Quote Originally Posted by hardball
Thanks for the responses. I know I feel like im asking every possible question but im trying to be well informed before I make a final decision. I have checked the interent for whatver i can find and asked a lot of these questions in the store, but i want to make sure i wasnt being misinformed. What would be a good price for a regular ball python? The ones at the place i looked at today were $50 a piece and the tank+setup was going to be $60. Does that sound about right? How do I go about judging the health of a snake in a store? I know to ask for a feeding demonstration to make sure they are eating, but are there any other ways? They appeared pretty healthy to me. Since these were babies and he mentioned being in the process of breeding another pair of snakes i believe his corn snakes I would assume that these were born in captivity too.
That seems to be a very good price for a BP. I bought my female normal for $75, and with a 20gal-long set up with heating, substrate, 2 hides, a branch, a lamp (no heat bulb though =/) a water bowl and "The Ball Python Manual" (by Philippe de Vosjoli) for $120. Really it differs from store to store.

As for the health of the snake, check the eyes and body for mites and ticks. The eyes should be clear, and if it's nearing shed, both eyes should be even opacity.
Check for lumps along the body, depressions on the spine and collapsed areas along the body (broken ribs)
Belly should be clean and clear, with no crusted, cracked looking scales, and the cloacal area should be clear.