snake selection

[latazyo]

alright, I have a few questions about selecting my snake now

here we have 2 pet stores, one is privately owned and operated and the other is Petco

owned and operated:
they've had the snake for 9-12 months in thier store
he's eating adult mice, he is about 27", definitely not a baby, but definitely not an adult
has a few scales that look like they weren't shed properly sometime in his life
79.99USD

petco:
they have 3 different babies that they've had for a few months
all are eating
one in particular is attractive
their enclosure sits around 20% humidity and they all have bad sheds (perhaps from humidity?)
79.99USD

I would like to buy from the privately owned store because I personally like the guy and like giving him my business, my only issue with his is that the snake is not a baby

when I handled all of the snakes, the one from Petco and the one from the privately owned store were both active, the one from teh privately owned store got comfortable with me shortly and began crawling all over me looking around

will I have any problems making my first ball python NOT a baby...or should I get a baby from petco?

[HetForHuman]

Support the breeders man.

Dont support the pet stores.

There are tons and tons of breeders in the states man, get one from them, and you will have a much better selection as well.

Plus the ones in the pet stores are more than likely wild caught, but when you buy from a reputable breeder you will more than likely get a CB baby which will prob give you less trouble..

Good luck

[Tim_Cranwill]

Amen! :D

There must be someone in MN that breeds. That's not oo far away from you.

[snakehunter]

79.99 for a ball! GEESE At the shows down here i can get a WELL started 1-2 yr old for 20-50 USD Seriously! These may be wc im not sure, but i would much rather buy froma breeder, they dont charge as much as petstore

[latazyo]

I could only dream of a local breeder around here...but I almost always have to ship (which I dont' mind)

I see that I can get females
here (http://www.alexhuereptiles.com/ballpythons.html) for 48+ship which seems like a good price...they are CB as well

I might head down to the twin cities as well to check out the stores there...I here they have a few reputable pet stores there

[Jeff_Favelle]

Breeders. Always go with a breeder. With Delta Dash, shipping is CHEAPO in the States. Avoid getting BP's from pet stores at this time of year. 99.99% of them are WILD CAUGHT. You should avoid getting a snake that was taken from the wild, when perfectly-good captive bred domestic animals are available.