Coming in the mail tomorrow! So excited!

[sophiedufort]

I just can't wait! Skye, our new desert ball python baby, is arriving tomorrow morning. I hope she is as beautiful as the picture.
She is a pet only, didn't buy her for breeding.
Isn't she gorgeous?

[Aaron_S]

It's a nice snake. When it has it's first shed it will look even better.

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

It's a nice snake. When it has it's first shed it will look even better.

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that...

[Aaron_S]

I'm going to use this as a teachable moment as most know I'm so fond of them.

I want people to be cautious when buying online or from anyone when certain flags go up.

1. Cautious of someone who breeds animals who know most likely will eventually die. What I mean by this is that desert female ball pythons are known to NOT be able to reproduce. More often then not it kills them. Yes they can be sold as "pets". However, if you've spent any time longer than 3.5 seconds in this hobby you'll notice a large amount of turnover of keepers and collections. Quite easily the snake will be passed along to someone new who either doesn't know the detriments of breeding the female or thinks they will solve it with their snake and become "awesome".

2. Careful of someone posting pre-first shed pics as sales pics and willingly selling the animal. How do you really know the animal has eaten or anything like that?

With these two points it's clear the best interest of the animal is not in the breeder's interest so I would be extremely cautious when considering buying from a source like this. It would raise the flag of "what kind of extra care beyond purchase will I receive?" or "Am I going to get the animal I purchased? With or without problems?"

Sophie, by no means am I saying you didn't do your due diligence. I would really like to not see a repeat of your banana ball not eating with another purchase and as I said at the beginning this is a teachable moment for the many readers of this forum.

[Sylphie]

Huh, I may be wrong, but if that is correct, then shouldn't snakes be older before being sold?

Ps. sorry, Aaron_S was faster

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Sylphie

Huh, I may be wrong, but if that is crorect, then shouldn't snakes be older before being sold?

Ps. sorry, Aaron_S was faster

Same time! lol

I only offer up baby balls for sale once they've shed and consumed 3 meals consistently. If it isn't 3 in a row, then I don't offer them up until they do.

The fastest I can get this done in is usually 4 - 5 weeks.

1 week to hatch/shed.
3 feedings spaced 5 days apart = 15 days.

Total is 22 days. I usually give 7 days between meals (who's in a hurry?) As well as a day or two after shedding before feeding. Keeps them nice and hungry for that first meal.

[sophiedufort]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I'm going to use this as a teachable moment as most know I'm so fond of them.

I want people to be cautious when buying online or from anyone when certain flags go up.

1. Cautious of someone who breeds animals who know most likely will eventually die. What I mean by this is that desert female ball pythons are known to NOT be able to reproduce. More often then not it kills them. Yes they can be sold as "pets". However, if you've spent any time longer than 3.5 seconds in this hobby you'll notice a large amount of turnover of keepers and collections. Quite easily the snake will be passed along to someone new who either doesn't know the detriments of breeding the female or thinks they will solve it with their snake and become "awesome".

2. Careful of someone posting pre-first shed pics as sales pics and willingly selling the animal. How do you really know the animal has eaten or anything like that?

With these two points it's clear the best interest of the animal is not in the breeder's interest so I would be extremely cautious when considering buying from a source like this. It would raise the flag of "what kind of extra care beyond purchase will I receive?" or "Am I going to get the animal I purchased? With or without problems?"

Sophie, by no means am I saying you didn't do your due diligence. I would really like to not see a repeat of your banana ball not eating with another purchase and as I said at the beginning this is a teachable moment for the many readers of this forum.

Aaron, I know you are right, and thank you for your advice. As a matter of fact, I am buying the desert ball from the same breeder. Bob Clark. He had this little girl on his website for a while now, so I guess she must have eaten by now. I don't know her age yet, I know that she is a 2015 hatchling. Bob Clark has beautiful snakes. I wish he provided info about them as well, when selling. Such as feeding and shedding history. And no, he didn't tell me that the desert ball cannot be used for breeding. I read about it before purchasing her, and I don't mind. I am not raising snakes for breeding, they are pets. Bozo, the banana ball, is now eating and is doing well. He is going to have his third meal tonight.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by sophiedufort

Aaron, I know you are right, and thank you for your advice. As a matter of fact, I am buying the desert ball from the same breeder. Bob Clark. He had this little girl on his website for a while now, so I guess she must have eaten by now. I don't know her age yet, I know that she is a 2015 hatchling. Bob Clark has beautiful snakes. I wish he provided info about them as well, when selling. Such as feeding and shedding history. And no, he didn't tell me that the desert ball cannot be used for breeding. I read about it before purchasing her, and I don't mind. I am not raising snakes for breeding, they are pets. Bozo, the banana ball, is now eating and is doing well. He is going to have his third meal tonight.

I personally would stay away from Bob Clark for my reasons already stated.

I do know I have exceptional high standards for purchasing animals though.

[SoPhilly]

I'm curious, the youngest snake I've bought was a few months old - but for future reference, how exactly can you tell that she hasn't shed yet? I've been staring at the picture and all I can come up with is "she looks really shiny" lol.

Ps, she's beautiful, Sophie! Hope everything goes smoothly with her

[Minkness]

Not just shiney, but the scales look suuuuper smooth. Almost 'soft' and also that shine has a translucency to it that makes her look wet.

That's my guess anyway.

[sophiedufort]

Originally Posted by SoPhilly

I'm curious, the youngest snake I've bought was a few months old - but for future reference, how exactly can you tell that she hasn't shed yet? I've been staring at the picture and all I can come up with is "she looks really shiny" lol.

Ps, she's beautiful, Sophie! Hope everything goes smoothly with her

Thank you
Me too, I don't have a clue how you can tell that she never shed. I hope that when Aaron reads that, he will explain what he meant. I don't know her age, I only know that she's a 2015 hatchling, and she's been listed on Bob Clark's website for a little while. Yes, she looks shiny in the picture, and beautiful.
As for your best wishes, thank you, once again. So far, my husband and I have been very lucky with our snakes, except for one spider ball and two Colombian red tails that were sick when we bought them (Petco/Petsmart purchases, never again), so we can only hope that our new addition will do great.

[Aaron_S]

The shine is a big give away. Look at a lot of pics and you'll see any snake doesn't shine that much unless it's fresh from an egg.

I know as I hatch them and take pics/see pics of hatchling snakes. Kyle picked up on it too.

[sophiedufort]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

The shine is a big give away. Look at a lot of pics and you'll see any snake doesn't shine that much unless it's fresh from an egg.

I know as I hatch them and take pics/see pics of hatchling snakes. Kyle picked up on it too.

Got it. Thanks, Aaron.

[millertime89]

I see pictures of hatchlings a lot. You pick up on what to look at after a while. The snake almost looks wet, different from pictures of the snake when they're normally in shed. Minkness guessed correctly.