San Diegans looking for Baby BP

[True_Avery]

Hello,

Me and my Sister are thinking of putting our money together and buying a Ball Python. This is not our only experience with pets and reptiles, but we'd like to do this right.

Living in San Diego seems to put us at odds for purchasing. We'd like a Normal (nothing fancy), and if at all possible a Baby/Young Normal but after a few hours on the interwebs I can't seem to find any breeders in Southern California. I'd like to be close to the breeder, and if at all possible see the snake since we're a little paranoid about shipped snakes. Call us old fashioned, but we'd like to see the snake before hand.

The only places to get Ball Pythons around here seem to be pet shops like Petco and privately owned shops. While I'm fine with buying supplies from them, I definitely think twice about buying from petshops that, more often than not, don't even know how to house the animals they are holding.

So, I have a few options. I can order way out of town and hope... or I can stab myself in the foot and drive up north to LLLReptiles and see how their babies look. $20 babies without live shipping is an interesting deal, and I have a -little- hope since most of the complaints seem to stem from shipped animals and not so much their in store goods. I also have a little hope that their babies may be healthier due to less exposure to their store. I know the Petco's nearby have healthy looking BP's, but they are already pretty big and Petco wants some pretty high prices for them.

So, to try and save myself from what horror show may await us at LLLReptiles, does anyone have any Southern California recommendations?

I want a female and my sister wants a male (opinions on size), and we have enough money to put together a pretty respectable tank and buy a baby. We'd like to try and not blow too much money on the baby so we can invest in a healthy tank, but at the same time don't want to buy something that will die of infestation.

Thanks for reading.

[RR - Mackenzie]

Hi,

I got my snake for Craigslist from a woman who abused my snake. I just now got him to eat

Anyways, if you buy from a reputable breeder, you should have no problems with shipping. Well-known names like Brian and Lori Barczyk (BHB), Garrick DeMeyer (Royal Constrictor Designs), Mike Wilbanks (Constrictors Unlimited), and a few other breeders are great! Have good, healthy snakes, great customer service... There are a ton of others! And I know a few of the best breeders are on here now.

And, also, beware of the male-female size difference. I had my male, I thought it was a female, but he is just a very big boy! He is about 4.5 feet long, and he is definitely still growing. He was probed and popped, proven male.

Whatever breed you choose, good luck. Also, check the BOI (Board of Inquiries) about each breeder. It will tell you if the breeders are good or not, how the deal went, and you can save yourself some money and heart-break just by looking up a breeder's name.

Good luck,
Mac

[Step Johns]

You can also try, south bay tropical and pet kingdom... they both have baby ball pythong right now

[twistedtails]

Kyle you are supposed to keep the sales to the right forum! Heck, maybe it will be one of the babies I produced.

[Vypyrz]

Why don't you just get everything set-up and then go to the L.A. Expo Aug 7-8. and look for a snake. That gives you just over a month to get everything bought, ordered, set-up and running before you pick out a new friend...
Here is the link...

http://www.reptilesupershow.com/

[MarkieJ]

You can also try, south bay tropical and pet kingdom... they both have baby ball pythong right now

This! I got a male mojave from them last year and it's doing great. Here's a link to their site if you need their address/directions:

http://www.petkingdom.com/reptiles/

I've been going to South Bay Tropicals for over 20 years. Much respect to them for staying in business for so long. They've gone from a small mom and pop pet store to the large store they have now. I talked recently with the owner Mike and he showed me some of the gems in their ball python collection. They definitely know their stuff.

[Lolo76]

Too bad you missed the show this last weekend, because they had LOTS of baby BPs for like $25-30. Pet Kingdom is a cool place, although I hear mixed things about their snake care... and I'm sure we have lots of members in the SD/LA area, who'd be willing to sell you something this summer. I will have babies in about 40-50 days, but live up in San Francisco. Good luck!

[<3ballpythons]

This! I got a male mojave from them last year and it's doing great. Here's a link to their site if you need their address/directions:

http://www.petkingdom.com/reptiles/

I've been going to South Bay Tropicals for over 20 years. Much respect to them for staying in business for so long. They've gone from a small mom and pop pet store to the large store they have now. I talked recently with the owner Mike and he showed me some of the gems in their ball python collection. They definitely know their stuff.

pet kingdom and south bay tropical are both stores i HIGHLY reccommend my baby is from southbay and he is doing great very healthy and eats regularly