I live close to a small, family owned pet store, which charges ridiculously high prices for its animals. However, I've noticed that one of the benefits to buying there (for individuals that just have one or two snakes for their kids, etc.) is that they can keep going back for any problems they have. The people that work in the reptile department there are fairly knowledgeable and will let you bring back the animal to have it sexed, they will help you administer medication (should your pet ever need it) and even take care of it while you're out of town for a few days - all free of charge. They will even help you with animals that you did not purchase there. I was there the other day having one of my green trees probed when a little girl was bringing back her hamster because it was sick (they knew why it was sick, I'm thinking the child had fed it something she shouldn't have). The girl who was working in the reptile/rodent dept was in the process of setting up a cage for the hamster so they could keep it at the store for a few days in order to administer medication and try to nurse it back to health. True, you can usually call a breeder you've purchased from in the event that you have any problems, but in most cases the breeder is not right down the street. It is usually not feasible to grab the snake and drive a few minutes for help administering medication, advice about odd looking scales, etc.