Buying from (insert breeder here)...

[tnelsonflorida]

Hey, I recently have been in the need of adding a few more females to my collection for the '11 season. I have been looking at BHB, JKR, and ECRB, to name a few and my wife told me..."you just want to buy from them because there are big time breeders"...I always preach "buy local" "buy from small businesses"...so I ask... can I justify my personal beliefs to buy from said big time breeders? They are "sole proprietors" for the most part , and even thou they are not local to me..myself being in South Florida. I do try to buy from as many Florida people as possible(when most things and qualities being equal). So do I buy or bypass? Let me know your thoughts.

[Freakie_frog]

I can't speak for ECRB but I know Brian and Justin both, they are both really good guys and better breeder's. You don't have to justify buying from local people all the time..Lets face it there are only two of us in Mississippi so I have to branch out. Regardless of who you buy from as long as they are reputable people that sale quality healthy animals their no harm in it.. I shop friends first, then others even if I've bought from someone before I always shop friends.

[Seru1]

It's fine to "Buy Local" or "Buy from small Buisness"


If they truly make the best product. But If your doing that just for warm fuzzies then it's a mistake.


Big breeders like BHB make quality product. I know in the future I am gonna be buying a few snakes from them. I even have a wishlist. That said alot of other breeders to to. Wildmorphs makes beautiful BP's So does Justin Kobylka. I recently bought from justin and I am thrilled.


Plus he is local enough to you in GA.

Don't just buy local though dude, by smart. By the best product no matter where it comes from. Make other people make there products better.

[Vypyrz]

My opinion is that if you are going to invest in something then get the one you want regardless of how far it's going to have to travel to get to your front door, whether it is across the street or across the country...

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

There are many small time breeders that have a good reputation and high quality animals. Dont buy from someone just because they are at the top. Buy because that is the animal you want above any other. Some of my snakes came from the big guys and some came from lesser known breeders. But they were all researched on the BOI and I spoke to them before making my purchases. 2 of my snakes came from a local breeder in southern IL. Im happy with all my purchases and I sometimes prefer to buy from the smaller breeders to help them out and to increase the diversity of the bloodlines. Im a small breeder and I think creating relationships and getting to know the habits and animals of other small breeders is a good thing. No sence in swearing to only buy from the big guys. Ive purchased from JK, Vin Russo, BRB, Retic Ranch, but my other animals came with just as high of quality and health as any others.

Its up to you but the deciding factor should always be the animal first.

[tnelsonflorida]

Thanks for the good tips, I do appreciate them. I do try to live my life as to purchase our food items to the "WHOLE FOODS" school of thought (probably about 80% right now), which is...if it is grown/raised 500 miles from you it is "local". I have purchased from Kellys in Edgewater. I do plan to purchase from "Emilo" (screen name) in Miami and Russ Lawson in the Orlando area, this year (hopefully). But I was tryin to justify my personal beliefs -VS- the betterment of the hobby standard, that I have set for myself. Thanks for everything and the kind words.

[kellysballs]

I thank you and appreciate your business! I normally look locally first then if they don't have what I want I branch out. Graziani is local (in Florida anyway) and he has fantastic animals we have purchased a few from him in the past, and I consider him one of the big guys.

[Raverthug]

I would rather buy from a local breeder BUT im not willing to sacerfice the quality of animals Im getting just so I can buy local or a little cheaper. Another thing to remember is that most of the lines came from the big named guys. Be it axanthics, Albinos ect.

[kc261]

Since you mentioned ECRB, and no one has commented on that, I will. ECRB is Colin Weaver. I have bought 3 snakes from him and been very happy with all 3 of them.

As far as buying local, I understand and agree with the idea. However, even more than that, I prefer to buy from the little guys. I think one of the problems America is seeing is that big business is becoming too big, and the little guys are being put out of business.

As far as buying locally grown food, part of the reason to do that is that the further food travels, the more likely it is that it is not truly fresh anymore, and it is beginning to lose vitamins, taste, etc. With most other products, the only reason to buy locally is to stimulate the local economy, which is still a good idea when possible.

Moving on to snakes, ALL snake breeders are small businesses. Sure, some are bigger than others, but in the overall scale of things, even the biggest snake breeders are TINY businesses. You do (possibly) lose the idea of supporting a local business, but as some one else pointed out, you don't want to sacrifice quality just to support a local business. If you can find a quality snake locally, great. If not, don't feel that you are being hypocritical to buy a quality snake from a small business just because it isn't in your backyard.

[Russ Lawson]

Thanks for the mention. Hopefully I have what you're looking for this year. Greg Graziani was already mentioned, but he and his wife, Jacki, are great people. I haven't personally bought from them yet, because I'm holding out for a sterling pastel from them (Greg's got the nicest super pastels I've seen), but I usually spend a lot of time talking to them at shows. Some other Florida vendors I've talked to at shows and gotten a good impression from are Raj and Dan at Ballers Pythons, and more recently the guys at Metal Morphs (never got their names). I haven't found much online about either though.