WC Gravids?

[jglass38]

What are everyone's thoughts on flippers/wholesalers/whatever selling wild caught gravid girls? Is this really necessary? Leave these snakes in the wild. Just my opinion!

[Shrap]

When we as consumers quit buying them, they will quit selling them.

Personally I wish they would cut back on the number of all imported Balls. Be it adults, gravids or babies. I certainly aint saying to stop importing completely, just bring the number down a bit.

[jglass38]

When we as consumers quit buying them, they will quit selling them.

Personally I wish they would cut back on the number of all imported Balls. Be it adults, gravids or babies. I certainly aint saying to stop importing completely, just bring the number down a bit.

Agreed on both points. I would take a nice captive bred animal from a quality breeder over an imported animal from a flipper any day!

[Freakie_frog]

I don't see the need to drag them out of the wild just so some schmo! can "Hatch Ball Pythons"

I think that if they are properly represented people wouldn't buy them. Tell people flat out hey.

They most likely wont eat once they lay and they are 99.99999999999999999996667% of the time only bread by normals.

[Nate]

bread by normals.

White or wheat?

[jglass38]

white or wheat? :d

[Bruce Whitehead]

I do not vote on many polls simply because of the language of the choices.

It does not "disgust" me... but at the same time I do not agree with it.

I have two WC girls in my collection that were brought into the country, the eggs collected, hatched out, nothing interesting came out of it and the girls were flipped.

I have two of, I believe, six that were brought in. The babes were ALL wholesaled to a pet store and then the person "got out of the hobby".

I adore these two snakes, and have no intention of moving them. I was offered the other four at a discounted price but had my hands full with the two I had so I did not take them. From what I heard the remaining four were dumped at a petstore.

That part does disgust me.

One of the reasons that all six were dumped was because the person that brought them in could not get them feeding. I was fortunate to get both on feed in the first four months.

I hate thinking of the person that ended up with any of these remaining four snakes thinking they were going to be getting a nice pet snake to enjoy. Possibly a new keeper that may or may not have been equipped by a pet store to deal with a healthy BP, let alone a non-feeding WC.

I look at the amount of time I spent IMHO rehabbing these two girls, and it has been A LOT of work.

The part I do not understand is the price and how people end up with those connections? I never see ads for them where I am. Is it worth it to bring them in and then wholesale the babies that hatch out as well as the mothers? I just do not see it as being a financially productive venue.

Bruce <--- who spent many hours on the phone with JoAnna getting those snakes to eat.

[Bruce Whitehead]

I guess that part I left out... was that if a person was committed to the snakes after the fact, and did rehab them and get them back on track then it would not be as bad for me.

I mean we hate people that do this, but we all LOVE seeing the new morphs that come out of Africa... so I guess that is why I have no set opinion on it.

If I am going to hate anyone that brings in a WC, then I have to hate anyone that imports a WC morph as well.

Just my 0.02 cents.

Bruce

[Muze]

I don't disagree with it (I would not purchase one, though), but I do believe there should much more regulation going on. It seems that just about any idiot out to make a quick buck can import these poor animals, and then send them to an almost certain death in the hands of someone without experience.

[Purrrfect9]

I guess that part I left out... was that if a person was committed to the snakes after the fact, and did rehab them and get them back on track then it would not be as bad for me.

I mean we hate people that do this, but we all LOVE seeing the new morphs that come out of Africa... so I guess that is why I have no set opinion on it.

If I am going to hate anyone that brings in a WC, then I have to hate anyone that imports a WC morph as well.

Just my 0.02 cents.

Bruce

You've made a really good point. I'm undecided as well because of this reason. I don't se any problems in importing ball pythons, but I don't necessarily agree with bringing in obviously gravid females. Just think of how much stress they are already going through from being gravid, and then the stress of being picked up, bagged, sorted out and picked through again, bagged AGAIN, and then shipped out, only to arrive to go through the exact same process to go to who knows what kind of home (good or bad) has GOT to be even more stressful. That's really the main concern that I have with WC gravid imports. Otherwise, I say bring them in. Bringing in fresh blood can never hurt the BP economy. That is unless someone brings one in with a highly contagious BP virus/bacteria (hello another sickness worse than IBD!)