Not being allowed to examine BP

Would you buy a ball python that you are not allowed to hold?

I went to a local reptile store and was looking at their BPs. They had a Puma there and I wanted to see it. They told me that they did not allow customers to hold their snakes to reduce the stress and prevent accidents happening to their animals. I can understand but before I buy any BP I must check it over, but they wouldn't allow me to do this. I told the guy that I would think about it. This isn't the first time though. I went there last summer to buy an emperor pin and they wouldn't let me check it over then either. I passed on the emperor pin at that time. I go there on a regular basis to buy food for my snakes, so I always gander at their BPs and they are great guys who work there and they do know their stuff but not allowing me to check the animal out first seems a little bizarre. I know many people buy online and what not, but I just think it is weird.

What do you guys think?

Definitely wouldn't make a purchase without being able to look over what I am investing in


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Do they have a health guarantee? If so, you have no worries.

However, if you are serious about buying the snake tell them you want it. During the purchase you would certainly get to hold it and check it out. Im sure if they are really that serious about their animals the snake is in good shape and will pass your inspection.

I don't see why they would refuse you to inspect the animal at the time of purchase. I can see how they don't want the tire kickers constantly holding their snakes and putting them through a lot of human interaction just to please some people that think holding a snake is cool and don't have any interest in actually buying one.

Nope nope nope. Whole lotta nope. That's a red flag right there. Do they ever have reptile shows near your town? That might be the way for you to go.

I agree with KMG. Unless you're ready to buy an animal, there's really no need for an exam. What exactly are you examining the BP for?

I'm sure the policy is set for a reason. My local reptile shop has a similar policy. The owner of that reptile store always says "we're a store, not a zoo". Lol. On a serious note though, I'm sure they get a lot of requests "to examine" the animal. You got to take in consideration the outside germs/parasites/mites they'd be opening their animals if they let everyone handle them.

I feel like "looking the snakes over" thing comes from expos where breeders try to connect with the buyers y letting them handle their animals.

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I wasn't there to gawk. Like I said, I was interested but without checking for health issues, I wont buy it. And they knew I wanted it, I said I did. But when I asked to see it before buying it, he said no. If I really wanted to hold snake just for the sake of holding it, I have 21 of my own at home to do so with, and they "crawl" the same...

I check for kinks, body shape and tone, mites, breathing, scale health, stuck eye caps, scars, and so on. It is important to me. Once I bought a BP that had mites. And after that I bought a BP with an RI... so yes, I have learned my lesson and now I check. I have bought 50% from a guy here who is very reputable, I still check and he knows I do.

Most, if not all, of those things can be seen without holding it. I found mites on some snakes in a pet store by doing nothing more than looking at them in their cage. Even signs of an RI would be visible from just looking at it. Pair that with asking when the last feeding was and you should have a pretty good idea it doesn't have an RI.

I don't know I guess I don't get it.

I actually have to say I agree. It sounds like they are trying to hide something. And, I too bought a snake with an RI, and she ate through the whole course of it, so not eating isn't a very good indication. I probably wouldn't have known my ball python had an RI if I didn't hear the popping and see the mucus all over her hide three days into owning her.

Although, if the employee or owner is okay to hold the animal while you examine it, there shouldn't be an issue. If the snake was being starved you would know just by looking at it. If they can't offer to take it out for you, then that would indicate a big fat no.

i agree with the OP and KMG. i can see both perspective.

if u cannot hold a snake, it's not necessarily a red flag for unhealthy animal. they gave u their reasons. anyway what is the store's reputation. as a breeder, retailer or whatever, your name and rep means a lot in the community. do they have a good track record? is their store clean, cages clean, general customer service good? and as pointed out, what is their health guarantee? or for reasons will they let u return an animal? the answer to these questions can help u a lot. or if u don't like the answers, just walk.

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Originally Posted by BCS

see the mucus all over her hide three days into owning her.

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Was this a mail order snake or did you buy it in person and it took three days for the RI to develop enough to be noticed?

