Any reptile show advice?

[regi375]

In my search for a Water Snake or KSB breeding pair, I'm going to my first reptile show in Cleveland this Sunday. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to what I want to get. What I'd like some advice on is how I'll know if the snake is healthy, or just advice about a reptile show in general. I have a fairly good idea, but it never hurts to ask. Thanks!

[dannybgoode]

Don't buy the first animal you see, speak to the breeders and in particular try and make small talk-gauge how you feel about them.

Don't be afraid to handle the animals, have a real good look at them-do they look healthy, do they feel strong, any scars, evidence of poor shedding etc.

Walk away with nothing if nothing is up to standard.

Quarantine is particularly important. Just assume the snakes have mites and treat accordingly and rigorously enforce hand washing procedures etc before going anywhere near the rest of your animals.

[Aaron_S]

Don't touch anything. Not the tables, handshakes, business cards, other people, animals unless purchasing, the floor, the ceiling. Don't. Touch. Anything.

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Don't touch anything. Not the tables, handshakes, business cards, other people, animals unless purchasing, the floor, the ceiling. Don't. Touch. Anything.

AND if you do, use hand sanitizer before and after. Also change your clothes when you get home. ONLY HANDLE WHAT YOU ARE PLANNING ON PUIRCHASING and only do so briefly to inspect. Check for sign of mites, muscle weakness, injury, signs of R.I. and if that all checks out, buy it and then whip out the sanitizer. Treat everything as if it were ill.

[GyGbeetle]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Don't touch anything. Not the tables, handshakes, business cards, other people, animals unless purchasing, the floor, the ceiling. Don't. Touch. Anything.

How are you going to walk?

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by GyGbeetle

How are you going to walk?

Hover. At least 1 inch off the ground. Or else.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by GyGbeetle

How are you going to walk?

Scooters. Or make Andy go do my dirty work.

[jjhill001]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Don't touch anything. Not the tables, handshakes, business cards, other people, animals unless purchasing, the floor, the ceiling. Don't. Touch. Anything.

Actually on second thought don't even go.

[Tiny Boidae]

Originally Posted by jjhill001

Actually on second thought don't even go.

Not without a hazmat suit.

[Scubadiver59]

Wear blinders...

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Scooters. Or make Andy go do my dirty work.

Your "bidding", master Aaron.

[RAD House]

On a more serious note, if you are looking for something more rare it is probably best to be there early on the first day and to try to get out before the crowds show up. If you are looking for something pretty common I would wait until the second day to avoid crowds, assuming it is a two day event. I don't handle anything I am not very serious about purchasing and definitely use hand sanitizer after and before. Be prepared for what you intend to buy and stay to your plans, unplanned animals rarely work out well for both the animal and owner.

[jjhill001]

Originally Posted by regi375

In my search for a Water Snake or KSB breeding pair, I'm going to my first reptile show in Cleveland this Sunday. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to what I want to get. What I'd like some advice on is how I'll know if the snake is healthy, or just advice about a reptile show in general. I have a fairly good idea, but it never hurts to ask. Thanks!

The Cleveland show is kinda smallish like most shows nowadays so don't be disappointed when it isn't like some of those huge show tours on youtube.

When you first walk in you will notice that shows are now approximately 70-80% ball pythons. It's quite annoying especially if you are looking for something specific. It is a neat opportunity to see what a 1000-3000 dollar baby snake looks like in person but that allure quickly wears off once you see about 10 of them.

I don't know how much luck you're gonna have finding a water snake there. That is a really interesting animal that quite frankly has a bad name and I've never seen one that I can remember off the top of my head. You probably won't find a lot of adult snakes there either so finding a breeding pair of Kenyan sand boas might be off the menu as well.

Though it doesn't hurt to look April is a weird time to go to the reptile show compared to say late summer when everyone has little babies so you might find some interesting stuff or hey, even fall in love with some other species you didn't realize you would want like I did at my first show that I entered because I HAD to have a corn snake and left with a subadult Sonoran Gopher Snake much to my parent's chagrin but I had a lot more sway on my birthday 18 years ago than I do now.

I'll also be going to this show just to pick up mice and look around but if you have any questions or concerns about a particular animal while you're there PM me and we can exchange phone numbers if you'd like, drop me a text and I'd be willing to come over and look at something for you.

