Re: New Owner! . . . soon
I recently bought a Brazilian rainbow boa at Repticon and I'm very unhappy with the company I bought him from. I asked questions, but I got very vague answers that didn't give me enough information.
When you ask about feeding schedules, what size prey they're eating and whether it's live or frozen/thawed, make sure they're giving you info on the specific animal you are interested in and not just a general: "we start all our babies on pinkies every 5-6 days". I'd also make sure the baby has had at least 3-4 consistent feeds in a row.
I'd also ask about hatching/birth date: they should be able to give you a date. I was told that my BRB was "2-4 months old" but I now suspect that my BRB was only a few weeks old.
I also wish I'd asked about when my baby shed, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have known that either. The people working the booth didn't seem to know much.
Above all, trust your gut. If the people working the booth don't know the answers or their answers seem too vague or non-specific, or if the babies are 2 or 3 to a small display box clearly meant to hold only 1, or if they can't tell you when a specific snake was last fed, then it's best to find another breeder no matter how enamored you are with the baby.
A lot of this may seem like overkill and, when you're dealing with a responsible breeder it might be. Unfortunately there are mega breeders out there who breed on such a scale that they can't possibly have specific records on each specific baby. You deserve to know exactly what you're getting.
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