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Originally Posted by Ax01

i agree with the OP and KMG. i can see both perspective.

if u cannot hold a snake, it's not necessarily a red flag for unhealthy animal. they gave u their reasons. anyway what is the store's reputation. as a breeder, retailer or whatever, your name and rep means a lot in the community. do they have a good track record? is their store clean, cages clean, general customer service good? and as pointed out, what is their health guarantee? or for reasons will they let u return an animal? the answer to these questions can help u a lot. or if u don't like the answers, just walk.

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I do not know about a health guarantee, I know they don't on live mice (say one died on the way home before you got to feed your snake) which is why I buy live from a different source where they do have returns on live food... as for their rep, I am also not sure. I have only ever bought food from them and tongs. That's it. They don't often have different morph combinations. Usually they have simple morphs like pastels, lessers and pieds so not very often am I interested in what they have. They are not breeders as far as I know. They buy from breeders and then resell them. They have more other types of reptiles such as bearded dragons (which an employee does breed for them). geckos and frogs and such. Corn snakes, boas and ball pythons are the only snakes they sell and they have a very small section of them. Usually their BPs have stuck sheds which is another reason I have never really been interested. Customer service... well, yes and no. They will not come to you but once you get their attention, they help you and usually have good advice. They have a 3 1/2 out of 5 review on google. Their cages are for the most part clean.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Was this a mail order snake or did you buy it in person and it took three days for the RI to develop enough to be noticed?

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I bought her in person. Actually, it was the first time and only time I have ever dealt with an RI. So I guess I was never really payed attention. I have owned, bought and sold BPs and corns for the last three years and never had to worry about an RI so I guess... I don't know. It was learning experience for sure.

Three or so years without an RI and you start to feel confident I guess. So I didn't even look for signs, but the pooping was loud and I found it weird how there was this clear fluid like stuff all over her hide. Whether or not it was there before, I don't know but I also wasn't looking for signs. She seemed healthy otherwise.

I bought her from a breeder, one not super well known and he was advertising off of Kijiji. I did hold her before buying her and the only thing that was off was she was cold, but even my own BPs will roam off the heat once in a while so I never worried about it. I never saw his collection as I waited at his front door when he went to get her in another room. He is mostly known for building rodent breeder racks but does have a small collection. I have never dealt with him since, and I didn't even bother to contact him. I knew I could afford her care and giving her back probably would have been worse for her.

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Originally Posted by BCS

I bought her in person. Actually, it was the first time and only time I have ever dealt with an RI. So I guess I was never really payed attention. I have owned, bought and sold BPs and corns for the last three years and never had to worry about an RI so I guess... I don't know. It was learning experience for sure.

Three or so years without an RI and you start to feel confident I guess. So I didn't even look for signs, but the pooping was loud and I found it weird how there was this clear fluid like stuff all over her hide. Whether or not it was there before, I don't know but I also wasn't looking for signs. She seemed healthy otherwise.

I bought her from a breeder, one not super well known and he was advertising off of Kijiji. I did hold her before buying her and the only thing that was off was she was cold, but even my own BPs will roam off the heat once in a while so I never worried about it. I never saw his collection as I waited at his front door when he went to get her in another room. He is mostly known for building rodent breeder racks but does have a small collection. I have never dealt with him since, and I didn't even bother to contact him. I knew I could afford her care and giving her back probably would have been worse for her.

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Got it. I would have contacted him even if for nothing more to let him know, especially being a breeder. I had a similar situation with my GTP. Its not fun.

Well, I would say that if the store puts that much into protecting their animals from random contact, then the animals are most likely healthy. Anything big would be noticeable.

That said, hubby has another point. He would walk in there with cash in hand and " hold it up and say I want to see that one." If, with the money in hand, they still won't let you see it, run, don't walk to the door.

That's my first thought as well.
Why would I want people handling my animals and who know what you have on you.
My only case of mites came from an expo where I was checking out a bunch of snakes, nothing came home (so I thought).....
Learned my lesson pretty quick.

Most retail stores don't let the exotics get handled unless you are serious about buying since there are way too many tire kicker looky-loos out there. As was pointed out, this protects their inventory from stress and the transmission of diseases and parasites from outside collections.

If you find an animal that interests you, try asking a store employee to hold it while you look at it - you can still visually inspect the eyes and under the chin for mites, listen for RI symptoms, etc.

