Quarantine is a must for me. And while i have them quarantined in thier own homes i might as well keep them there LOL. I agree that adult imports have tons of problems because they have lived most of thier life in the wild. I do trust the dealer. I dont support the import trade at all I think its inhumane and immoral. And I know I can't save all of them but I can save two from almost certain death. They can either be bought by an experienced keeper like myself or a kid that buys one on a whim for it to die of mistreatment.

We can all be assured that the ball python import trade will never be irradicated. This is my goal in getting the two females. When they grow up I will have a male that is ready to mate and make some captive bred snakes.

I do trust my dealer he used to be a veterinarian for the Dallas Zoo specilizing in reptiles and now he owns a pet store he sees and treats reptiles that people bring to his store for free. I have bought both of my ball pythons from him. Even my Jojo is an import and have had no problems with him. But I agree that the secret to getting imports is to get them as hatchlings.