Stopped by PetCo again today to get more info on theri ball pythons. They slipped down a few points with me.

The price for their BPs (normal, of course) is $80, probably about what I'd pay to get one delivered. But there are some issues.

1) Gender information is unavailable. So without paying a vet to probe one, no telling if I'm getting a male or female.

2) They had to be force fed when the store first got them, but are now feeding normally on Frozen/Thawed.

3) This particular batch seems to have a bad attitude, according to the clerk. When we got one out to look at them, all three did "false strikes". The one I held stayed curled up in my hands in a strike posture. I wanted to hold it longer to see if it would calm down and start exploring, but the clerk took it away after a few minutes. (of course, if I was happily in bed and got pulled out of my room by some giant hands, I might be a little grumpy also)

First, is it reasonable to expect to know the gender of a BP, especially if paying $80?

Next, can early force feeding cause eating problems down the road?

Finally, for the third item, I'm actually not all that concerned. I'm inclined to chalk it up to snakes that are stressed because they're in a pet store with kids tapping on the glass, and they also probably don't get out very often. Is it reasonable to expect that once one of these guys/girls is put into a quiet vivarium with good temps/humidities, left alone for a couple weeks, then taken out for short handling sessions would come around and tone down? Or are these not a good idea for a first time snake owner?

After this, looks like I may have to get a snake delivered sight unseen after all...