WC Emerald boa...

[reptilesalonica]

I found an Emerald boa. He/She is a WC specimen in very good condition around 80 cms (31,5 in) long.
It is in a good shape. At the store came 2 weeks ago and the chief manager told me that had offered food but denied to eat.
I told hin to do some tricks to make him/her accept food.
Here in Greece, Emerald boas are so rare that at 15,000,000 of population (Greece) maybe 5-10 people have this snake...
I adore that snake and i feel that i am in the right point of own one.
What would you do if you were me, located (reptile isolated) in Greece where someone, veeery rarely can find a snake like that...
~Greg~

[wyz]

Well depending on the price, it might be cool to get it !

What's the price down there ?? and give us the average salary in Greece to give us an idea..

Example, lets say in Canada the average salary is 30 000$ and an ETB costs 1000$. The ratio is 1 on 30...

What's the ratio for your country ?

WYZ

[reptilesalonica]

Thanks for the answer dude. Well, the minimum salary is 500eu and the cost of the snake is 400eu. One ball python, at its cheaper price (Mega Pet Market) costs 120eu. a corn snake costs 80eu. a Boa constr. costs 160eu.
The good part on this is, if i decide to buy it my girlfriend will give the half (as a present to me). :)
~Greg~

[wyz]

500eu per week ?? and the snake 400eu ?

Buy it !!!

Here the salary is about 600$ a week and the snake are more expensive than that :)

I'd call that a good deal . lol

WYZ

[reptilesalonica]

No, not per week, per month. 500eu per month as for minimum salary.
*eu is for euro

[wyz]

oh !! that's a bit expensive then (for me) :) Only if we compare salaries but that's relative to everyone :)

Most be a hard decision hun ?? ahah

WYZ

[Ron]

That is definitely too pricey for a non-feeding WC.

[reptilesalonica]

...Well...for you (Canada herpers) seems like is too much, cause you compare the salary ratio...
One thing is that, there in Canada, you can find much easier an Emerald boa, than i can find (ever here).
Have in mind that i am with reptiles since 1996 and i heard of ONE person in Greece that keeps an Emerald boa...
The other thing is that, many others tried WC (for a new blood line, or because there never been CB Emeralds-In the long long past). So, why not try it me too?...
The good part is that i will pay 200euros (The rest 200 will be from my girlfriend)...If this is not a hard decision, then...what else would be...) :(
~Greg~

[wyz]

Can't you get a CB animal for the same price if you have it shipped from the US ?

It's worth the search.

WYZ

[dlucka]

If you rely want it well go for it, but remember it is a wc and etb come with a lot of parasite inside that will not affect too much the snake in the wild but after the stress of transportation the parasite can affect the snake very badly. The other bad thing is, that snake does not eat. Be prepare to invest time and money to keep it alive for the next few month.
I did experience it and still in it, if you need feel free to email me.

[reptilesalonica]

dlucka THANKS A LOT for your concirn...
Gyus, unfort. NOONE will send ONE animal from America (US or Canada) to Greece...This is the cruel fact and that is why i am going to "play it all" here with this WC Emerald boa...
Please try to feel my condition, or the herp situation with such rare reptiles here in Greece....
What else can i say...so confused!...:(
~Greg~

[MouseKilla]

I got lost in the currency exchange... instead of comparing salaries and all that stuff why not give us the exchange rate? What is the Euro worth in Canadian funds, or even American funds. That will give us some idea what 400 euros means. No doubt they are far more expensive in a place where they are rare though.

[wyz]

1$US = 1.28 Euros

So the snake is: 312.50$ US

It looks cheap, but that's why I asked the average salary.. If they make less money than us in that country we can't say if the snake is cheap to buy or not.

They make 500Euros a month (minimum salary), it's 390$US, less than 100$ a week. It as to come into consideration when telling someone to buy or not to buy :)

WYZ

[reptilesalonica]

No doubt they are far more expensive in a place where they are rare though.
So true mousekilla...:(...
Thanks for the exchange and all wyz
~Greg~

[Big_V]

Id go for it. Maybe you could just put a deposit holding on it then see if you can get it to eat in the store. You dont want to be moving this snake around alot and trying to get it to eat. But id go for it but you will just have to assume the risks involved and the fact that it could have alot wrong with it. Give it a try in my mind. Crazier things have been done.
Cheers,
Ryan

[reptilesalonica]

Give it a try in my mind. Crazier things have been done. :D...With this "crazy" message you moved my "crazy" soul...Thanks!:D...and my soul IS Emeralds!o>
~Greg~

[Big_V]

Its all about the crazyness dude. Live life dont observe it....or my other favourite saying...GO BIG OR GO HOME !!....good luck with the Emerald....one day i gotta get one of those. Enjoy Greg.
Cheers,
Ryan ;)

[CraigC]

Let's see,
I have purchased/traded for 12 northern WC etb's since '98. Everyone ate at my first feeding attempt and never refused a meal. All but 2 regurged consistently and now reside in the freezer. All were worked with to try and save them, with some lasting 18 months before they finally perished or had to be put down. Those that were necropsied showed kidney damage due to dehydration that most likely occured from conditions during collection or at the exporters facility. In other words, they had irrepairable kidney damage before I purchased them. Average price was $350.00 US and I can't even begin to guess how much in vet bills. So out of 12 I have 2 LTC females in excellent health, one even produced for me last year. Let's see, that's $4,200.00 US in price alone to get 2 healthy females.

