can i get an opinion on the price of this Suri?

[dkatz4]

OK, so i'm not necessarily going to actually go for this snake, though i am very temped. Really, the purpose of this post is to try and up my boa market game. This is a craigslist post (take that for what its worth); the snake is listed as a female Suri 2 years old 4 - 5 ft long, no specific pedigree or paperwork is mentioned. Price: $350
Now i'm not trying to be a snob, but those saddles and peaks, or lack thereof, look pretty mediocre to me for a Surinam, and that aberrant one might look kind of cool, but i feel like it cant have a positive effect on the value. Am I crazy? Am i totally misjudging the intrinsic value of a Surinam (without paperwork??)
please tell me one way or the other, because i love BCC's and i love to haggle, so i need to get in the know.

[Sauzo]

For $350 I would pass on that one. I mean the picture might be part of the fault but that tail doesn't look very red too me and yeah the saddles are meh at best. You can find a nice suri for $400-500 so I would just save the extra cash and find a neonate or juvenile ohhlala one. Check with Star Shaffer if you are looking for a suri.

[dkatz4]

Right?
Now for my purposes the snake is still tempting because part of the description detailed how docile she is and that she has actually been used for children's educational programs and since I'm looking for a family pet, that counts for a lot – but I certainly would not pay $350. Heck, if all I want is a friendly average looking boa I'm sure I can find any number of BCI normals, or even a hypo for a few hundred less. Although in this other photo you can see her tail actually has some pretty good red's, not mind blowing, but not bad. I posted the other photo first because it had a better shot of the saddles.

[Sauzo]

Up to you lol. I know I wouldn't pay $350 and for me, I personally like to start with neonates or young juveniles so I can mold them. If you start with a mellow youngster, you should be fine.

I would trust Rosey my 6.5' BCI with kids. Everyone who has seen her was amazed how mellow she is. Even the vet and all the nurses loved her lol. The only thing she did to them was whenever they took her away from me, she would focus on getting back to me. Once she was on me again, she was happy to check out the doc and nurses and let them look at her lol. The doc ended up having her sit on for the most part as it made it easy to exam her.

Like I said, just start with a mellow baby and you should be fine. Rosey was really laid back as a baby so now as an adult she is still really laid back unless she is somewhere new which in that case, she will make a beeline straight to me and clamp onto me so its a pita to get her off me lol. At home Rosey isn't nearly as clingy and actually is happy to explore and doesn't me as her security blanket lol. I honestly think you would be hard pressed to get Rosey to bite you unless you really hurt her.

[Gio]

Nice Suris should look like this.

http://worldclassboas.com/2015-suriname-boas/


I'd do yourself a big solid. Get a nice one with some data behind it from a high end breeder. $500-$600 might be a lot, but I'm betting you'll love the end result when it grows.

They are not ALL that expensive but can be for a true beauty.

[cletus]

[QUOTE=dkatz4;2485816]OK, so i'm not necessarily going to actually go for this snake, though i am very temped. Really, the purpose of this post is to try and up my boa market game. This is a craigslist post (take that for what its worth); the snake is listed as a female Suri 2 years old 4 - 5 ft long, no specific pedigree or paperwork is mentioned. Price: $350
Now i'm not trying to be a snob, but those saddles and peaks, or lack thereof, look pretty mediocre to me for a Surinam, and that aberrant one might look kind of cool, but i feel like it cant have a positive effect on the value. Am I crazy? Am i totally misjudging the intrinsic value of a Surinam (without paperwork??)
please tell me one way or the other, because i love BCC's and i love to haggle, so i need to get in the know.

[QUOTE]

Nothing snobbish about that. You want to make sure you get what you want for your hard earned money. Don't let go of it until you are happy.

[bcr229]

I found BCC online for that price that are a lot nicer looking. Granted they're babies but time takes care of that.

[dkatz4]

Great points and advice, everyone, thanks so much!
Let me digress just a little bit on a topic thats come up in the thread a few times: age. I have been focused (but not dead set) on subadults and even adults b/c, well, i'm impatient. I want a big boa, boas grow slowly, BCC's even more slowly, and i'm certainly not going to overfeed to try and speed it up. I always think of my kids as the excuse. I have young kids and so a large portion of my life is dedicated tracking their growth and developmental milestones and imagining/dreading what they will be like when they are older. I guess, since my pets are my comfort, i just sort of want the pet that i want, not the one that will be the one i want after years of dedication and care.
Ranting a little bit here, and like i said, i may very well opt for a neonate when all is said and done, but i wanted to throw that out there and see what y'all thought.

Also, SAUZO, my Irwin is the same way, super easy-going. In the beginning i was sure my kid was going to get tagged, like all the time, its as if he's magnetically drawn to the snake's face, but Irwin just lets it all slide, never puffs or hisses, rarely even takes a defensive posture. I handle him quite a bit, so i'm sure that helps, but when first talking to the breeder, she specifically told me that he was notably calmer than his siblings, the "chillest" she said. He was just shy of 2 when i got him (21 months), and although i think he's become more accustomed or "fond" of me over time, from the very first day i knew he was going to be a cool customer.

[Tigerhawk]

Don't rush into it. I'm Sure you can find a nice young one that you will be happy with. As it was mentioned earlier, get a baby and grow together. I Have bought adults in the past. My oldest female was two or three years old when I got her. Let's just say we had to learn to trust each other. Now she's a puppy dog. On the other hand I have an albino semi adult who can't make up her mind if she likes me or hates me. Finally I have a male that I've had since he was two months old. He has tried to bite only once when he was a baby. I can let anyone handle him without a problem. Well he does have a habit of falling asleep on you. If you sit still for more than two minutes. So I guess I'm trying to encourage you to find a baby if you can. You will enjoy it more.