Alternatively, pull out your wallet and put enough cash on the counter to cover the animal's price plus sales tax, and ask to see it.

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Originally Posted by lunasjy

I do not know about a health guarantee, I know they don't on live mice (say one died on the way home before you got to feed your snake) which is why I buy live from a different source where they do have returns on live food... as for their rep, I am also not sure. I have only ever bought food from them and tongs. That's it. They don't often have different morph combinations. Usually they have simple morphs like pastels, lessers and pieds so not very often am I interested in what they have. They are not breeders as far as I know. They buy from breeders and then resell them. They have more other types of reptiles such as bearded dragons (which an employee does breed for them). geckos and frogs and such. Corn snakes, boas and ball pythons are the only snakes they sell and they have a very small section of them. Usually their BPs have stuck sheds which is another reason I have never really been interested. Customer service... well, yes and no. They will not come to you but once you get their attention, they help you and usually have good advice. They have a 3 1/2 out of 5 review on google. Their cages are for the most part clean.

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You don't know about a health guarantee and you don't know about their reputation. It sounds like you have not asked the right questions and done your homework on them. Until you do that you are not ready to buy a snake from them.

Well, I am not exactly going to walk around with $800 in cash. Oh well. I guess we really all do things differently. I was mostly just curious if you guys would buy a snake without taking a physical look at it. I guess I just wouldn't. I also know if any of my snakes at home was sick, I wouldn't bring that into a reptile store by asking to hold a snake. I understand that the employees of the store don't know that and is being cautious, but I know personally I wouldn't purchase a snake without getting a real good look at it. And besides the shipping cost, this is another reason I wont purchase snakes online. I can always find another Puma, and I know the breeder I usually deal with may have some some time this year. He said his black pastel yellow belly is breeding to his pastel spark right now so I think I may wait anyway. That is where my comfort zone is.

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Originally Posted by lunasjy

Well, I am not exactly going to walk around with $800 in cash. Oh well. I guess we really all do things differently. I was mostly just curious if you guys would buy a snake without taking a physical look at it.

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I guess I'm a little confused. Why wouldn't you have the money if you were ready to by the animal? No one is saying you shouldn't check out the animal however, it's the last step before purchase. My local reptile shop knows that if I'm asking to see an animal, it's practically mine. Of course you want o make sure that the snake you're buying is healthy but like I said, it's really the last part of the purchase.



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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

I guess I'm a little confused. Why wouldn't you have the money if you were ready to by the animal? No one is saying you shouldn't check out the animal however, it's the last step before purchase. My local reptile shop knows that if I'm asking to see an animal, it's practically mine. Of course you want o make sure that the snake you're buying is healthy but like I said, it's really the last part of the purchase.



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I just don't think the op wants to go into the store waving around $800 in cash in the store. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that either honestly. I'm sure the op has the money but just doesn't want to carry around that much cash.


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Originally Posted by AlexisFitzy

I just don't think the op wants to go into the store waving around $800 in cash in the store. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that either honestly. I'm sure the op has the money but just doesn't want to carry around that much cash.


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No one is saying to wave cash around. Personally, I haven't had a single instance where I had the money to buy something and was refused the purchase.

After you say you want the snake, they will pull it out at which time you can examine it and address any issues you might have at that time. If they're not letting you examine the animal at that time, obviously something is wrong and i wouldn't purchase the animal.

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I think it's absolutely customer unfriendly to deny potential customers the right to examine products you have for sale. As a business I feel this goes against any possible hope to retain customers let alone sell your products. The majority of "potential customers" are insulted by such a practice and most would be reluctant to buy. If you are truly concerned about disease transmission and injury to the animal by all means have a employee take the animal out. Then explain to the potential customer that in order to protect the animals they have to use the provided hand sanitizer and then they have to wear rubber gloves. Hand sanitizer and then glove up will sometimes separate the serious customers from the others. That should be provided by the store ( hand sanitizer and rubber gloves).

I bet if the store was asked the right questions that showed serious interest in the snake and the payment, be it cash or card, was discussed and agreed upon the snake would have been available for a hands on check.