Buying snakes

[Smoeless]

Should I buy my first snake in person or online?

[infernalis]

Welcome to the forum, and can you please elaborate a little.

What species of snake are you planning to start with??

Many pet shops sell animals that are gathered from the wild... Even Ball Pythons, the eggs are "gathered" and shipped to the US.

Online allows you direct contact with breeders.

Something simple like a corn snake, Petco and pet smart sometimes have sales, I picked up a lovely Amelanistic corn snake from petco on sale for $29.

[shaunyboy]

hello and welcome,in person if possible mate.that way you can handle the snake to check its temprement,also they can look much different in the flesh than in pictures.
cheers shaun

[kayleegrace]

I am having trouble with the same problem I am looking for a new snake and I can't seem to find the one I want in person anywhere so I searched online but I don't know anything about his tempermant or anything

[Hillsberry]

I think its good to sometimes go to the expos and look around. But then you can see them in person hold them ect. Online and in person you have to be careful. But I like the Expos.

[Freebody]

i dont like the idea of shipping any animal. they have No laws protecting the animals health or handling at all so its risky in itself to mail them, and like these guys say, there is the risk or getting wild caught which is not so good, as well as not what you thought you were getting and the health you thought it was in... these are the reasons i would only buy in person from a good breeder. but then if their is a certain type of snake you really want and its the only way to get one ......tough call :) Good Luck. I hope you get the one you want and it all works out good.
Welcome to the forum

[marvelfreak]

I gotten 3 of my snake online. All were health and are doing just find. I found all on kingsnake.com. The key is to check reviews and order from the bigger stores or breeders.(The people who Know what their doing) I got a real sweet bredli carpet and borneo short tail from Ben Siegel. A kick as- 75% diamond x 25% jungle carpet from LLL Reptiles for only $200.00. Over $200.00 cheaper than i seen any where else. Plus you can find some real good deals. Even with the shipping cost their cheaper than most pet stores. By ordering more than one animal you save on shipping. I order a Brazilian Rainbow and my friend order 2 Colombian Rainbow and because we order them together from DTS Reptile it save on shipping. Same price to get 3 snake ship as one.(will be here tomorrow) Dan at DTS even when to the breeder to pick up Female Colombian just so my friend could get a male and female. Something he didn't have to do but did. Ben Siegel had borneos for $75.00 and Marble borneos for $125.00. He was out of reg borneo so let me have a marble for $75.00. Accept my ball and jungle my other snake i never see in pet stores. If it wasn't for online i wouldn't have my cool collection. :)

[infernalis]

Nearly all of my snakes are shipped to me.

My breeder friends are all over the map, so we have to ship around.

[shaunyboy]

ive only had one of mine shipped to me.it was my most prized and expensive snake (my diamond).she got dropped off at the courier company at 5pm.i got her the following day at 11am.the tub she was in was around 6 inch.it was in the centre of a 2ft x 2ft box.the big box was packed with scrunched up news paper.there was also a 72 hour heat pack in the big box.i kept the heat pack to see how long it would be before it went cold.just over 5 days it kept heat for.i would be ok with having more snakes shipped to me.its a lot less trouble and costs a lot less than traveling to the other end of the country for them.it didnt stop me worrying though,haha
cheers shaun

[infernalis]

when done correctly, shipping snakes is perfectly safe, done wrong, can be fatal to the animal.

[Will0W783]

If you do decide to buy online, make sure you check out Fauna Classifieds.com Board of Inquiry (BOI) and do a search for the name and/or business of the person you are thinking of buying from. It will give you a good idea of whether the person tends to do good business or send improperly packaged, sick or dead animals, or just not send anything at all. There are a few names I can think of off the top of my head that I would tell anyone NOT to buy from, but I won't post them on here in the interest of not slandering anyone. The BOI does a good job of policing buyers and sellers though. You will do well to check it out, even if you end up buying in person, you can get an idea of people's past experiences with your seller.

[infernalis]

There is some entertaining reading materials there....

[marvelfreak]

Well i just got my Brazilian Rainbow and my friends 2 Columbian Rainbow. We couldn't be more pleased. Beautiful snake Dan at DTS was really nice answered all your question right away. I had contacted two other businesses and it took 3 day for the one to e-mail me back and 5 days for the other. Dan e-mail me back with in a hour every time i asked a question.

[Will0W783]

Yeah, some of the threads just turn into giant slanderfests, but if you look at the sum total of what people write, you can generally get a feel for how someone is as a seller or buyer. I almost bought an animal from a certain seller that seemed really nice via email and helpful and knowledgeable. After talking to a friend of mine who's been in the business far longer than I have and scanning the BOI, I decided not to deal with him due to the overwhelming number of threads posted by people who'd gotten sick or dying animals and been completely ripped apart and flipped out on and called "snake or lizard killers" and told the seller was going to start a Bad Guy thread on them! I was shocked and to this day steer clear of that seller.

[Chu'Wuti]

Kimberly, I'm glad you provided the info about the Board of Inquiry--it is an essential resource for selecting a reputable breeder/shipper.

Pet stores, unfortunately, have become known for poorly kept snakes that are prone to disease and sometimes even death shortly after purchase. I have one pet store BP, and I was lucky, but I knew the manager personally; she and her husband are snake keepers themselves. She moved last summer to another state, and the quality of husbandry at that store has gone downhill markedly--we see unhealthy, overcrowded, and skinny-to-emaciated snakes every time we go in. Very sad. I would recommend avoiding a pet store purchase to anyone planning to buy their first (or fifth or fiftieth) snake if at all possible.

Smoeless, all that's to say that I'm really glad you came here and asked questions first--that was smart!

[mommanessy247]

i am personally buying mine from a breeder near me. i dont like the idea of animals being shipped either. just too stressful on them.

[infernalis]

i am personally buying mine from a breeder near me. i dont like the idea of animals being shipped either. just too stressful on them.


I only work with babies when shipping.. Of all the snakes I have ever owned, only one adult animal was ever shipped to me.

That is changing though, I entered into a breeding loan with a person who is shipping me a few adults to use for breeding purposes.

Hard to turn her down, she is sending me some females for my males to "stud" and she is also shipping some males to stud my ladies.