Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would like any one who has experience with Bushmaster's GTP's
provide feed back as to condition ,health ,parisites,longivity of thier Farm raised animals. I have heard them to be very reputable dealers can anyone confirm this with personal experience.

Thank you

Well I bought a "Jayapura type" on 5/14/04 from Palm Beach Reptiles. They had told me she was bred by Bushmasters over in Indo. She was my first chondro and to this day I am still pleased with her. No problems eating and very docile. Zero parasites were found on a recent vet check. As for a in country "farm", I would recommend them.

Beautiful! Are they a reputable breeder? I live in WPB but never heard of the store.

Bushmaster is an importer. One of the largest importers of snakes around. They have a pretty good reputation, but you'd still be better off buying from a U.S. breeder for your first until you know how to handle a possibly parasite ridden animal and all the difficulties that can come with it. Bushmaster has a good reputation though and they do produce some fabulous animals.
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1.0~amel corn~C.S.
1.3~Aztec Okeetee corns~Coatl,Maya,Acatl,Tepin
0.1.1~Green tree python~Tempest, Whisper
0.2~Rhodesian Ridgebacks~Akilah, Ona
0.1~Old black Lab~ Callie
2.0~fat cats~Topper, Briscoe
3.0~Horses~Zaarah,Galliano,Achilles.....
www.franclycac.com

Their animals are all captive hatched and are not parasatized. I have dealt with Bushmaster many times and would buy from them over many "reputable" breeders. They are wholesale only though. As for breeders, I would buy from Doug Price ie; Price Animal Co.

I agree, I have purchased 2 GTP's from a very reputable broker who purchased the animals from Kam at Bushmaster. They are doing great and no parasites.
Also Meg, I think i remember you saying you got your Jaya from F.H., I may be wrong here but I've heard from many, that those are also Bushmaster babies. I don't think you should be so quick as to label someones snakes as parasite ridden if you don't know for sure. Yes, imports "taken" from the wild have a high risk. However his neonates are "bred" from wilds.
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0.0.1 Green tree python (Aru LT)
0.0.1 Green tree python (Wamena LT)
0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
1.0 Albino ball python
0.1 100% het Albino ball python
0.1 Normal ball python
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow boa
1.0 Leucistic Texas ratsnake
1.0 Albino cornsnake
0.0.1 Snow cornsnake
0.0.1 Albino Striped California King

If you read my post, I said they MIGHT be parasite ridden. Not all animals come from Bushmaster parasite free. If they are started on lizards they might have parasites. I can go find the posts on the other forums that have animals that were received from there that did have parasites. I also said that they have a good reputation and that their animals are awesome. Yes, I got mine from F.H. and I specifically asked him if the animals were U.S. cbb and was told yes. I also had my second one shipped from the breeder instead of Troy since the babies he got from the breeder showed signs of stress and it didn't come from where Bushmaster is. I saw the tracking for it.
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1.0~amel corn~C.S.
1.3~Aztec Okeetee corns~Coatl,Maya,Acatl,Tepin
0.1.1~Green tree python~Tempest, Whisper
0.2~Rhodesian Ridgebacks~Akilah, Ona
0.1~Old black Lab~ Callie
2.0~fat cats~Topper, Briscoe
3.0~Horses~Zaarah,Galliano,Achilles.....
www.franclycac.com

Thanks I had done some research on them but wanted to hear first hand accounts . Thanks to all who replied.
I am not new to herping just returning after a long break . I raised Boas & Pythons way back starting in 1975 , they were all wild caught in those days.I even had to make my own hot rocks Military & a exwife who did not share my fondness for snakes ,But I am back and ready to indulge. This is a great time for herping so much info & so many really nice products, frozen rodents by mail it just does not get any better than that.

Well Palm Beach Reptiles was located on Northlake Blvd. in the Home Depot shopping center. They were suppose to of moved to a larger location 2 blocks east. But where they stated they had moved to they are not there. So I don't even know if they are planning to reopen. They were a little pricy on things but they at least were a local reptile shop that treated their animals good. They used all Vision caging.

