Getting rid of normal offspring

[Ginevive]

No, I still would not give one away to a stranger. I see those "free to good home" ads and they just rub me the wrong way personally. It is up to anyone's discretion on who and how they give/sell animals and I am not judging or disliking anyone for their doing so. It is just not something I would do personally for someone I did not know.
I greatly appreciated being gifted with Luna, and everytime I open her tub, I smile. She is one of those snakes that I would never sell unless maybe I was on poverty's door and had to get rid of them all. And with my way of thinking, I would feel morally obligated to gift her to someone, as I could not sell what I did not really buy; I would feel wrong doing that. Maybe, just maybe if it were someone I fully and completely trusted and respected, I might gift them with a snake. I am actually contemplating the thought now.. but if it were a case of "they can't afford it, so I will give it to them.." No. If they could not afford the snake's price, how would they fare if the snake had to be vetted, or their equipment broke, etc? I am just too leary after seeing my friend operate a dog rescue and having bunches of smarmy people sneering at her for wanting a modest fee because "they were not made of money" or "it is just a mutt." The fees covered the immunizations and feeding of the dogs she rescued.. no one, unless they have no budget limits, can do that stuff alone!
So in closing: I guess I am changing my tune a bit. If it were someone I was completely confident in, I would consider gifting. I would not advertise off to people I do not either know personally or feel confident in.. if there were someone on say, this forum, who regularly posted pics of their healthy snakes and great setups, I would ponder gifting. There was actually a person a few months back who had a loss in their life, who I offered a hatchling to.. But I hate "free to good home" ads! And the animal sacrifice issue is not just me being overdramatic. I have heard of so many cases of that crap..
I guess another bit of the fee thing, comes from my other friend who rescues horses. She would never let a horse go for free, because people could just turn around and auction it off at the meat buyers' the next day. Her mission was to rescue horses from that fate, and keep them until she could find a real home for them.

[Blue Apple Herps]

I do not advise anyone to give animals away.

No offense, but I disagree.

For one, you could just be losing money by having the person who receives it, sell it off later on.

Maybe...but I don't really see that as a solid reason.

Two, people never seem to value anything that was free, the same way that they do it it were bought. This is something I learned fro my friend, who did dog/cat rescues for years. Give someone a snake, and they have no money invested into it and thus is really can become disposable.

Which is why if I'm giving away a snake I make damn sure that as far as I can tell they're dead serious about keeping it. Mostly I give them away to people who were getting a snake anyways. They were prepared to pay the $80 for a pet store snake when they heard "Oh my boss's son breeds snakes, he could offer advice blah blah blah"...something like that. And then the come to me asking about them, and saying how they were going to pick one out at the pet store later that week. I usually caution them that pet stores aren't the best place to buy snakes. And if I have a couple of normals then I have no problem offering them to them (and if I don't I tell them to bite the bullet and buy from a breeder online and pay a little more). For people like that I have no issue giving away one for free.

I've had people say to me "well if they're free I guess I'll get one". Those are the people who I won't give it away. Because I do agree with you that if they already have a vested monitary interest they're going to take it seriously. To those people I usually tell them what all it entails that they should think it over for a month or two and price things and that I won't even think of giving it to them unless they've already purchased everything needed. And even then with these people I'll usually say "well there's a $25 adoption fee". If they're like "well I only want it if its free" then there's no way they're getting one from me.

I guess my point is that one has to use a little common sense. Because I agree 100% with you that some people just would see them as disposable and often you can filter those types out by charging an adoption fee (whatever else you want to call it).

But I disagree that giving them away is intrinsically bad. I've placed dozens of snakes for free over the years; and every single one that I still hear from is doing great and the owners are still thankful to this day.

Just my 2¢.

[Ginevive]

I would at least charge $20 or something, but that is just me. I spent the time breeding, incubating, feeding up the hatchlings.. I would like something for my work. This is just the way I see it.. like I said before though, to each their own. I am not knocking anyone for giving them away.. just giving the reasons why I don't I just don't like to give something away that I spent time and effort into creating.

