Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do you guys search and purchase off of these classifieds or do you stick to your one or two breeders that you deal with?

I think there's a combination of both. It just depends on deals, what's available, how happy you were with the deal, etc. I have had people I buy from repeatedly and others I have bought once from.

Again, it just depends.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Yeah the way I figure it...if its a visual morph and you can get a good deal, then so be it. But with a het I think I will be purchasing from VPI or Graziani. I have a little more faith in them for some reason.

>>Yeah the way I figure it...if its a visual morph and you can get a good deal, then so be it. But with a het I think I will be purchasing from VPI or Graziani. I have a little more faith in them for some reason.

Yeah, sigh, but don't exclude smaller breeders. You can safely buy from many of them. I know I picked up a couple of hets from one of the biggest names in the biz. I know they are hets but it will take forever to find out. They are '04s and not big enough to breed and are poor feeders.

The key, IMHO, is to research. Don't buy blindly and keep your eyes and ears open. I had a guy pick up one of my hets through a trade. He contacted me to verify the animal. He recently told me his het female was bred to another het male (from someone else). Now, I was worried: What if he doesn't get a homo animal? Will he think my het is not a het or the other guys het is not a het? Worked out. They hatched and he produced a visual morph. Why am I telling you this? Because the het male he picked up from another breeder had just become validated in my mind. I mean, I knew mine was a het but was unsure about this other breeder. Now, I'm not.

Research, research, research...
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Jay is right there are alot of small breeders out there that are very trust worthy. Just be careful.

Jay believe it or not I was not worried about the hets I just wanted to make sure the guy I did the trade from did not do a photoshop on me. I knew both the hets came from trust worthy breeders and if I did not get a morph I would of tried more times you can miss and that is how my luck is usually.Still is goes to show just how great your coustomer service is. TOP NOTCH in my book.
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Thanks and Take Care
Thomas Jones
Thomas@rockinreptiles.com

Thanks! I'm glad it worked out for everyone. Next time, I hope you get more albinos though.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

If I have something in particular I am looking for I can usually think of a few people working with good lines and check to see what they have. I always keep an eye on the classifieds even when I'm not buying.

I think the best piece of information I could give any newbie is to find yourself someone solid that has been breeding for some time and let them mentor you. If you see a deal that you like or have questions about stuff along the way you have a go to guy that you can bounce stuff off of.

BTW - I highly recommend Jay Martin if you are looking for albinos or yellowbellies. You don't get any better than Jay!
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Tosha
JET Pythons

(CJBianco explaining the origins of the BP market.)
"In the beginning Bob created the Ball Python market. And the market was without morph, and wild traits were upon the industry. And Bob said, Let there be morph, and there was morph. And Bob saw the morph, that it was good; and Bob divided the morph from the wild trait. And Bob called the morph Albino, and the wild trait Normal. And the Albino and the Heterozygous Albino were the first investment.
-- Christopher 1:1-1:5"

Thanks Tosha! You too!
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

IMO, You cannot count-out the small breeders. Without them I don't think balls would have the value they have. No newcommer to the hobby is gonna dump thousands of dollars on a single snake because they like the way it looks and not plan on breeding it. If everyone were to buy from a select few and leave out the smaller breeders, who's gonna buy the more expensive snakes? As much as I love pieds, I would never have paid the price for a pair if I know no one would buy any offspring because I haven't made a large name for myself. Not one person in this hobby pays the price they pay for their animals and then gives the babies away for free. I love my animals and I'm not trying to get rich, or make a career of this. However, if I spend $10,000 on a few snakes, it would be nice to think I could make some of that money back, not be overlooked because I'm not famous in the hobby. This is just my opinion and I'm sure some will disagree.
I agree, when buying hets, be careful. Check the sellers references and maybe verify the seller does in fact own a breeder of the het in question. On visuals though, don't be so quick to overlook the smaller breeders "trying" to make a name for themselves. After all, that could be you one day trying to sell some babies.
Sorry for making this so long...
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0.0.3 Green Tree Pythons
3.4 Ball Pythons
...(2 pied, 1 Albino, 2 Het Albino, 2 Normals)
1.0 Leucistic Texas rat
1.0 Albino Corn

If you don't know much about the seller(either one)then ask around...See what responses you get.Or just wait until you have been reading in these forums so long that you yourself will know who is who around here......

I've purchased from some "retailers",but mostly from "hobbiest breeders"....Hatched my own eggs,decided what i wanted to keep,and then sold off the surplus(which pays for my upkeep nicely.)...Which also makes me one of those "hobbiest breeders"(,that will continue to buy from either source.Depending on what i want to add to my colony.)

Now i have been ripped off,as i received a nice big she-Male shipped from an auction one day.(Then there was...ahh nevermind.lol)
However,i have bought from numerous "little guys",simply because they had what i wanted,and these were the only two times i felt that i had been burned.

Good luck
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Charles Glaspie

I have done both, the key here when buying from classified is to do your homework check out the person's reputation, and ask the right questions.
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Deborah

GA Ball Pythons Merchandise
www.myspace.com/gaballpythons

I am defintly not trying to disrespect nobody. I plan on purchasing many of my snakes from the private small breeders. But I have not grown the faith to purchase my hets from them. I think that VPI or Graziani or NERD will keep my mind at peace when purchasing hets. Especially when you are spending a few thousand on a few female hets and are waiting 2 to 3 years to prove them. Just a piece of mind.

No disrespect to those with bigger names, but even the small private breeders that have been around are also trustworthy. Like most have said, just do your homework and ask around. I sure don't want my good standing reputation ruined by a stupid mistake. I will add, the guys you mentioned have great quality as well as customer service. You can't go wrong with either.

Good luck
Brandon Osborne

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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

Beautiful snakes Brandon!
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Morph Evolutions
www.morphevolutions.com

trying to sell yours - it's a double-edged sword.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

.
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Morph Evolutions
www.morphevolutions.com