Wild Caught or Captive Hatched?

Just wondering how many people own wild caught or captive hatched Ball Pythons? I have considered captive hatched. My local pet store can get adult female wild caughts or 06 captive hatched for $65. I also know I can get captive born and raised for the same price. But just wondering what everyone thinks and owns.
Thanks
Trey

if you have the option go for the captive bred

I'd buy a captive hatch. Generally I'd think the wild caught ones would be more prone to stress.

I have a WC subadult female that hasn't eaten for me yet...

And out of 4 CH babies, all had health problems and only one survived. I know a lot of people have success with CH, but this year I did not.

Whichever you decide to get, make sure you know you are getting them from a good source.

You'll probably have more problems with wild caught. Being imprint feeders, the wild caught snakes are usually difficult to get to feed on the types of rodents that you'll find at a pet store or frozen rodent provider. Unless you have a supply of their natural food source, you might be in for a long fast.

Usually people that are in a hurry to breed will purchase WC snakes so they can pump out whichever morph they want to produce. However, many people have had success getting them to eat with soft-furred rats from Africa which are getting more popular, but plan on breeding them yourself.

CH snakes are a better alternative, although many of them will still have the same problems as WC ones such as parasites, mites, ticks, etc. Many of them have never eaten before, which may be a good and bad thing depending on how soon you get them.

CB snakes are usually much healthier and established, so they would be your best bet if you were looking for a healthy pet.

There are plenty of captive bred animals available on top of the other benefits already mentioned. However at what point does the inbreeding go to deep? I think this is one of those debates that could go on forever.


That said, I find myself looking for captive bred animals more often than not...but that doesn't mean I don't look at the WC and CH.

I bought 20 CH 06 females in May 06....All have been thriving for me. They all eat weekly and are all in the 450+g range now.....(I'm growing them slow and steady...)

I have only heard horror stories about WC adults.
I also have a bunch of CB BP's. They are all thriving also.
Bascially if you get your CH or CB from a reliable source, they should do well for you.

In my collection, I have 10 CH babies that were well started by dealers that I trust and would buy from again. All are thriving and all are parasite free. My first ball python (would make 11 in my collection) is also CH, but he did have internal parasites which were diagnosed after he regurged his first meal with me. That was before I was BOI savy and that company has since gone out of business.


Joanna has an additional four that I purchased that were CH and have since sold to her from the same trusted sources that are thriving for her.

The key is to buy from someone who has a reputation for getting CH babies well started, who get in the very first imports of the season (tend to be hardier and healthier) and who won't sell you one until they've had three or four successful feeds.

Edit: My avatar is one of my CH girls - J-Lo. Oh - and hey neighbor! Just noticed you're in Marietta too!

I have never even thought about getting a wild caught till I started looking into expanding my collect. I never knew there were so many. The more research I do the more people I find that have them. I am currently in the market for a few femals. There are so many people with snakes for sale. I don't know who to trust. Plus the Atlanta show is only two weeks away. I am trying to hold off to see what they have but it is really hard.

Has anyone done business with Ball Room Pythons?

Hey Rabernet. Since you live in Marietta, where do you get your rats from? I have been getting mine from Animal Atlanta. There prices change with who ever rings up my order. One guy is $25 the other is $30. Would you mind sharing who your dealer is?
Trey

Trey, Animal Atlanta charges by the size. So one guy might ring them up as smalls and the other as mediums (or large). You have to stay on top of them. I was getting rats from them, I've just started producing my own, because I don't like how they keep their rats. I still buy mice from them, but I hate paying $1.65 for them (but have no interest in breeding mice).

I don't feed anything larger than a small rat ($2.99). I've just started producing them, so I don't have any extra, but if I start to produce more, you're more than welcome to get some from me (a buck each).

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Originally Posted by mxrider42

Has anyone done business with Ball Room Pythons?Trey

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Yes, I have three girls from Ballroom Pythons South. Michael Cole is a great guy. Mine are CH, I wasn't aware he was selling any WC though.

Quote:

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Plus the Atlanta show is only two weeks away. I am trying to hold off to see what they have but it is really hard.

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Print a list of vendors and check them all out on the BOI at FaunaClassifieds.com

I imagine there will only be a handful of vendors there worth purchasing from. The last Atlanta show, there were only two vendors that I would have purchased from if I were planning to buy anything.

I'll be going to the show, but don't plan to pick up any animals (famous last words).

I recently got in 3 LTC from Paul Edwards which are 04 imports to Alan Bosch. I have not tried feeding them yet because I just got them today, but we will see next week.

I have ony purchased CB simply because I have heard too many horror stories about WC. Now, if I saw a CH that was from a breeder I know and trust, I'd jump on it if it was what I wanted/needed (seems that "want" takes over more times than "need" when it comes to ball pythons!).


That being said, I have dealt with Michael Cole with Ballroom Pythons South and one of his partners, Neil Golli, with Neil Golli Reptiles, and would buy anything from them if they said the snake was OK. I trust them completely.

Alice

For me captive hatched from a good dealer like Will Bird versus captive hatched from some pet store is a major difference. I highly doubt most pet stores know how to properly start a snake eating in a captive environment or will take that time, I highly doubt any of them will do much to treat for any internal parasites (perhaps external ones but internal...not likely). I have no problem owning CH's and love the ones we do have but I would be leery of getting one from a pet store without realizing the risks. I do have some in our collection that are likely CH's from a pet store and I've been quite lucky with them but I consider it blind luck more than anything the pet store did or didn't do.

We have one confirmed WC adult female. Before we got her we have verified that she went through wild capture, importing to the States, a least one pet store, then two previous owners (that we can confirm). One of the owners had her treated for external and internal parasite loads. When we got her she was severely underweight (barely over 600 grams as a fully adult female). She had not eaten in at least 8 months though likely far longer. She spent her time curled in a tight, defensive ball. She was also covered in retained shed. One eye had 3 layers of caps, the other had 5 layers of stuck caps. We expected her to be blind under all that mess but thank goodness she seems to have her sight.

It took a huge amount of energy and time, a ton of support and information from Adam Wysocki and a lot of worry that we might have to euthanize her before we saw a turn around for this snake. Well over a year later she is still slowly re-gaining her strength. She is well within a normal weight range for her length but still iffy enough we will not risk breeding her this year. We may never breed her or breed her only every other year. She now accepts handling without immediately balling up.

Basically all this is to tell you that WC adults are tough. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Personally after going through this with Saoirse I'd not run out and buy WC females expecting to breed them right away, unless I was very experienced in working with adult WC's. I might take one in as a rescue to rehab her but I just don't want or need the extra work and stress of multiple WC adult females.

Oh and I didn't even start on the whole issue of strict quarantine to protect your current collection from the stuff WC's can bring in with them. :(

Given the relatively low prices of CBB normals, I would say, your best bet is to buy one from a reputable breeder. I would bet that 9 out of 10 pet stores do not know how to properly sex a BP; therefore, who knows what you will get.. even if you don;t plan on breeding, let's say you have to sell the snake somewhere down the road.. it looks a little unsettling (at least to me) to see an ad stating "sex unknown."
Also, I highly doubt that any reputable breeder is going to put their reputation at stake by selling something that's either diseased, mis-sexed, or not feeding.. believe me, the extra $50.00 or so for shipping, is WELL worth the peace of mind it gives.