[Ginevive]

I am finding more and more, that the normals are easier to place than the pastels. I have all normals spoken for right now, but some pastels unsold. And with the dropped prices on pastels this year, heck, I am not getting much more per pastel than for each normal! I am glad that I am not in it for the money, and did not expect to profit anyway.

[Rapture]

Since I only give living things away to people I know are going to appreciate and care for them, I find it quite enjoyable...

[catawhat75]

Tried to give you good rep Sean, but told me I had to spread it around before I gave it to you again.
Lots of good points in this post overall.

[Blue Apple Herps]

I would at least charge $20 or something, but that is just me. I spent the time breeding, incubating, feeding up the hatchlings.. I would like something for my work. This is just the way I see it.. like I said before though, to each their own. I am not knocking anyone for giving them away.. just giving the reasons why I don't I just don't like to give something away that I spent time and effort into creating.

And I don't want you to think I'm knocking you for not giving them away either. As you said to each their own. For me personally, I found that I often ended up spending more on food and what not by the time I finally sold normals than what I sold them for. In the end I figure it's not that much loss. Plus a good gesture like that can go a long way as well...

[Lokua]

No, I still would not give one away to a stranger. I see those "free to good home" ads and they just rub me the wrong way personally. It is up to anyone's discretion on who and how they give/sell animals and I am not judging or disliking anyone for their doing so. It is just not something I would do personally for someone I did not know.

i think you missed the key word in that "free to GOOD home."

the ad's do not read "free garbage i dont want to any smuck willing to take these pests off my hands" now while some people whom run free to good home ads are just wanting to unload unwanted pets and dont care whom aquires them.

however it is your discretion as to what qualifys as a "good" home which is the point i was driving at. you know what is required to keep a snake, its not like a dog where you can throw some kibble and bits on the front porch and they will survive. you must have a setup, properly ajusted tempatures and humidity, knowledge upon how often to feed, what to do for the next couple days after they feed, there temperment during sheds. ect.

if someone was to come to your door about a "free to GOOD home" snake you should be able to spot right away if they are truly wanting a 20+ year commitment pet, novelty item or just a complete lying phony. all you simply must do is ask a few questions, just by asking "well okay, may i ask what kind of setup do you have" i doubt an animal sacrificer will go through the trouble of buying a tank or tub, heat pads, hides, substate and all that if they just intend to slaughter the creature the next day.

and even if they pass the Q&A round and you still feel uneasy about selling a snake (example. there knowledged in how to care for a snake but do not actualy have the setup) you could ask for a picture of said tank or even swing by there place (assuming there local, since really pretty much anyone could google snake care) and make sure everything looks A-okay. just my opinion

[Ginevive]

you know what is required to keep a snake, its not like a dog where you can throw some kibble and bits on the front porch and they will survive.

What? I really do not know how to reply to that statement..
Am I really the only one out here that dislikes "free to good home" ads and sees them as cop-outs for people to dump animals off that probably have huge amounts of things wrong with them?
I see nothing wrong, after thinking about it, with gifting a trusted person with a snake. It was a bit harsh, yes, for me to say I was 100% against giving away animals, thus. But no.. I will never agree to endorsing FTGH ads. Your comment on dogs though.. I don't know what that is supposed to mean!

[SnakieMom]

I don't mean to hijack this, but kinda going with the original
question on what to do with the babies...
How much would you expect to put into their upkeep?
For one, can anyone reccomend a good hatchling rack?
Who prefers belly heat over back heat?
How long can a hatchling stay in the hatchling rack?
(yes, i know they aren't all the same, just, in general)

What could one expect to pay in upkeep on the hatchlings?
-food
-substrate

I know there's a big controversy on feeding f/t vs. live,
but, what are the pros and cons of feeding either
to a hatchling, AND, if you decide to feed live,
what kind of costs would you expect from raising your own feeders?

Sorry to bombard you all with this, but my hubby (who has shown NO interest in my balls) all the sudden is talking about
us breeding. So, I want to be as prepared as I can before I actually put a male and female together.

Thanks in advance!