I got one about 8 months old,import, and one about 2 that was bred from Bushmaster parents that were raised by a local breeder. Thats got to tell you some thing about the age and breedabilty of Bushmaster animals. Both were clean and never had a problem. The breeders' also. Both are so mellow you can stick your hand in their cages in the middle of the night without a worry about getting tagged, but god help you if you are a rat or mouse. Both will eat day or night even off the cage floor or in the middle of shed cycles. My eyes are going and I have a hard time seeing when they're in the blue. I wish my others from USA bred stock were as good. By the way,they are all Sorongs, which have the rep of being the easiest to work with.

Sounds like you are having an all around great experience with your gtps. Did you raise them from hatchlings or yearlings? How often did you handle them when you 1st started taking care of them?

I raised mine from about 4 months of age and didn't start handling her until she was about 1 1/2 years of age.

You would think most people that were not familar with the breed (like me) would feel more confident to handle them when they were small and maybe injuring their delicate spines causing undue stress and that might be uncomfortable for the snake because they sit so calm and still on the branch for 12 hours a day and hardly move in the wild. Maybe that stresses them out and actually makes them aggressive later because they come to associate handling with discomfort? Could that be possible? If I got one I wouldn't want to get one any younger than 9-12 months old. If I did manage to try and raise one that was a year old do you think that I would be best off waiting another year for her/him to acclaimate before trying to remove her from the enclosure?

I would think you'd have to periodically handle them to weigh and measure them. I usually take the baby out on the branch in the enclosure and then coax it off the branch to weigh it and get a picture for size measurement. I'd think a yearling would be a great start. Normally you'd have a decent idea of temperament by then.
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1.0~amel corn~C.S.
1.3~Aztec Okeetee corns~Coatl,Maya,Acatl,Tepin
0.1.1~Green tree python~Tempest, Whisper
0.2~Rhodesian Ridgebacks~Akilah, Ona
0.1~Old black Lab~ Callie
2.0~fat cats~Topper, Briscoe
3.0~Horses~Zaarah,Galliano,Achilles.....
www.franclycac.com

I have read all of the posts below and have the following to add - I have or have had three animals that came through Bushmaster reptiles. All three have had parasites. One died after about 1 year, probably due to my lack of knowledge and prompt attention at the time. She had roundworms and a type of lungworm which was the ultimate cause of demise. This was about 5 years ago.

The other two are a pair of Meraukes. These both came directly from Bushmaster with Hook and Roundworms. Kamuran advised me this could be a possibility as difficult feeders are sometimes fed geckos to get them going. I went into the situation with full knowledge of this issue and was satisfied. I've been happy with the animals, but they have presented challenges. They seem to be more susceptible to URI and humidity issues.

I would be careful of posting that something is definitely one way and not the other. One of the posts below alludes that Bushmaster animals do not have parasites. My example shows that is not always true. I would suggest that if you purchase through them or another importer that you hope for the best and expect the worst, that way you won't be disappointed. In any event, make sure you have some knowledge of how to deal with parasites or have a good vet. All this being said, I've been happy dealing with Bushmaster and would consider going through them again, especially if I was looking for something specific.

A few year's ago I bought a Chondro from a well known Chondro breeder that he got straight from Bushmaster as a baby. He had her for 3 years before I picked up a animal and he decided to give me a sweet deal on her that I could not pass up. I had her for almost a year before I noticed worm's in her stool one day. Talk about nasty my vet informed me it was rare to see them in the poo. She was treated and tested later on with no more signs of worms. I have nothing against Bushmaster. If I was still into the whole new blood, new locale and canary thing I would buy them from him if he was selling them but I would not buy from a third party selling his animals (except of course Gary S. I would buy from him without thinking twice he is the only person though).

I'm captive born all the way nowadays but hey hopefully none of you will go threw the bad ending's we went threw with some of our wild caughts and farmed animals.

Good luck, and just remember nothing is clean until it's tested..
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Tim Rash
www.nocturnal-creations.com

I guess I've lucked out with Bushmaster animals so far. To this date, the only parasited animals I took in were a pair of designer pink pastel bci from a well known stateside breeder. It goes to show you can get bad animals from anywhere.