would you get a wc python?

[Nick144]

I voted no... because a wc would be way more advanced for me...I do have a captive hatched ball python but that's a different story...since captive hatched bps are more readily to accept food...I know this is pythons but I did have a wc king snake once it ate since the second week I had it then it escaped.

[jglass38]

I wouldnt want to deal with all the problems and the chance of infecting my existing collection with God knows what.

WC are for experienced people with patience, experience and a separate room to house them in, away from any other snakes IMO

Great post, Raul!

I don't bother with WC. Not worth my time and effort to get them eating and acclimated.

[josh@outbackreps]

Most of the ball pythons that are shipped from Africa have been picked through, so if there were something special about it, it would have been held back. These holdbacks are sold to the highest bidder; for example, big breeders.

Support the U.S. breeders. What is the sense in breeding ball pythons is everyone is just going to buy wc or ch balls anyway.

Also most balls that come from Africa have either parasites or mites. If you buy from a respectable breeder, you will get a healthy ball that will have a much better chance at surviving than an import.

This is just my opinion, but I feel strongly about it. I for one will never buy an import.

Unless the animal is a very high end new morph it will be sold to an importer along with 500 other balls, monitors, chameleons, etc. You cannot import just a morph ball and nothing else, as the exporters want you to take everything. When I buy special imports I get everything from aberrant, to yellow bellies, ghost, and new morphs, and they all come in with the reg. pet store animals.

The reason to but c.h or w.c is to get something different, and possibly new. You will never find some of these animals just showing up in captive production. If you are not conferable with w.c then go with c.h.

**The biggest misconception in importing balls : W.C Balls have mites/ Mites come from Africa. You will NEVER get a w.c ball with mites unless they are from animals here. Mites are not native to Africa, so w.c balls do not have them.

When we get a chance we will write up a little myth vs. truth on importing/ w.c balls as it seems to be a commonly discussed subject on here that a lot of people seem confused about.

Hope this helps clear a few things up.

[jglass38]

Unless the animal is a very high end new morph it will be sold to an importer along with 500 other balls, monitors, chameleons, etc. You cannot import just a morph ball and nothing else, as the exporters want you to take everything. When I buy special imports I get everything from aberrant, to yellow bellies, ghost, and new morphs, and they all come in with the reg. pet store animals.

The reason to but c.h or w.c is to get something different, and possibly new. You will never find some of these animals just showing up in captive production. If you are not conferable with w.c then go with c.h.

**The biggest misconception in importing balls : W.C Balls have mites/ Mites come from Africa. You will NEVER get a w.c ball with mites unless they are from animals here. Mites are not native to Africa, so w.c balls do not have them.

When we get a chance we will write up a little myth vs. truth on importing/ w.c balls as it seems to be a commonly discussed subject on here that a lot of people seem confused about.

Hope this helps clear a few things up.

That's some great insight that most people don't get to hear if they aren't on the "inside". Glad you could share it!

There are some awesome CH animals sold every day. Check them out! Maybe you find a gem and prove something new or maybe you just bring something nice to your selective breedings.

[muddoc]

I voted NO, however, that is my stance now, and not 4 years ago. Here is my story.

I have a rack of 10 ball pythons that I bought as adults about 4 years ago ( acouple were picked up 3 years ago). Of the 10 animals, I know for sure that 1 was a LTC(literally long term, by at least 3 years when I got her) and 3 were misrepresnted as proven breeder LTCs (they were actually imported gravids that had just laid eggs). The remaining 6 are somewhere between WC and LTC. One of the WC females did not eat for 55 weeks, and was alot of headache. She finally started eating, and does great now. The rest of them ate pretty good from day one, but do have sporadic appetites, and will go on short fasts from time to time, or miss a meal every now and then for no apperent reason. 2 of the females that I got in as LTC had internal parasites, and were treated for them when we got them, and have been fine since then. @ of the other LTC came via the US Postal Service (in the box for 53 hours) and had more mites than I have ever seen on a snake in my life. They were quarantined and the mites were history within 20 days.

Well the above addressed the initial problems. Now I would like to discuss the purpose for buying these animals, and the lesson that can be learned by my own blood, sweat and tears. I bought these adults to attempt to jump start my breeding program (as many people do). Here is my take on that and the results that I have had. Do not buy adults in an attempt to speed up your breeding program, as it does not have a high probability of being any faster than raising babies. Here is how it went for me:
Female #1 - LTC and has laid eggs 3 years in a row (the best of the bunch)
Female #2 - LTC and waited 4 years to lay eggs (her first clutch was this year)
Female #3 - LTC and waited 3 years to lay eggs (her first clutch was this year)
Female #4 - yearling CH when we got her has laid eggs for the past 2 years
Female #5 - LTC laid eggs the last 2 years (actually this is the Bailey Clutch contest girl)
Female #6 - LTC that came in with mites and waited 2 years to lay eggs, dropped eggs last year and took this year off
Female #7 - LTC that came in with mites and waited 2 years to lay eggs, dropped eggs last year and took this year off
Female #8 - WC that came in with parasites and has yet to lay eggs (she did have big follicles this year but reabsorbed them)
Female #9 - WC that came in with parasites and laid her first clutch this year after 3 years
Female #10 - WC that came in with parasites and laid her first clutch this year after 3 years

So, to sum it up, it took me tons of patience, alot of treatments, heartache in the feeding department, and most of the girls took 3 years to acclimate before laying eggs. I could have paid less money for CH or CB babies, and had no treating to do and fed them slow and had eggs in the same amount of time. Sometimes what looks like saving time and money actually turns into no time savings and more money spent. I will not say that I regret what I have gone through, as it has earned me some valuable knowledge and husbandry skills, but I would highly recommend someone to prepare themselves before diving into the WC or LTC game.

I hope this helps,