Your Thoughts?

[FAY]

What are your thoughts and experiences on buying adult snakes???

Good or bad?
Would you only buy from someone that you know the history of the animal and exacly how old it is, knowing how it has been heated and fed propely??? Would you buy an adult just on the fact that it looks healthy ,hoping that it is breeding age?
Would you only buy hatchies, happy to wait till they grow?

 

[miley_take]

I'm only new to this, so at the moment I am quite happy with hatchlings, as I fear I don't know enough to breed just yet, so what is the point in buying adult animals? I'm sure when I rack up some more experience I'll start looking for adult pythons, but right now I'm happy to watch them grow with me!

 

[melgalea]

i have gotton adult snakes before. once was a 9 year old male prosperpine of a good friend and i knew and trusted his collection. i would have no problem buying a adult python if it was from someone i knew and trusted. alot of the time it is easier as all the hard work has been done for you and they have generally calmed down quite a bit with age. cheers
mel

 

[Mulcahy]

just make sure they have a real reason for selling, you don't want to buy someone elses problem

 

[draqonfly]

if i was going to become a breeder, i would purchase hatchlings or yearlings.
if i was intending to purchase an adult, it would have to be from someone i know and trust, otherwise i wont even consider it, just to be on the safe side.

 

[pythonmum]

I purchased my Antaresia as 1 - 2 year olds. In both cases the vendors had very reasonable explanations for the sale, so no worries. They are great snakes and have never had a bit of trouble. Both came with full feeding, shedding and medical history.

I think many people hold back animals and sell on yearlings that they decide not to put into breeding. An older animal (3+) would be more unusual. You'd want more information.

 

[Hooglabah]

ive bought an adult centralian from a pet shop of all places and that turned out fine. but i do prefer tp buy hatchos for 4 reasons

1. they are cheaper
2.you can monitor their progression to breeding size and make sure you actually want them for breeding
3. you learn to read your snake better you know what normal what isnt your know if its got a temper or not and you no its feeding habbits.
4. and they are just so damn cute

 

[Ramsayi]

It depends on who is selling them and the reason why.As far as 2YOish animals go I often sell them at that age.I always hold some of most clutches back to grow on then decide which ones stay and which ones go.

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

Meh, adults are nice, but watching a hatchie grow has got to be more fun

 

[scam7278]

well fay a very wise man that you may know lol... once told me that its better not to buy adults as you will never really know the reason for them being sold.Thats why i tend to stick with hatchies these days

 

[aussie.snakes]

Personally I can not think of a single reason why I would buy an adult. I have only ever bought hatchlings and I don't intend to buy any adults in the future, even for the reason of breeding. Breeding from snakes you have had as hatchlings will obviously be more work but the end result would be more rewarding. And if they happen not to breed then you still have some beautiful snakes that you have raised throughout their entire life.

 

[Aslan]

It seems to me that there is very little difference between someone selling hatchies or adults...

...provided that they seem to have a genuine reason and the animal is in good health, who cares?

...I mean their reason for selling may simply be that they are downgrading their collection or focussing on other projects. There are a huge number of very basic reasons that I would find acceptable.

 

[Khagan]

If i was to buy an adult it would have to be off someone trusted and highly reguarded, otherwise i would be asking myself.. Hmm why would they be selling a perfectly fine adult they could breed after putting in all the work to get it there.

 

[draqonfly]

im no breeder nor do i intend to be ...... but i reckon out of hundreds of thousands of breeders around the world, some honest and decent ones would sell their breeding pairs because... well... maybe after like 5-10 years of breeding the same species over and over could get a bit boring, so they would like to start and experience breeding in other species, and in doing so will sell their great breeding pair to spend more time on their new species. therefore maybe sometimes a person who decides to purchase an adult breeding pair could be more lucky than they think.... and sometimes they could be extremely unlucky as well.

i could be wrong, but i doubt it.

 

[horsesrule]

I suggest those in Victoria only buy hatchlings and be VERY CAREFULL who you buy them from.

Private breeders who you trust are probably the best way to go.

Because someone has a shop or a so called "reputable name" does not mean they are good or reputable. As im sure many would agree after being burned by a certain individual.

 

[caustichumor]

People seem to be overly cautious and suspicious of anyone trying to offload an animal that is a size capable of breeding? Breeding size animals are usually large and take a lot of room to house, I know I have a few animals and if I choose to make any additions I have to look at my current collection and maybe move some animals on to make room....
That said, I would not hand over money to someone I don't know, for an animal sight unseen "adult or hatchy"

 

[Aslan]

If i was to buy an adult it would have to be off someone trusted and highly reguarded, otherwise i would be asking myself.. Hmm why would they be selling a perfectly fine adult they could breed after putting in all the work to get it there.

You should be purchasing all of your animals from someone you trust and hold in high regard...

...there are thousands of reasons that someone might sell an adult animal, I think finding an unacceptable reason would be much more difficult than finding an acceptable reason...

 

[wokka]

"One mans trash is another mans treasure" be it hatchies , adults or cages. Peoples interests cange as they move from one interest to another which offers opportunity to others wishing to continue on where the seller stops.
The age of the snake should be secondary to the health, history and reputation of the seller. Bad reputations travel fast particularly on sites like this so if you haven,t heard anything about the seller its normally good.

 

[Hetty]

List a hundred reasons Aslan

I'm cautious about every snake I buy but buying hatchlings or yearlings is safer. Most people don't raise snakes to breeding age to sell them, so if they do, then I'm weary about buying. I wouldn't trust a stranger off say, petlink or RDU to tell the truth about why they're selling. I would trust someone I knew well though, or as Wokka has said, has a good reputation.

 

[wokka]

List a hundred reasons Aslan

I'm cautious about every snake I buy but buying hatchlings or yearlings is safer. Most people don't raise snakes to breeding age to sell them, so if they do, then I'm weary about buying. I wouldn't trust a stranger off say, petlink or RDU to tell the truth about why they're selling. I would trust someone I knew well though, or as Wokka has said, has a good reputation.

My observation is that lots of keepers buy apair of pythons get sick of that breedin a year or two and try something else. As snakes get older, obviously the chances of being exposed to some nastie increase relative to a hatchling.