Eddie I do understand your concerns and in some ways agree with them. I'm not against importation from the wild though because it is my understanding that the wild population of ball pythons is in quite good shape at present. As long as that situation exists, then a controlled sale from the wild isn't an issue for me.Originally Posted by Wh00h0069
What is an issue for me is how we treat these snakes coming in from the wild. I do think we need some sort of control on these large importers who treat these animals as a commodity and could care less how many die. This would include the large pet stores who both receive in and sell off unstarted, non-feeding, often sick fresh from Africa hatchlings. If we are to take a living thing from it's natural place in the wild, I believe it should be done responsibly, ethically and with a reasonable expectation that the animal deserves to survive and thrive in captivity.
I also see many buyers rushing off to grab up that "great deal" then complaining later they got a fresh import. Well if you look beyond your wallet you might see that nobody sells a ready to breed adult female BP for next to nothing. Our greed and need to find shortcuts to egg production is part of the problems that occur with the sale of WC adults (gravid or not).
I do have issues with importers bringing in gravid females simply to get eggs from them without any real intent to support the female properly. I've seen the results and rescued one of those females (possibly two but we cannot prove the other was a gravid import). Danu was a mess but is now okay. For me and Mike, there is no honor in treating any female creature like a disposable egg making machine.
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