2nd Petco BP Visit

[jotay]

I bought my bp from Petco about 2 yrs ago and even tho they said he was cbb I think he was maybe captive born but not breed.
Mine was a sweetie pie right from the get go.
If you can go w/ a breeder just like everyone said that would be they way to go.
Force feeding is never a good thing and I can't believe a Petco would even care enough to do it. Sounds fishy .

Not all bp's from Petco are bad or mean or in poor health, but that bunch I think I would stay away from. If you do choose to buy one from a Petco make sure you have a good exotic vet lined up to take it to.

Check around and I am sure you could find a good breeder to buy from.

[adizziedoll]

The less people buying from the pet stores, the less demand there will be from africa. (of course that's where we get all our pretty morphs from, and is somewhat hypocritical) Stick with a breeder and get a quality animal, with outstanding customer support to help you out through your herping adventure! (and YES, there WILL BE MORE!- welcome to the nuthouse)

[TraconSnake]

No big chain store is doing captive bred. They all sell CH imports, and anyone that tells you different does not know any better.

PetSmart doesn't sell BPs, but they actually have marked on their tags "Captive Bred" for their Cornsnakes at least. We'll have to wait and see when they start selling BPs.

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

The less people buying from the pet stores, the less demand there will be from africa. (of course that's where we get all our pretty morphs from, and is somewhat hypocritical) Stick with a breeder and get a quality animal, with outstanding customer support to help you out through your herping adventure! (and YES, there WILL BE MORE!- welcome to the nuthouse)

I wouldnt say that... its not as if breeders are having to euthanize their males because they cant sell them.

Until breeders in the states are producing enough snakes to meet the needs, they will continue importing snakes from Africa. Once there is enough being produced, then it will become a price war, and Africa may or may not keep winning (by then some morphs may be common enough that they gain the edge over normals priced low in africa). Im bad at the guessing games.

I figure breeders will always be able to sell at a fair enough price to customers, just not to pet stores like PetCo who pay less than $10 a snake and re-sell for $80.

[daniel1983]

PetSmart doesn't sell BPs, but they actually have marked on their tags "Captive Bred" for their Cornsnakes at least. We'll have to wait and see when they start selling BPs.

My comment was directed at Ball pythons. If PetSmart does have ball pythons...I can say with almost 100% certainty that they will be CH. You also have to be very careful at the labeling of snakes when you purchase them. Some snakes are sold as CB which most people figure as captive bred; however, some dealers will label CH as CB to move the animals. They can get away with this by saying CB means captive born which is the same as captive hatched. If you are looking for animals from any dealer make sure that it is captive born and breed(CBB).

As far as the corn snakes being captive bred, I don't think I have heard of people selling WC corn snakes in a long time. It is a big difference when you are dealing with an corn snake that can lay 15+ eggs and a ball python that averages around 6 eggs. Small clutches is one reason why CBB ball python prices (morphs and normals) are alot higher than the majority of other snakes out there....the production is alot slower due to small clutches.

[rabernet]

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

I've purchased six of my current 8 online (and two het males from our very own Adam at http://www.8ballpythons.com that will be coming home soon), but they weren't sight unseen. I was able to select my babies from pictures on the website and when I asked, was provided additional pictures.

If you buy online, just do your research and make sure that who you are buying from has a good reputation. All of the ball pythons in my home right now (I have 8 currently) were all CH babies and are doing great - but they were also given good starts and were good feeders, other than my first.

My first, Kashmire was purchased from a company that decided to get out of the pet trade. Five of my kids came from Will Bird at http://www.ectotherms.net, one came from Mike at http://www.ballpythonssouth.com and although I picked her up at a show this weekend, she was a girl I had bookmarked on their site as one that I really wanted to buy and would have ordered and had shipped, but it just so happened that he brought her to the Atlanta show this past weekend - so it was fate. My last was a pet store surrendered adult female.

I guess I said all this to say that only one of my snakes came from a pet store, but as a surrendered adult, but none were what I would describe as sight unseen.

[MedusasOwl]

I was tempted by Petco BPs once, the lady let me hold em and it was just the sweetest thing... but obviously having health issues, they all were, shed stuck all over the face too.

I am SO glad I got my boy from Jamie. Gorgeous healthy little piggie! Now when I pass by the PetCo BPs I stop and coo but can't help but shake my head, the poor little things just don't hold a candle..

[frankykeno]

If possible avoid the pet store babies. I've gotten a few snakes from one local private pet store but it is generally well above the chain stores in it's care of the reptiles. It is still a worry though and we have an arrangement with this pet store to take the BP's to our vet for a visit before we even purchase the snake.

There are a number of good breeders you can access online. There's no reason you have to buy a BP "sight unseen" even online from a private breeder. Most like Will Bird, Jamie Glass, etc. will quite happily provide you with pictures so you can pick the male you want.

Having purchased both online and in person at a pet store, I would say the experience with the breeder was the best. The snake was of the best quality and of all our BP's, has the most impressive record as far as feeding response and growth patterns.

[masterjason]

80 bucks seems kind of steep for a baby bp. I paid 45 for mine, granted I picked a tick of him the day i brought him home. He's only struck at me once, and that's cause I prevoked him. Other than that everythings been fine. The pet store I got him from says he was bred, but I'm having doubts, cause of the tick.

[cassandra]

Just to speak up for Petco, our Cleo is from our local Petco and she has been an angel...=)