Ball Python Dealers?

[KevinP11]

I recently had a not so pleasant with a ball python I had purchased from a local pet store. It was not from a generic pet store (i.e. Petco or Petsmart) because I had been warned against getting snakes from those types of stores. I got it at a somewhat of a specialty pet store that had a smattering of general pet store things along with some more 'exotic' kind of things on the level of Red Eyed Tree Frogs and a few tree boas. By no means would it be considered a true exotic pet store though..

Long story short she had a lot of trouble shedding (could not free up much of the skin) and I gave her a few soaks. I checked the humidity quite frequently and it was consistently 50-60% so that wasn't the issue. I eventually gently rubbed the skin loose in warm water which seemed to help her a little bit. Then I tried to feed her and she would not strike the prey item, or even seem interested in it. After 3 or 4 failed feeding attempts on different days I assist fed her and she seemed to make a turn around for the better.

Following this her condition seemed to worsen (laying in random locations around her tank, loss of balance?, no interest in food). I looked up every resource I could find online and did everything I could, including taking her back to the pet store for observation over the weekend, but sadly she did not make it through the weekend..

I had her for about 3 weeks but her passing really hit me hard. I'm a student at a university in New England, and I'm not from the Northeast, so I'm finding myself a bit out of place. I got the snake to keep me company and help me to adjust to college life more, but this just kind of sucks..

Does anyone have any advice on solid dealers that breed good quality snakes at a decent prices? I would like to get another snake, but only if I know that I won't have a really negative experience like this again...

Any advice would be appreciated...

[BHReptiles]

Take a look at Fauna Classifieds, Kingsnake.com, or the classifieds on here. There are a lot of small-time and big-time breeders who have lots of snakes for sale. They can even ship them to your front door if you would like them to. I've never had a bad experience buying from a private breeder. They tend to take better care of their animals than pet stores (no matter how much of a "specialty" store they claim to be). If you take a look at my signature, you can see where I got all of my animals. I would recommend any of them.

Another place to look at at reptile expos. I don't know if there are any near you, but you can always go http://www.kingsnake.com/events.php to see what kinds of expos/shows are in your area. They will have a HUGE selection of animals to choose from. The plus of shows is you get to hold the animal before you purchase it and you don't have to pay shipping.