Age limit for breeder females?

I saw an ad on my local Craigslist for a few snakes, and one was a female Ball. I e-mailed the seller asking if they were sure of its sex and they informed me that it was a 10-year-old snake, and that breeding her would kill her... is this true?

i don't believe that.

Absolutely not ... I have females that are over 20 years old and produce eggs every year.

-adam

Thanks for the responses guys, I was pretty skeptical about that. The woman I am e-mailing about it seems a little on the ... off... side.

well give the snakes an inspection before you make a commitment to buy...her snakes maybe on the....off...side too

Keep in mind that a ball python will live into the 30's and can reproduce for a long, long time. ;)

kinda like us humans... :P

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Originally Posted by ECLARK

Keep in mind that a ball python will live into the 30's and can reproduce for a long, long time. ;)

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That's what I was thinking the whole time. :P

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

well give the snakes an inspection before you make a commitment to buy...her snakes maybe on the....off...side too

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I am not planning on purchasing from her. :)

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Originally Posted by Rapture

Thanks for the responses guys, I was pretty skeptical about that. The woman I am e-mailing about it seems a little on the ... off... side.

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It would not shock me if she also feeds them once a month or so :mad:.Let us know what turns out and if they are REALLY ball pythons lol.

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Originally Posted by Rapture

I am not planning on purchasing from her. :)

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..."adopting"?

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Originally Posted by joepythons

It would not shock me if she also feeds them once a month or so :mad:.Let us know what turns out and if they are REALLY ball pythons lol.

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I'm not going to go see them or anything. I just wished her good luck in finding it a good home and that was it. I actually don't even need to add any more snakes to my collection at the moment, I just get curious sometimes about herpers in my area... it would be cool to meet someone who is knowledgeable and close by. I have to focus on getting at least one more rack before I can add any snakes, and I'm starting to think I don't really need to be eager to do that all that fast either. :P

I just went yesterday to buy a group of 17 normal females about 200 grams each. I got there and they were rosy boas. 2.15 group. I picked them up along with some rat snakes. That goes to show how well people know snakes. I got the 17 boas and 9 rat snakes for 125.00. But anyway sorry I can't help with the age thing. My oldest female ball is 3 yrs.

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

..."adopting"?

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Haha... Craigslist and their adoption fees....

Anyway, no. I am not getting anything from her.

I know someone else who contacted that person and when she asked the person if it had been bred in the past the seller got all upset/mad.


Rick Sisco

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Originally Posted by tropheusfreak

I just went yesterday to buy a group of 17 normal females about 200 grams each. I got there and they were rosy boas. 2.15 group. I picked them up along with some rat snakes. That goes to show how well people know snakes. I got the 17 boas and 9 rat snakes for 125.00. But anyway sorry I can't help with the age thing. My oldest female ball is 3 yrs.

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Wow.. nice deal on the rosies and rats even though it would have been better if they were 200 gram female balls for the same price. I would have still bought the rosies too.

Rick

I probed them earlier and we picked out 2.4 of the rosies. And 1.2 ratsnakes. We will keep them. The rest are sold already I guess. I will know more when the money comes in. Jodi's brother said he's coming next weekend to get them.

I bought one of the most beautiful normal ball pythons off of craigslist. A 380gram Healthy female with a 10gal tank, glow in the dark lamp/75w Sunglow bulb, a brand new bag of aspen, ceramic water dish and a hidebox all for $40.00

The snake shed in the car on the way home all in one piece.

She's now about 600grams slamming small rats and looking as gorgeous as ever!

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Originally Posted by Rapture

Haha... Craigslist and their adoption fees....

Anyway, no. I am not getting anything from her.

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I'm actually going to go check out a BP this weekend from someone who has a 5ft normal female and a 55gal tank with all of the accessories. $60 for it all... Of course I'm bringing someone that is good at probing that I trust to ensure that it is a female but if it is what the seller states it as and appears healthy I'll take a chance for $60. Keep it in quarantine and give it a go next year to breed with one of my snakes. And if it does pass at the vet as being healthy and after quarantine it successfully breeds next year then I guess the $60 "adoption fee" wasn't too bad...

You definetly have to be aware of some people that post ads for snakes on craigslist, the flyer or newspaper... Not everybody is the avid/knowledgable herper you want them to be but that doesn't mean that you can't find a great snake that needs a home for a reasonable fee/price.

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Originally Posted by Rapture

it would be cool to meet someone who is knowledgeable and close by.

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:tears:

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Originally Posted by cueball

:tears:

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I see some hurt feelings. Poor little basement dweller...

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Originally Posted by jglass38

I see some hurt feelings. Poor little basement dweller...

