I am new to the world of pythons and have a few questions that I'm hoping people with real experience can answer. I work at a wildlife rehab center that also takes in abandoned exotic animals for veterinary care until they can be placed in good homes. A few months ago a small ball python was found in the street and brought to us (he was 236 g). Our vets said he was perfectly healthy, and just needed to gain some weight. I ended up fostering him for two months and absolutely fell in love with him. However, I did not have the right set up / cage / etc and so when a great home came available, I gave him up. Since then I have been wanting to get one of my own. I have been slowly gathering equipment and supplies, and now I think I'm ready to start looking for a snake.
Now to my question, I'm not comfortable buying from petsmart, the employees could not tell me where the snakes come from. One said they were captive bred from a "good" breeder, another said they were imports (I'm assuming they were wild caught or imported from Africa), and the manager said that they came from various "sources". So there will be a reptile expo in Richmond VA next month and it's not too far of a drive for me, and I was wondering where some of you have gotten your snakes? Any particular breeders that may be in the Virginia / North Carolin / Maryland area that are particularlly wonderful. Also, is it generally better to get one from a breeder?
I'm not looking for any particular morph, I just want a healthy male snake that will eat fairly well and be gentle.