The Craigslist in my area is so depressing

How does anyone deal with trying to find snakes on Craig's list when all the BP's look sick and stressed and aren't even close to being kept in a proper set up? Is my area just more terrible than others, or have you guys learned to train yourselves into resigned "nothing you can do" mode?

(Sorry if this is a distressing topic, but I really needed to rant to people who will understand and not just roll their eyes and say "it's just a snake"!)

Please remember if anyone is going to be linking to craigslist posts etc then it needs to be done in the quarantine forum as it generally raises everyones temperatures and they tend to fall afoul of the language rules. :please:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Please remember if anyone is going to be linking to craigslist posts etc then it needs to be done in the quarantine forum as it generally raises everyones temperatures and they tend to fall afoul of the language rules. :please:

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Ahaha no I wasn't going to link actual posts... although it might perhaps be a good idea to move this post preemptively anyway! :O

I totally agree with the OPs thoughts. I look around all the time for interesting posts and it just gets so depressing.

I've found a few gems in the dross that is CL. They are mainly local breeders "re-homing" normal or inexpensive single-gene babies.

What bugs me most in my area are people trying to sell dirty used cages. Yeah "if I price it out your two cages cost less than from the store" but the cages at the store are encrusted with poop stains on them either! No way am I, or any sane person, going to pay "$100 firm" for a couple of dirty 20 gal tanks.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I've found a few gems in the dross that is CL. They are mainly local breeders "re-homing" normal or inexpensive single-gene babies.

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I only found one guy reducing his collection once, but none of the snakes he had were all that quality of examples of their respective morphs so I passed. It's been all people trying to rehome their neglected pets while trying to get $$$ for "all the quality equipment that comes with the snake!" idk how to tell them their hot rocks and fancy looking but very open hides are crap, their substrate is awful, and their tanks are way too big. One person didn't even have hides, justa couple fake plants a climbing branch and a weird gargoyle decoration? And their substrate was sand. The snake was free but they wanted $200 for the cage and equipment. If it didn't mean throwing money down the hole of what was most likely going to be a very sick snake, I would have told her to just give me the poor thing and keep her crap stuff. :colbert:

I don't know if it's worth the heart ache and frustration seeing all these guys I can't do anything about in hopes of finding that one deal.

I buy from breeders, not CL, I hardly ever go looking on CL for reptiles :snake:

The best retail prices are $1 / gallon at petco for tanks. When i was in the market for tanks, id go $0.50 / gallon. That's also what I'd sell my plethora for, cleaned, but not necessarily meticulously so. (If there are bark parts and you dont like the 4 specks, dont buy them. )

Never bought off CL since it seems people in my area want $150 for a normal male.

I actually decided to take a look on Craigslist, that's where I've gotten most of my pets from. I searched ball pythons and came across a guy selling a male bumblebee & pinstripe for $125 I decided to go pick them up. The setup he had the snakes in were a 10 gallon tank with a branch and newspaper.... I was shocked. I got them home and set up their tanks with aspen bedding, hides, a big water dish, and a heat lamp. The bumblebee reacted to the heat lamp like he had never felt heat before and stuck his head right where it was then got right on his log near the heat, relaxed, and yawned. It was the cutest thing ever! The pinstripe I got is actually huge! I have to ugrade his tank ASAP! When I put the water dish in he went up to it and started drinking then literally dunked his whole head in! He's pretty tame though & the bumblebee is going through a bad shed so I've been trying to help him :/

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Originally Posted by Laurenmassx

I actually decided to take a look on Craigslist, that's where I've gotten most of my pets from. I searched ball pythons and came across a guy selling a male bumblebee & pinstripe for $125 I decided to go pick them up. The setup he had the snakes in were a 10 gallon tank with a branch and newspaper.... I was shocked. I got them home and set up their tanks with aspen bedding, hides, a big water dish, and a heat lamp. The bumblebee reacted to the heat lamp like he had never felt heat before and stuck his head right where it was then got right on his log near the heat, relaxed, and yawned. It was the cutest thing ever! The pinstripe I got is actually huge! I have to ugrade his tank ASAP! When I put the water dish in he went up to it and started drinking then literally dunked his whole head in! He's pretty tame though & the bumblebee is going through a bad shed so I've been trying to help him :/

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AW dang well at least those babies got a happy ending! :gj:

The craigslist in my area isn't anything special either way. Sometimes I see nice morphs for nice prices, and then sometimes I see people trying to sell normals for ridiculous prices. Like, 120 for a baby to 200 for an unsexed adult. There are shady ads, of course, and I usually make it a point to avoid any ads that don't include pictures (Today's suspicious no-image ad is a calico with no white as well as a gold blush mojave, among others).

Still, I got 3 of my girls off my local craigslist, so not all the ads are junk. It's all about knowing what to look for and what questions to ask.

There is a guy on here trying to sell a Dumeril's boa and a bp as a cohabited pair that he refuses to split up. Didn't even spell Dumeril's right smh :rage: I don't even know if there ARE any breeders in my area other than that one. Google hasn't been very helpful.

Here's a fun CL description for you (no ad, no location, just the way the seller describes the snake);

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It's half special ball python breed pide and half normal

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:rofl::rofl::rofl:
Haha wut

OMG, I decided to check the CL here and I'm rolling on the floor laughing. One listing is asking $300 for a 55gal tank with a ball python but doesn't mention if its a normal or a morph. Another listing has a picture with a snake covered in stuck shed pieces and in the description it says the snake is about to shed that's why it looks so dark. Huh? The rest were just as bad and almost all trying to get big bucks for a normal, perhaps I should reconsider my sons normal and plug it into one of my future breeding projects, heck if I could get $150 bucks for a normal too I could cash in! LOL

I'm afraid to look at my local Craigslist... Lol.

