Breeder Review: Fred Kick

Hey guys,
I am thinking of buying a ball from Fred Kick. It is an individual that may be the first of its kind produced when it comes to combos, however I am a little concerned based on past reviews. I have read many that said the animals seemed healthy and died a couple weeks later for unapparent reasons as well as reviews stating that hundreds were spent in vet bills in order to get their animals healthy after receiving them. I want to know if anyone has done business with him in the last year or so to let me know whether or not this is true. The animal is beautiful, though I do not have a ton of money to spend on vet bills if there is a potential for a sick animal. My other option is to spend a few hundred more on a different one of a kind from Justin Kobylka. Since this one is cheaper and is also beautiful i wanted to know what people think of Kicks Balls before proceeding.

Where are you reading these reviews? Is it on the BOI on faunaclassified?

I don't know this breeder, but in my opinion, if there is even just one reliable review saying they received a sick or dying animal (with no other husbandry concerns), I wouldn't purchase from that breeder. Not that the breeder is necessarily bad, maybe just not observational (well... which is bad, but lol), but it's not worth the risk to me. It means something is up with their collection, whether or not they were knowingly selling sick animals. Especially if I'm going to spend $800 lol.

Thanks for the advice, I figured the same thing. Apparently there have been issues in the last couple years with wild animals kept near captives. No bad reviews in the last year so things may have changed but I dont know if it is worth that risk

This should go here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/foru...iries-Feedback

I would recommend doing a search for him on fauna classifieds BOI. I have never dealt with him but there is definitely some stuff to be concerned about.

Go here (Board of Inquiry[emoji768]

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...&share_type=sf) and put "Fred kick" in the search bar. I would and post specific posts for you but my 10gb is up from straighttalk and it takes a year to load each page loool
For some odd reason If that link don't work I'm sure somebody else can provide one lol I always double check my pasted links but I'm in a rush :)

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Buy from Justin and that is all I will say on this.

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Based on his reputation Fred Kick could offer scaleless sunset ball pythons for $1 and I wouldn't purchase them.

Reputation is everything in this hobby, spending a few hundred more for peace of mind is well worth it.

I found a forum post here about a bad experience someone had with this breeder. That was in 2009 though. However, another discussion on the forums from 2011 also show some people who seem to be unhappy with their experience.

I could not say if these are still up to date and perhaps some of these practices have changed since these were from several years ago. I would definitely proceed with caution.

I would buy from Justin Kobylka without a thought. While I haven't bought from him as I'm in Canada (and that makes it a little more complicated), I have comunicated with him in the past. While I didn't want to bug him about an animal that wasn't his, I asked if he'd mind helping me as I knew that his expertise was perfect for my question.

Justin was extremely kind and agreed to help without flinching (and really saved me at the end of the day).

From my own experience, hearing other people's very high opinions about him, and watching and reading videos and articles that he's contributed to the community, you wouldn't be disappointed. The quality of his animals are up at the top as well.

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Originally Posted by Creepy Alien

I would buy from Justin Kobylka without a thought. While I haven't bought from him as I'm in Canada (and that makes it a little more complicated), I have comunicated with him in the past. While I didn't want to bug him about an animal that wasn't his, I asked if he'd mind helping me as I knew that his expertise was perfect for my question.

Justin was extremely kind and agreed to help without flinching (and really saved me at the end of the day).

From my own experience, hearing other people's very high opinions about him, and watching and reading videos and articles that he's contributed to the community, you wouldn't be disappointed. The quality of his animals are up at the top as well.

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I would too. Aside from having a stellar reputation, he produces some ridiculous animals.

I just went through about 20 threads threads over on the boi for this Fred kick guys multiple stores/co owner whatever they are. And just wow how does a guy like this even stay in business period? I had to stop reading (and not just because I got tired of waiting 2 minutes for each page to load lol) he's got a very few good things on there I seen but I bet you 90% of the threads I read in order by date were bad. I wouldn't even chance it


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That's really unfortunate. I've been looking at his static project and thought there was quite a bit of potential there. I guess that's why not many combos have been made?

Hopefully someday someone else will take the risk and purchase some static stuff and maybe then I'll buy it.


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I know this thread is old, but I wanted to add that I have purchased one BP from him.. 4 years ago I purchased a pastave female from him at a reptile show. He sexed her for me in person at the show (to prove that it was a female) and she has been healthy and didn't have issues... so I guess it is buy at your own risk and maybe only if you can see / purchase in person.

Well I will let you all know how things go. I won a Pastel HRA from the Renick Auction a month and a half ago. I have had him a month and he hasn't eaten yet. He is 600g so not worried yet but we shall see if he continues to refuse. He seems healthy and has no issues so far. Its crazy cause it is the only snake that I have that did not come from Garrick DeMeyer, TGR, Mike Wilbanks or Randy Foster and hasn't eaten.

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Originally Posted by ElliotNess

Well I will let you all know how things go. I won a Pastel HRA from the Renick Auction a month and a half ago. I have had him a month and he hasn't eaten yet. He is 600g so not worried yet but we shall see if he continues to refuse. He seems healthy and has no issues so far. Its crazy cause it is the only snake that I have that did not come from Garrick DeMeyer, TGR, Mike Wilbanks or Randy Foster and hasn't eaten.

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I cannot attest one way or another to the breeder outside of what I have heard, but 600 gram males that suddenly don't care about eating is not unusual in my experience. I have a male from one of the breeders you mentioned that averages about once a month. He is perfectly healthy, he just does not want to be a big boy.

I know this thread is old but I wanted to share my story about Fred Kicks. I met him at a reptile show and I wanted to buy a Angentine Black and White Tagu baby he was selling. The tank was marked as "Black and White Tagu". I asked if that was an Argentine and he said yes. We talked for a few more minutes before I bought it and took it home. Turns out it was a Columbian Black Tagu, not an Angentine even though he said it was (it was a gift for my husband so I personally don't know much about tagus). We contacted him and he told us buyer beware and he had actually said it was a Columbian Black and White Tagu and I must have misunderstood. I know he said Angentine, I don't know much about them but I do know what my husband wanted. He was very unprofessional and kept calling me a liar before telling us that we had no proof that it was bought as an Argentine. He even said that my husband should have been the one to ask since I don't know what I'm doing. I couldn't believe how openly sexist he was and just how horrible of a person he is. I ended up paying three times what a Columbian is worth and unfortunately the animal was not in good health so there were additional costs for vet care on top of that. I would strongly recommend that people not buy from him if they are looking to get a tagu, I just wish I knew then what I know now about him.

Met Fred Kick at an expo. He asked what I was looking for: I mentioned ball pythons with the VPI Axanthic trait and he became irate and told me that his TSK line of Axanthic was better. I said nothing and just smiled. I tried to change the topic to look at his snakes, but, he kept getting more and more 'worked up'. Maybe I hit a nerve...My gf pulled at my hand to leave. I never got a good look at his snakes before we retreated.

I do know a lot of breeders underfeed their ball pythons to keep them small-I find that usually stunts their growth/size in the long run-I did get that impression by the ones I saw briefly-but that is common in the trade-so no big deal.

I have gotten all of my ball pythons from him as I live less than an hour away from him. He always seemed nice, and the quality of his snakes have been excellent, however, 2 of the 4 came with a small number of mites, so that's something to keep in mind. Also, don't get me started on the cleanliness of his shop.....