Quote Originally Posted by Monty View Post
i know personal off hand that the snakes in my store are at least captive bred and hatched is because the guy that does it for us comes in the store at least once a week to see if we need anymore our other snakes like the corns come from another guy thats local
5 will get you 10 that he is NOT breeding everything he sells you, especially ball pythons.

You can get them in 100 lots for 6 bucks a piece.

Also, your babies that are captive hatched in Africa can come in with HUGE parasite loads from drinking contaminated water.

They are not housed individually, but in large groups and all it takes is one infected small but not born this year snake in the same cage to poop in the water they all share and you have all kinds of lovely bugs in your new babies.

I've seen it happen.

Also, when they come into the USA they are frequently mixed with various sized even if only for hydration and again parasites are exchanged.

Then there's the mite issue. Just because it isn't crawling with them in the store does NOT mean it wasn't at the facility where it was held prior to the store getting it. Those baby ball pythons can look good for several months before they are shipped from a USA facility to the store that ultimately sells them to the public.

Just be careful and ALWAYS get a fecal done.