So you want to buy a non-feeding, WC Emerald for almost a month's salary. Those stakes are a little too high for me. If you are set on getting it, make sure that it eats at the store and doesn't regurge for at least 10 days. This will reduce the odds somewhat.

CraigC

ps-I forgot a male patterless that I sold after 2 years. So that made 3 out of 13 that survived and are in excellent health.

[reptilesalonica]

I am hearing you all guys...i am not ready to decide yet, but i am hearing you all...thanks (so far).
Here is the photo of the ETB. I see him/her a bit thin...
Plus the fact that haven't ate for 14 days...
Well, i'm not that happy with all the situation...
http://www.xs4all.nl/~reptilia/Images/Corallus%20caninus.jpg
~Greg~

[tHeGiNo]

Here is the way I see it dude. If losing the money wont put you in a horrible position, and you understand there is a chance the snake might die - yet you still want it - THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! I personally say go ahead and get it, and do the best you can to keep it in good shape.

[reptilesalonica]

Well...Gino, unfort. i am not in a position where i could play with my money (i wish it would be different but...)
My herp importer in Greece told me that i can have an aru GTP CB with a little more (485 eu)
Well, GTPs are not as high in my taste (n fact a little lower than ETBs) but...i prefer the security of a CB and the word of a person i know and can trusthttp://esoterica.gr/forums/icon_smile_approve.gif
~Greg~

[BoidKeeper]

I say that if the store got this one they can get another one. I would wait for another one to come in that is eating and not regurging. However if this one does eat and holds it down then I would go for it, but if it's not eating I would leave it there. Maybe you could make a refundable deposit on it so that no one buys it out from under you. Ask the store owner if he'll hold it for you until it eats and holds it down. If you see it eat and gain weight then take it, if it dies get your money back.
Do be careful though you don't want to find out after the fact that it was eating and then regurging while you weren't there.
Good luck,
Trevor

[reptilesalonica]

Thanks a lot for your useful thoughts Trevor but, the fact that this ETB is located in a store in The Netherlands and in a few days my girlfriend (who is living there) she is going to visit me and stay for ever in Greece, this makes it a little (or maybe too) difficult:(...
There are not many days left until my girlfriend will come to stay here in Greece:rolleyes:
Therefore, i cannot control easily the situation...
~Greg~

[NewLineReptile]

Just get it ,It's your money Because the way you are making it sound is that this will be the ONLY! ETB offered again in Greece. If you are happy with the snake and think it will be just fine (witch probably will) Then i would say get it. Look at it this way if you do get it and things don't work out with it. Then you can say that you were one of the few that owned one in Greece And you gave it the best you could. But if you don't get it then you will never know if it would make it or not.

good luck
Brandon

[Linds]

The chances of a WC ETB dying are greater than it is surviving, even with those that appear outwardly in decent shape. The snake pictured does not look at all healthy, add in the fact that it isn't feeding and it really doesn't sound like a promising purchase. Of course it is up to you, but if I was in those shoes I would just wait. There are a few people that will ship snakes overseas, the problem is they all have a minimum $$ order tagged to the deal, in order to make it worth their while.

On a sidenote: There isn't really much sense in comparing salaries to animals costs, or even exchange rates. All of that is irrelevant in the worth of an animal, itself and in the country it is in.

[reptilesalonica]

Linds i am happy that you agree with me, cause i appreciate your oppinion. Like i said before, yes, the chances of a WC ETB to eventyually die are greater.
Althought i appreciate the concirn of the other guys, which was mainly emotional.
You have your truth (like a part of me inside) which was ready to buy that snake just because of my deep love on it:)
---
All of that is irrelevant in the worth of an animal, itself and in the country it is in.
Yes but, ETBs are not native to Greece, therefor the price goes higher...much high...:(.
For ex. Here in Greece i can catch a Testudo hermanii, give it to a Greek friend for free but if you want to buy it, i'll sell it to you for 170eu ($285Cad);)
~Greg~

[Jeff_Favelle]

Excellent post Craig C!! :D

[reptilesalonica]

?...Who's Craig C?...:confused: :D

[Jeff_Favelle]

?...Who's Craig C?...

Huh? He's the guy that posted the great reply right above one of your posts on THIS thread.

[Snakey Acres]

.

[Ed_r]

As awesome of snakes as ETBs are, I would Never do a WC No matter what the price. Like what has been said before they are 99.999% of the time parasite LOADED!!!. The pic of the one you posted looks like its been really dry. If it does ever eat, I'd be willing to bet it will constantly regurge. It's your money you'll do as you wish. But I would do my homework, and not do an Impulse buy, on this animal. Not that you havent probably dont your homework on them, i hope you have. But also if you have then you dhould know the upcoming problems your going to be facing. Do you have a herp vet over there that is experienced with the Corallus Species? Hell even if they do eat and dont regurge I've had Amazons just drop dead on me. In the best conditions they are fragile animals, but in a pet store that normally would never see them, I'd sooner take my chance at Russian Roulette.

Not posting this to be mean, just posting this to hopefully save you a months salery to start and Probably 6 months sallary in vet bills. In the US we have a saying " A fool and his money part soon" In this case please don't part with your money.

just my .02 and then some :D

[reptilesalonica]

Not posting this to be mean, just posting this to hopefully save you a months salery to start and Probably 6 months sallary in vet bills.
Don't worry, i understood that dude, that's why i decide NOT to buy it (in a previous post)
http://esoterica.gr/forums/icon_smile_approve.gif
(No matter how much i love ETBs).
~Greg~