Newly hatched imported babies, that arrive and are settled in before their first meal, are EXACTLY equal to cabtive born and bred in terms of likelihood of feeding issues, other health issues, etc. If you think about it, how could they be different? In both cases, they have hatched within the last week or so, and in neither case have they had a chance to pick up any parasites, and in neither case have they "imprinted" on any particular prey type that could cause feeding problems later on. I supposed the only con would be that newly arrived hatchlings might be a bit dehydrated, but that is super fixable super easy. I mean, its not like they sit in some crate on a boat for a week or more.



Now, one benefit to the "captive hatched" babies is that their will be far more genetic diversity. When you buy captive bred "normals" you're very often buying someone's rejects. In other words, Joe Blow breeds brother to sister possible hets in hopes of producing a visual morph, and then normals get sold off for cheap. They often have at least some degree of inbreeding. While not proven that some inbreeding hurts the vigor of a snake, it certainly can't help.



Now, WC juvies, subadults, and adults are very difficult to work with in a lot of cases...highly parasitized, problem feeders, scarred, injured, sick......

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