new snake

lanceinhispance · 01-13-04, 09:47 PM

a good friend of mine is getting a snake and doesn't know what to get. i keep telling him BALL PYTHON! there easy for begginers and a other friend is saying corns are the easiest. also the other kid says that buying from ***** is better than a breeder because breeders snakes have lots of sicknesses.

Also the kid has gotten 2 lepard geckos and has a tiny layer of sand and a huge rock for them to go in to cool off. no heat lamp. over the weekends they give them a pile of food for the weekend. only mealworms for them to eat. the little gecko looks sick and the bigger one is trying to eat the smaller one. its a club and i am going to join because this kid doesn't know crap from crisco, and needs to be shown the propper husbandry for the animal's sake.what do you think about this kid so i can show this kid what the pros say.

sapphire_moon · 01-14-04, 12:16 AM

first off ball pythons aren't really good begginer snakes, they stress the human out way easy when they decide for their own reason to quit eating,

all I am going to say about ***** is.......
I got a problem feeder ball python from there.

Corn snakes are the best begginer snakes IMHO.

If breeders snakes have sicknesses then look at the breeders pics on here, they look healthy and beautiful! Why don't you invite this kid to THIS forum?

Tell him he's killing his leo's and slap him in the face.......J/K

Tell him he needs to be able to read the temps. Ask him if he would like to be at 20 below with no cloths (because that has to be what it is like for a poor leo that has no heat. depending on room temp). Ask him if he would eat a raw dead cow that has been sitting for a few days (the meal worms I assume would die with no food, or water and that is all that would be able to eat.)

I don't know what to say really, it is so hard to convince people that they are mistreating their animals.......send him to this site and let him talk to the breeders, or people that have kept them as pets for years.

lilyskip · 01-14-04, 02:58 PM

well said, sapphire. and i would definitely go with a breeder if at all possible.

marisa · 01-14-04, 03:12 PM

I really do not agree that ball pythons aren't good first snakes. They are like easy as pie when it comes to husbandry and in reality they are not picky feeders, just more shy. It's also natural for ball pythons to fast. Just because they don't eat like colubrids doesn't make them picky. They require small easy to heat enclosures, humidity is hardly an issue as well. Its simple to maintain them. Corns and balls are equally easy to care for and feed, IF you follow very basic (but very differing) husbandry must haves, and you buy from qaulity CB breeders.

But since your friend is such a bad reptile keeper in the first place I would tell him to stay away from anything until he knows what he is doing.

Buying from a breeder is the BEST thing you can do. Breeders will actually seek out vet care, give baby snakes individual attention and normally have 100% clean parents/collections. Pet stores are filthy importing non caring buisness who only want your money. They would sell you an elephant if they could mark them up 1000% and get some idiot to buy them.

Marisa

sapphire_moon · 01-14-04, 03:21 PM

Oh yes, but when you are new to snakes and your snake stops eating, it is very stressfull on you! lol. Thats the ONLY reason that I don't think ball pythons are good beginner snakes. Otherwise they are wonderful!

lanceinhispance · 01-14-04, 05:09 PM

i would tell him to not get the geckos but he has convinced the librarian he is the lepard king. but since i have YELD at him he has put me in charge of the geckos. all the stuff is in the library.

You don't know how bad i want to smack him.

Linds · 01-14-04, 10:46 PM

Please refrain from mentioning store names in that manner. sSnakeSs.com does not need to be hassled with anymore lawsuits. If you really need to share something, please star out the name, or share off the public forums. I have edited the store name out of the above posts. Thank you.
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I agree with Marisa, I think he should not even consider getting anymore reptiles until he learns how to properly care for them. Tell him to invest in some good books (there are some crappy ones out there so use caution), send him over here, there is a wealth of information on this site alone, search around the internet as well, but be extra careful, it is loaded with all sort of bad info.