Omg *facepalm* just looked at my Craigslist... "Ball python male, 13 ft, but needs good home. Comes with glass box and lamp. Nothing else. $300"

If it is indeed a ball, why doesn't it have a hide? And why is it 13 ft? There is something wrong with that snake.

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Originally Posted by MontyAndMelissa

Omg *facepalm* just looked at my Craigslist... "Ball python male, 13 ft, but needs good home. Comes with glass box and lamp. Nothing else. $300"

If it is indeed a ball, why doesn't it have a hide? And why is it 13 ft? There is something wrong with that snake.

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omg maybe they were sold a retic that was advertized as a ball by mistake? They look kind of similar as babies, I can see someone in a petshop putting some in a wrong holding tank and suddenly you got a monster snake a few years later.

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

omg maybe they were sold a retic that was advertized as a ball by mistake? They look kind of similar as babies, I can see someone in a petshop putting some in a wrong holding tank and suddenly you got a monster snake a few years later.

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No joke. I saw the pictures, it looks like a retic. But before I saw the pictures my jaw dropped when I saw "ball python" and "13 ft" in the same post. I'm sure they were sold the snake thinking it wouldn't get bigger than 5 ft... They had a big surprise coming.

Some one in my area us selling a beautiful caramel BP for only $100... but it also has an upper respiratory infection and possible burn on its head...

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Originally Posted by FireStarter

Some one in my area us selling a beautiful caramel BP for only $100... but it also has an upper respiratory infection and possible burn on its head...

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No wonder it's so cheap. They can't afford vet visits.

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Originally Posted by MontyAndMelissa

No wonder it's so cheap. They can't afford vet visits.

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It's awful. He's also asking for trades. Don't get another snake if you couldn't take care of take he first one

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

omg maybe they were sold a retic that was advertized as a ball by mistake? They look kind of similar as babies, I can see someone in a petshop putting some in a wrong holding tank and suddenly you got a monster snake a few years later.

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If I had the room for him I would go pick him up. But I don't. Ive always wanted a retic. They got him from a "breeder" and that's how much they paid.

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Originally Posted by FireStarter

It's awful. He's also asking for trades. Don't get another snake if you couldn't take care of take he first one

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Exactly. That poor baby.

I was just looking around and found this and I can tell you mine area is the exact same thing. There is this one guy who says he's a breeder and he has quite a few snake up for sale. He has a pied girl, bumble bee, spiders, and a few pastels. Oh and then it's the same guy he's selling normals for 150 males and females. I e-mailed him just because I was curious about a spider he was selling and I asked for some pictures. They are horrible! He has her in a filthy bin and you can see her spine. Not to mention she has shed after shed stuck to her. Poor Baby. I wish I could get her but I can't risk bringing in a sick snake to my group. I have three ball pythons right now and one of them, my Male Castiel is not gaining any weight at all and he needs too. Plus i just got a het pied who's still very little. She needs to chunk up too. I hope someone gets her!

Many Craigslist ads are disturbing, not just for ball pythons and reptiles.

However, I've also gotten healthy female breeders from there for pennies on the dollar that were kept in proper setups etc. I've also sold some perfectly healthy nice babies on there during the winter when local sales are easier than shipping. So they are not all bad and sometimes you make out like a bandit!

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Originally Posted by FireStarter

Some one in my area us selling a beautiful caramel BP for only $100... but it also has an upper respiratory infection and possible burn on its head...

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And depending on the underlying cause of that URI, that cheap snake could end up wiping out your whole collection and cost you thousands in vet bills if you bring it home, even if you try to QT it in another room.

Some times you can find gems on CL.

I got a rack,4 normal bp, 1 lemonblast, 1 bumblebee, 1 pastel all for $600. Plus awesome water bowls xD

I think it really depends on the area of where your from... In my friends state they have some pretty ones in good shape and everything. I got my two normals on craigslist from a lady who's sons girl friend wanted nothing to do with them and she couldn't take care of them any more because her dog had a high prey drive and they just weren't being cared for right any more. They are very sweet and wonderful BP's. The only bad thing was that their cage was to small and the male was slightly under weight from a cold. She brought him to the vet and everything was all good before I got them. Now they live in a six feet long, two feet tall, and three feet wide massive cage. They love it! It really depends on how nice the people are and how responsible.

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Originally Posted by zooylew

I think it really depends on the area of where your from... In my friends state they have some pretty ones in good shape and everything. I got my two normals on craigslist from a lady who's sons girl friend wanted nothing to do with them and she couldn't take care of them any more because her dog had a high prey drive and they just weren't being cared for right any more. They are very sweet and wonderful BP's. The only bad thing was that their cage was to small and the male was slightly under weight from a cold. She brought him to the vet and everything was all good before I got them. Now they live in a six feet long, two feet tall, and three feet wide massive cage. They love it! It really depends on how nice the people are and how responsible.

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Err... Uh.. you are aware that BPs live in underground burrows and are very uncomfortable with large spaces, right? Both those snakes, if they're fully grown adults, should have a 40 gallon breeder tank at most, each to themselves.

I got a good deal on a clown male on Craigslist. He was very tiny and I was suspicious because the "breeder" claimed he slammed everything. Rats, mice, f/t, live, everything with no problem. Not saying he lied but at 5 months it was half the size of my 2 month old BP and he won't touch a rat or anything that has been frozen. I checked him out and despite his size, he looked healthy. No stuck shed, mites or scars. He was only $300 so I took the gamble. Took me almost 2 months to get him to eat (that's when I found out he only eats live mice of a very specific size) but now he is eating and putting on weight.