[jjhill001]

Also, this being your first show I'm gonna give you a run down of some expectations.

The Cleveland show in particular has mostly CB animals, there is really only one regular vendor that comes to mind that has what I would call "likely" WC animals and almost none of those are snakes so you probably won't have to worry about them.

You'll find that the hobby is much more diverse than stereotypically presented in the media. You'll find people of all ages, races, blue collar people, white collar people, men and women. This is really awesome because it shows that despite the sort of dip in reptile pet popularity, tons of people from all walks of life just love reptiles.

Some characters that are at every show:

The terrified mother being dragged around by her children, she's there to get them a leopard gecko and cringes at everything.

The guy who never showers, I don't know what makes this guy think that his snakes who have one of the best senses of smell in the animal kingdom can't tell that he's dirty.

The overly talkative/hard selling breeder, there is always at least one breeder that will try and talk your ear off about nothing or REALLY try and get you to buy an animal. Some of them can be pretty convincing but just stick to your guns about what you want or at least what kind of setup you have available at home and don't buy something out of impulse.

Guy walking around with a boa or python around his neck. This guy will be there if it was 10 degrees outside, 150 degrees, he doesn't care. His snake usually looks like crap and I don't blame it. Don't say anything to the guy because they are almost always insufferable and clearly don't care about the people around them.

The unnecessary advice person in the crowd, you've bought a new pet and you're carrying it around in its little deli dish. Someone sees it and automatically assumes that they need to tell you how to care for it despite it being obvious that you are just checking out the last few tables and trying to leave. This person will also tell someone who's been breeding their snakes for 10 years how to care for them.

The person who will just stop randomly, the building isn't that big so there isn't much room so expect to stand around a bit. This person will also have a full conversation with the breeder right in front of the majority of the animals you want to see. It's best to just move on and do two laps to make sure you see everything.

Breeder who you will ask a question to and then just walk off. I had asked a question about the price of some Western Banded Geckos that I fully intended to buy if they weren't ridiculous and the lady said let me check and just never came back after like 5-10 minutes of standing there.

Anyways I hope you have some expectations and you have a great time at the show.

[RedTailRutiodon]

Originally Posted by jjhill001

Also, this being your first show I'm gonna give you a run down of some expectations.

The Cleveland show in particular has mostly CB animals, there is really only one regular vendor that comes to mind that has what I would call "likely" WC animals and almost none of those are snakes so you probably won't have to worry about them.

You'll find that the hobby is much more diverse than stereotypically presented in the media. You'll find people of all ages, races, blue collar people, white collar people, men and women. This is really awesome because it shows that despite the sort of dip in reptile pet popularity, tons of people from all walks of life just love reptiles.

Some characters that are at every show:

The terrified mother being dragged around by her children, she's there to get them a leopard gecko and cringes at everything.

The guy who never showers, I don't know what makes this guy think that his snakes who have one of the best senses of smell in the animal kingdom can't tell that he's dirty.

The overly talkative/hard selling breeder, there is always at least one breeder that will try and talk your ear off about nothing or REALLY try and get you to buy an animal. Some of them can be pretty convincing but just stick to your guns about what you want or at least what kind of setup you have available at home and don't buy something out of impulse.

Guy walking around with a boa or python around his neck. This guy will be there if it was 10 degrees outside, 150 degrees, he doesn't care. His snake usually looks like crap and I don't blame it. Don't say anything to the guy because they are almost always insufferable and clearly don't care about the people around them.

The unnecessary advice person in the crowd, you've bought a new pet and you're carrying it around in its little deli dish. Someone sees it and automatically assumes that they need to tell you how to care for it despite it being obvious that you are just checking out the last few tables and trying to leave. This person will also tell someone who's been breeding their snakes for 10 years how to care for them.

The person who will just stop randomly, the building isn't that big so there isn't much room so expect to stand around a bit. This person will also have a full conversation with the breeder right in front of the majority of the animals you want to see. It's best to just move on and do two laps to make sure you see everything.

Breeder who you will ask a question to and then just walk off. I had asked a question about the price of some Western Banded Geckos that I fully intended to buy if they weren't ridiculous and the lady said let me check and just never came back after like 5-10 minutes of standing there.

Anyways I hope you have some expectations and you have a great time at the show.

I've seen this type of guy before, but it was a green iguana. In New England. In January.