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Hold me :hug:

Glass...are you still breeding twenty year olds? Do you see anything wrong with that? I sure don't :D

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Originally Posted by cueball

Hold me :hug:

Glass...are you still breeding twenty year olds? Do you see anything wrong with that? I sure don't :D

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You know me well, killer! :P

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Originally Posted by cueball

Hold me :hug:

Glass...are you still breeding twenty year olds? Do you see anything wrong with that? I sure don't :D

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Any older than 25 and its not worth the effort ;) Once they're past that, they become too needy and require much better husbandry skills :rolleye2::D

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Originally Posted by cueball

:tears:

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Are you crying me a river or implying that you live close by?

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Originally Posted by Rapture

Are you crying me a river

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you adore the jtimb :P

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Originally Posted by Rapture

implying that you live close by?

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YES :(

How close?

And that same lady with the 10-year-old female Ball posted another ad, this time with a pic of the BP... poor skinny snake!

http://houston.craigslist.org/pet/246327787.html

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Originally Posted by Rapture

How close?

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A hop, skip and jump away :nerd:

I keep forgetting to check Craig's List. There's a guy with a RTB and enclosure up for adoption. In the picture, it has a ball python in there with the RTB. As an afterthought in the ad, he says that the ball is up for adoption as well for $50 OBO.


And then there's another where the daughter is no longer interested in her ball python, and their adoption fee is $75.

So, if anyone in Atlanta has some extra room, they may want to check it out. I did e-mail the guy with the RTB and ball python together to ask how long they've been housed together (I figure if for six months or longer, the boa most likely doesn't carry IBD, or the ball probably would not be around).

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Originally Posted by cueball

A hop, skip and jump away :nerd:

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Since when did you move into my living room?

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I keep forgetting to check Craig's List. There's a guy with a RTB and enclosure up for adoption. In the picture, it has a ball python in there with the RTB. As an afterthought in the ad, he says that the ball is up for adoption as well for $50 OBO.


And then there's another where the daughter is no longer interested in her ball python, and their adoption fee is $75.

So, if anyone in Atlanta has some extra room, they may want to check it out. I did e-mail the guy with the RTB and ball python together to ask how long they've been housed together (I figure if for six months or longer, the boa most likely doesn't carry IBD, or the ball probably would not be around).

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I'm apprehensive about getting snakes from a lot of people on there... I've heard some horror stories about the doom of peoples' collections from aquiring a lot of snakes from so many different sources like that.

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Originally Posted by Rapture

I'm apprehensive about getting snakes from a lot of people on there... I've heard some horror stories about the doom of peoples' collections from aquiring a lot of snakes from so many different sources like that.

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Originally Posted by djslurp1200

You definetly have to be aware of some people that post ads for snakes on craigslist, the flyer or newspaper... Not everybody is the avid/knowledgable herper you want them to be but that doesn't mean that you can't find a great snake that needs a home for a reasonable fee/price.

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You do have to be careful, but don't think that every snake on there is a parasite ridden problem or that it's sick...You obviously will have to inspect the animal yourself and quarantine to be on the safe side...Not saying every snake will be healthy either, but its worth checking them out...

P.S. I never did get to go see that female, My car isn't turning over...:(

I'm the other person to responded to that add, the one Rick mentioned. The lady absolutely freaked when I asked if the ball had ever been bred. She told it would KILL the poor thing if it was bred. Then when I told her I was no longer interested, she told me that she doubted that was true and that it was my loss, not hers. She was a kook!
She also e-mailed me to tell me all snakes were adopted. Poor things.

She may have just said the age thing to keep people from breeding her pet.

Which is very understandable of course. I worded it "Has she ever been bred, because I've heard it shortens their life and I am concerned about that." Just to find out. And she went crazy, LOL. She definetely seemed off in all the e-mails she sent me. She also mentioned she had other snakes that she was going to breed. My opinion is that this poor girl was a wore out breeder she wanted to unload. But I could be wrong.

It probably would kill her to breed her at that weight...

Yeah, the poor thing was grossly underweight. We can only hope she went to a better home. Have you checked craigslist lately? There's been quite a few snake posting in the last couple of days. By the way, what part of Houston are you in? I'm in Crosby, not too far from Houston itself. Don't you wish we had more reptile shows?

I live inside the Beltway off of I-45 N. I am familair with where Crosby is... :) Yeah I wish we had more shows, I've only been to one in my whole life. Planning on going to the one out in the Dallas area though.

Aw, I wish I could go to the Dallas one! But the hubby would never let me take any money, LOL!! I'm hoping to go to the big Houston one next year, and Humble sometimes has pet expos which usualy have a few snakes and beardies. Hopefully we can meet at the big Houston one next year!!