Big WC Females ? Worth it ?

[satfreebie]

I was looking at buying some large WC females, out of the 5 of them only 2 have started eating since being brought over. They are all over 1800 grams. Has anyone had or bought any WC females in the past and if so what where your experiences? Did they lay eggs or were there problems.

Thanks for the info.

[pinoiballer01]

i have bought a wild caught female. my experience with her is not that bad. shes a good eater. the only problem i had with her is ticks. thats the only problem i had other than that shes healthy. i havent tried breeding her yet so i dont know if shes gonna lay some eggs for me

[joey]

I personally don't think it's too cool to buy a WC bp. You'd be supporting those that capture them....why do it when there are SO MANY breeders of CB? Anyone else feel this way?

[mykee]

With only a year in the hobby, I would not recommend buying some WC females until you've got more experience, they can be a handful. I purchased a LTC (13 yrs.) a few years ago, and even though she has given me eggs, she's been a lot of trouble.

[austinnoel]

Just think of it like this are you willing to breed it to a spider, pastel or mojave and take the chance of them getting a virus that was in your WC female just cause you wanted to save a few bucks. Go with CB and you wont regret it.

[sapphire_moon]

I don't breed so if you want you can completely ignore me :)


The only reason to bring in wc bp's is for "new blood".

thats it, and here you thought it would be some long winded "story" lol.

[HumphreyBoagart]

There's enough new blood without catching wild animals. Go to a different breeder and tah-dah: New blood!

[sapphire_moon]

Maybe for a beginer. But what about people that have been breeding for years, and have a few snakes from most of the big breeders?

That would not work to well.

[satfreebie]

Wow, this has all been very help full. I guess I was interested in the large WC females because of there size and nobody around here wants to sell any that big. So if I want to breed next year, what am I to do? See my problem.

[mykee]

You wait, like all responsible up and coming breeders and feed your females responsibly until they are large enough to successfully breed for you.

[nita]

I find this to be a very touchy subject, a lot of the big breeders are showcasing their "look what I just got from Africa" animals. They do it, but they don't want the smaller breeders to do it? I would still say if you are not going CBB wich I think is the better way on general you will have a better animal, go with CH over buying a WC since the stress level on a WC is, I think, higher than with a CH. I will purchase CH and would probably get them shipped directly to me if I could find people who did it but I've heard to many tales of WC just never adjusting and dying to go with actual WC.

When looking for CBB, look for rat eaters, then you have 2 - 3 yrs to wait for breeding rather than 3 - 5 yrs on a mouse eater. If you want to breed this year there are CB or LTC that you can find but you have to look hard and always be watching the classifieds.

[greenman1867]

If the "big" breeders went to africa, picked out the few odd balls they wanted, and set the rest free, well then there would be alot more free BP's. Unfortunatly that means they may get caught, filleted and sent to Japan. I would like to say J/K but I am not. It is happening.
I think the best answer here for you is to wait, not so much because of the capturing out of the wild thing (which I agree is too rampant), but because these big breeders have years and years experience which you don't. They have the time, knowledge and patience to get these WCs acclimatized and feeding.
This is a big can o worms IMO. Personaly I would like to see all removal of wild caughts stopped. There are plenty of bloodlines and breeders out there that we don't need to rape Africa for them. However I don't think this will stop, so I guess the answer is one for each individual to decide for them selves.

Good to see you asking though, it means you care enough to do some research and hopefully make the right choice.

Shawn

[mykee]

Who are these "big breeders" that are demanding no one purchase WC animals? WC animals for the most part are not a bad thing, if you have the ability to treat thier parasites, and not stress over a poor eating animal, etc. I personally do not own any WC animals, except for a 14 yr. old LTC female who has been captive for 13 yrs. She still gives me trouble, and only eats 10 meals a year. This whole "new blood" malarky is just a load. "new blood" means the breeders who can afford to have an oil drum filled to the brim with half-dead animals shipped across an ocean just so that they can be the first to pick out a snake or two that they think may be "the next big thing" while half of the 500+ snakes shoved into this drum for a week die. Greed is winning over compassion and common sense. Welcome to Earth.

[Jeff_Favelle]

This whole "new blood" malarky is just a load. "new blood" means the breeders who can afford to have an oil drum filled to the brim with half-dead animals shipped across an ocean just so that they can be the first to pick out a snake or two that they think may be "the next big thing" while half of the 500+ snakes shoved into this drum for a week die. Greed is winning over compassion and common sense. Welcome to Earth.


Dammit Mykee, I've been saying the same thing for years! You just have a habit of saying it BETTER. LOL! ;)

[greenman1867]

Oh, thats me. And when I say "big" I don't mean alot of snakes. More like ego, big head and big beer belly.

I am not sure who's post you are refering the there mykee, mine or Nita's. I am pretty sure we are kinda on the same page there, but I'm easily confused.

What does LTC stand for? Long Term Captive?

Shawn

[nita]

All breeders try to push CBB, after all that is what they are selling. I didn't say they "demand" you don't buy WC, but they very strongly push against it siting the obvious health risks and how bad it is to take from Africa since there are so many CBB, the next day they are showing off what they just got in. I know there are breeders out there that don't take WC or CH, but they are few and many times the ones that can't afford the thousands of dollars required as a minimum purchase. Honestly what doesn't end up in the pet trade though as someone stated is sold as meat or sold for its skin. Sad but that is how it works. Africa doesn't seem ready to put stricter limits on snake exports, not that the limits are adhered to as it is.

[mykee]

Shawn, bingo; Long term captive. That terms can have vastly different meanings though, so be careful. I've had a breeder tell me that a snake that he was selling as LTC had only been in his possession for 6 months, prior to that it was slithering along some grassland in Ghana.

"when I say "big" I don't mean alot of snakes. More like ego, big head and beer belly."

LOL!!! Are you referring to any "big headed, beer-bellied, big breeder" specifically?

[greenman1867]

LOL no I was talking about my big head and beer belly

[mykee]

Oh, I was thinking of someone else...