nowhere I am also afraid they won't make the next day delivery. Oh and how much does you ball weigh in that picture? I would like one about that size also

You can also take your son to an expo to pick one out. That way you can see them in person and shop around a little. Plus, it's a fun outing and your kid will get to see tonnes of cool critters. :)

How do I find out if there will be an expo? Sorry I have so many questions. We only have one snake and got him from a pet store so be using the Internet to learn everything.

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Originally Posted by liv

You can also take your son to an expo to pick one out. That way you can see them in person and shop around a little. Plus, it's a fun outing and your kid will get to see tonnes of cool critters. :)

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Yup, this is a great option as well. I'm taking my little guy to one in a couple weeks.
Also I'm not sure what he was weighing in that pic it was a while ago. But if your buying online, that size would be considered well started not a hatching.

Shipping snakes is priority overnight with FedEx. That's the rule: FedEx will only ship them priority overnight. Most of us use ShipYourReptiles.com, some established breeders are certified directly with FedEx. Some who have been in the business a long time are actually certified with UPS. UPS doesn't certify to ship snakes anymore, so most of us ship via FedEx. SYR is basically acting as a proxy certified company doing the shipping through FedEx.

The animals *should* be shipped in insulated boxes, typically with either a heat pack or a cold pack, depending on the temperature. The animal is typically in either a deli container (with holes!) or a reptile bag, which is cushioned and kept a little ways away from the heat pack.

Part of researching a breeder is making sure that they're going to follow these guidelines. Good breeders know the rules. People with bad reputations often get them by shipping animals in uninsulated boxes with no cushioning or heat packs. :mad:

Generally living way out in the middle of nowhere is no problem. Packages very rarely lost... but you live someplace warm enough that the snake will be okay if it spends an extra day in transit. Some people in REALLY cold places just won't do business this time of year---I've had Dan Wolfe tell me "no" on a payment plan for a pied, because he's up in Montana and wanted to ship before the first snow. Probably the coldest place the snake is going to be is the FedEx hub. It used to always be Memphis, but FedEx has more hubs now, so it's hard to predict. Anyway, it's still worth checking the weather in Memphis. The snake would probably go Memphis to Fort Worth, and then spend several hours on a truck out to where you are.

The North American Reptile Breeders Conference is one of the biggest expos. There's one in Arlington, TX, in a few weeks. I don't know if that's anywhere near you---it's a big state. :rolleyes:

http://www.narbc.com/Arlington/arlington.html

Royal Constrictor Designs has a decent selection of ghosts:

http://www.royalconstrictordesigns.c...rarchy/13/1944

I've never bought from Garrick DeMeyer, but he has a good reputation.

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Originally Posted by loonunit

I've never bought from Garrick DeMeyer, but he has a good reputation.

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I have, he's another good guy to go with.

We live about an hour and a half from Arlington.. Just talked to the kids an hubby and we are going in feb. yay! Can't wait!

Ive bought three ball pythons from Royal Constrictor Designs.Garrick is a really good guy.

galaxy note 2

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Originally Posted by Rob

My son loves his ghosthttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/11/geta8aba.jpg

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I love that his pockets are filled with chalk so cute.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by Ballpython007

We live about an hour and a half from Arlington.. Just talked to the kids an hubby and we are going in feb. yay! Can't wait!

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Awesome! You should be able to find a ghost there. You're looking for anything with the word "ghost" or the word "hypo": orange ghosts and orange hypos are the same thing. There are also peach ghosts, butterscotch ghosts, green ghosts, blue ghosts... most of them are compatible with the orange ghost/hypo, but some of them (green ghosts, for example) are completely different genes. You look like you're looking for more of a pet than a breeding stud at this point, but it's still worth asking the breeder what kind of "ghost" it is.

If you can't find one, I'd go with shipping one in. I've shipped 20+ animals to and from Arizona, and I've really never had a problem.