Shipping Gravid Females

[Nakk89]

I was talking with a breeder about purchasing some larger females that he has available. After some conversation he informed me that they are gravid, but would ship them to me anyways. I am worried that this would in turn be bad for the females, but I wanted to get some input before I mad the final decision on the purchase. Thank you for your input!

[Bogertophis]

I don't know for certain, & don't know anyone who has done that, but I personally would NOT be comfortable doing that. Good question...even if some have done
this before, I think it's going to be hard to quantify the risks. (ie. maybe not a problem for some but IS a problem for other snakes, or depending on how far along)

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I would not recommend and pretty stupid on the breeder's end (why not wait another 45 days get the egg)?

Now if it absolutely has to be done you would want to do it soon after the ovulation the longer you wait the worse it would be.

When did they ovulate?

[Nakk89]

He hasn't gotten back to me but from what I understand he is just trying to get out of the trade and it seems like he just doesn't want to deal with the babies.

Here are images of the 3 girls:

[Bogertophis]

Sad that he cares so little as to be willing to ship no matter what...I just don't know what to say. Any chance you could pick them up? (even a road trip would be
stressful, but not as bad as air-shipping) And if that's his reason, I guess it would be pointless to ask him to wait? If he hasn't gotten back to you, I suspect he may
think he's found someone closer...& honestly, I hope so, even though you're clearly interested...I just want what's best for those snakes.

[303_enfield]

Take a road trip an get them at a discount. Sometimes, it's better to pass on deals then deal with the what if's.

Good luck!

[Nakk89]

Yeah I would make a trip to get them except it would be a cross country venture. Thank you for all the input.