Buying off of craigslist

[Ronin]

Hello all! I'm still very new to the BP world and I'm trying too learn the certain breeds and morphs as much as I can. However, I have been hovering over craigslist for the last couple of weeks looking for that sweet deal, or that diamond in the rough. I think I have found a few but I am not knowledgeable enough because they are saying the BP are hets. What is the best way to go about finding out if the snake they are selling is truly a het.? Is there certain questions to ask? Certain things to look for? Any help for a newby would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

[The Serpent Merchant]

By definition a het cannot be distinguished from a normal. There are only 2 ways to know for sure:

1. Know the parents

2. Breed the snake to another snake that it heterozygous or homozygous for the same recessive gene and produce offspring that are homozygous for the gene.

Personally I wouldn't but a het on craigslist.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What is the best way to go about finding out if the snake they are selling is truly a het.?

To buy from a reputable breeder that will guarantee the genetics and stand behind his animals.

Ask yourself this, where will CL Joe Schmoe be if the animals do not prove or even in a month from now if you have questions?

Yes you might spend a little more buying from a reputable breeder but in the end especially when it comes to hets, you will be happy that you did.

[BHReptiles]

Hello all! I'm still very new to the BP world and I'm trying too learn the certain breeds and morphs as much as I can. However, I have been hovering over craigslist for the last couple of weeks looking for that sweet deal, or that diamond in the rough. I think I have found a few but I am not knowledgeable enough because they are saying the BP are hets. What is the best way to go about finding out if the snake they are selling is truly a het.? Is there certain questions to ask? Certain things to look for? Any help for a newby would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

Honestly, don't buy hets unless it's from a reputable breeder. A lot of times on Craigslist you find animals that are "het pastel" or "het spider" which are both co-dominant morphs and do not have hets. My advice to you is try to find a local breeder, attend a reptile expo, or buy from a breeder and have the snake shipped to you. Going with one of these options gives you a better chance of buying a healthy, quality animal. However, make sure you check the seller out on the board of inquiry on fauna ( http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...splay.php?f=13 ) or the inquiry page on this forum to make sure they do not have a negative reputation.

[towelie4365]

A better place to find deals (especially with quality animals) is on kingsnake and fauna classifieds. If you browse those for long enough, I'll be surprised if you can control yourself enough to NOT buy a snake

[Ronin]

Thanks everyone for your reply. Looks like I might actually hold off on buying hets from craigslist. I'll ask if he scan prove that its a het though and see what he says. I did buy a male cinnamon %100 pied just the other day from a very reputable breeder. I can't wait to get that guy!! I just happen to come across a female cinnamon het. pied and didn'twant to miss the chance. I have been searching for a while to find a female so I got kinda excited, but I didn't want to fully commit before asking here.

[Ogre]

Honestly, don't buy hets unless it's from a reputable breeder. A lot of times on Craigslist you find animals that are "het pastel" or "het spider" which are both co-dominant morphs and do not have hets. My advice to you is try to find a local breeder, attend a reptile expo, or buy from a breeder and have the snake shipped to you. Going with one of these options gives you a better chance of buying a healthy, quality animal. However, make sure you check the seller out on the board of inquiry on fauna ( http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...splay.php?f=13 ) or the inquiry page on this forum to make sure they do not have a negative reputation.

Spider is dominant not Co-dominant.

[CaitJaye]

definitely check out some genetics to get a better understanding of heterozygous and homozygous traits. If you intend on breeding a pair its pretty important to grasp at least the basic concepts of genetics. Like punnet squares ect. So if you have 2 proven het parents and breed them, you'll know the probability of getting that recessive trait. Which, generally in basic genetics, is only 25%.

[Inarikins]

Spider is dominant not Co-dominant.

Debatable. (and by debatable I mean there's been some contention in the industry on that, not that I personally want to debate it)

[BHReptiles]

Sorry, I originally typed co-dominant/dominant (specifically to just say they aren't recessive...but looking back I suppose it could have been read in a way which claimed they were both either/or. Didn't realize people were going to be super technical while I was merely making a point) but my autocorrect corrected it incorrectly lol. By the time I realized the typo, I couldn't edit my post. However, I didn't think it would be -that- big a deal since I was just using the example to prove a point. However, the typo police are out to get me again.