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I was thinking about going to my first reptile show, and noticed the all maryland reptile show in havre de grace MD. Has anyone ever attended this one and/or know if it would be a good one to visit? I am also interested in purchasing a new snake, probably a brazilian rainbow or dumerils boa, is a show a good place to buy a snake? would appreciate some input thanks!!!

I can't speak for that show in particular, but I do feel that a good show is the BEST place to buy a snake. You usually get variety, value and the ability to actually see the individual animal you are thinking of buying, handle it, and hopefully talk with folks who actually know what they are talking about. Pet stores, in general, are the worst place to buy reptiles. A good show will get my vote every time. Well worth the price of admission, especially compared to the cost of shipping. Good luck. Duffy

Kylet,
A good show is a great place to purchase a snake. I've never been to the show in question, but I urge you to attend. By attending shows you will be able to gauge the ones that are good quality, as well as get an idea of how much vendors are asking for various species. Many times if you go to a breeder's website, the shows he/she will be going to are listed.

Also, for what it's worth: the big shows like Daytona are awesome. . .and also a bit overwhelming. A show doesn't have to be huge to be good. I attended one recently that had 20 vendors. Yet, the animals were high quality, prices reasonable, and there was a nice selection of the usual and not so usual herps offered.

You will only know if you go!
rgds,
althea

I have been to the Havre De Grace show. Although it is a small show, there are plenty of good breeders there. What are you looking for? Peter Jolles of East Coast Colubrids has some real nice Locale Eastern Kings from different locales, as well as some other nice snakes. Google East Coast Colubrids. I bought another Eastern King from another Couple that has some nice snakes. I am at work and don't have their info with me, but I have bought many snakes from this show. Larry Kenton, the organizer of the show does the Richmond, Manassas, and Havre De Grace shows. There are some good reptiles there, just depending on what you want. I bought all of these snakes there. Derek

Shows are great places to find great people selling great snakes. But you have to use common sense when browsing the tables. Examples -

I bought a snake from someone who was keeping multiple snakes in each container. And moving snakes from container to container. Now, that's not the best husbandry practice, but whatever. Brought the snake home and it died 2 weeks later from some kind of intenstinal infection.

I also talked to a vendor about some really tiny snakes that looked too small to even eat pinkies. He said they were feeding fine on frozen/thawed pinks. Decided not to buy. Came back next month the same vendor and the same snakes were there. The snakes looked emaciated, like they were about to die of starvation at any moment. Why would that happen if they're feeding well on pinks?

Still, for each not-so-great vendor, there's a few good ones it seems. I bought a couple snakes from people I trust and everything turned out great.

My advice is to go to a few shows. Talk to as many people as you can. Get to know who's trustworthy. It makes all the difference in the world.

thanks guys! Im gonna go to this show and check it out. Right now i have my first two snakes: a columbian rainbow boa and my girlfriends ball python. She got them for me for easter haha, and now im hooked. im really interested in a dumerils boa because i want somthing bigger but not as big as a burmese etc. ill let you know how the show goes.....Heres a cage i built hopefully the image willcome up (first time posting an image) tell me what you think of it
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well maybe this will work
Link

I think it's a great looking cage. But you might want to build a couple more. Don't keep the boa and python in the same cage. Bad things will happen. Besides, they both have different humidity requirements, among other things.

These aren't my pics. I hope they get the point across: