Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I'm new to this forum and do not yet own a Corn yet but am thinking of buying soon. I am going to the NY Reptile show tomorrow, and was wondering what you experienced people think about buying a snake there? I do have it's tank and lighting etc set up and ready to go and have read a lot and talked to people but am wondering if a newbie like myself would be "safe" to buy from a show. I'm not experienced at what a healthy snake should look like and don't know if some of the vendors there have a bad rep and so on. Ant advice would be greatly appreciated. Thansk, Robin

Hi, you should have lots of fun tomorrow at the show. The White Plains show is supposed to be a great show, I've never been as it is about 6 hours away from us. It can be challenging when you don't know anyone at the show and don't have an experienced herper to take with you.

Some things you should look for are:
1. Check the snake that you want to buy for tiny bugs. They look like tiny black spots. After you handle a snake, check your hands for these, also. These are called mites and are a pain to get rid of. If you should find any on a snake, I would advise NOT buying any snakes from that person. And by the same token, if any of the animals on the table look sick or otherwise affected, I would take my business to another table.

2. Find out if the person selling the snake is the breeder or if they bought it from someone else to resell it. I prefer to buy directly from the breeders, although there are good broker/resellers out there. You want to find out the birthdate of the snake, what he/she is eating (frozen/thawed, live, fresh killed mice), when they last ate, how often they eat, etc. If this is your first snake, I would try to get snake who is an established mouse feeder. Save the snakes who only eat scented pinkies or anoles for someone who has experience. You also should find out whether it is a male or female. You might want to ask the seller to sex the snake in front of you, just to make sure the labels didn't get mixed up. Nothing worse than raising a female to maturity and finding out it is actually a male when you are planning on breeding it, or vice versa. Find out what morph (color/pattern) the snake is. Sometimes hatchling and juvenile corns don't look like the adult they will become.

3. Is the seller willing to answer your questions? I know that some people are just window shopping and will ask lots of questions and have no intention of buying, but a seller should be willing to spend some time with you, answering questions. If the seller blows you off or otherwise acts like "show me the money" before he will talk with you, I would go to another table. Most sellers at shows are really good at talking with the potential buyers, so don't expect this type of seller, just be prepared. I have only encountered one seller like this in over 4 years of shows, though.

4. Explain that you are a first time snake owner and see if they have any tips for you. I hope that you have already bought and read "The Corn Snake Manual" by Bill & Kathy Love. If not, buy a copy at the show from the bookseller.

5. You should be able to find tons of baby snakes at the show this time of year. The cornsnakes are all hatching out, so be prepared for a hard decision in choosing just one.

6. If possible, you might want to ask if you can handle the snake you are interested in purchasing. Some breeders won't let you, though. You need to decide if you are willing to buy a snake that has not been held by you. BE AWARE THAT HATCHLING SNAKES ARE VERY FAST! If you have never held one before, ask the seller to show you how to do it before you handle it. Be ready to disinfect your hands with the seller's disinfectant (or better yet, bring your own waterless hand disinfectant). If the seller has his own disinfectant that he insists that anyone use who is handling his snakes, this is also a good sign. If you are messing around with any of the mice or chicks or baby rabbits at the show, I would definitely wash my hands very well with soap and water in the bathroom before going around any snakes!

7. If the snake you are interested in looks unhealthy or defective, don't buy it obviously! Look it over very carefully, check out its mouth (I don't look inside, but some people do) and check out its vent for any discharges.

Good luck and let us know what kind of snake you get.
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sue

Sue,Thank you so much for taking the time to post such a detailed and extremely helpful reply. I really appreciate it and feel a lot better about going tomorrow. I just got Cathy Loves book and am reading it right now. It's a fantastic resource and I can see why people call it the Corn Snake bible.

I printed out your post and I'm going to bring it with me and reread it on the ride up. We live in CT so this show is only 90 minutes from us and I'm really excited. Good tip about the hand sanitizer, as it hadn't even occured to me to bring some tomorrow. I have a Leopard Gecko and I and everyone who comes in contact with him, uses it afterwards. Whenever I handle any of my friends herps, I use it too.

Speaking of handling tomorrow, I think I will pass, as I've never handled a Corn before and wouldn't want to lose a hatchling in that crowd. I've handled Boas and Pythons but obviously they are nothing like a Corn, especially a baby..

I'm not positive that I'm going to buy tomorrow as I don't want to get caught up in the show excitement and make an impulsive buy, that might not be the best. I'm telling myself that this is only a scouting trip to see whats available, the prices etc. but my husband has resigned himself to the fact that I WILL come home with a new baby. Poor man and his crazy herp loving wife. Maybe if I buy him those 2 special poison dart frogs he's wanted, from Black Jungle, to add to his collection, he won't mind too much if I add another member to the family. I let you know what happens.

Thanks again for helping me. It means a lot to me to know that there are still nice people out there.{I've had a horrible week} Take Care, Robin

perhaps when you go down there, you might be able to strike up a conversation with a leopard gecko breeder and perhaps you might be able to pick his/her brain about who the good breeder/dealers are in the snake department. Being as how you already have a leo, then you would probably be able to tell who is a knowledgeable leo breeder, and these vendors tend to attend the same shows together and do know who the good guys are and who the flakes are. Just a suggestion.

You are definitely welcome for the reply. I tend to get too long in my replies and do worry about the length of them, but I seem to be genetically unable to write a brief reply for some reason.

If at all possible, I would also suggest that you try to hold the baby corn that you want to buy, because it is not any easier to wait until you get home to handle a new baby. Just make sure that you hold him over the vendor's table, just in case. I tend to kind of cup them into my hand with the other hand making a kind of shade, I think they might feel a bit more secure that way.

I hope next week is a better week for you.
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sue

I sent you a private email message.
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carl3
www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

I'll be at the show tomorrow, too. I purchased my corn and a BP from the White Plains show the last time it was here (2 months ago??). Just look for healthy animals, not skinny or loose skinned, ask alot of questions....you can tell after looking at all the selection there which people have good animals and which may be suspect. I have personal experience with Regal Reptiles (from RI where I live, bought my older BP from them) and JL Breeders, as well as Renaissance Reptiles. I would recomend them, as well as NERD, who I've also met. Expos are a great opportunity to see a HUGE selection of animals, at affordable prices, all in one place.
Good luck tomorrow!!
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1.1 Ball Python
0.0.1 corn snake
1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish
1.2 cats
3.1 kids
1.0 husband

I have spent many many hours wandering around the WP show. Since moving south, I have gone through WP withdrawl. (Daytona did help the withdrawl pains though).

I have to agree that Regal Reptiles is a good place to start looking. I have purchased a few things from them with good luck in the past.

My best advice when it comes to a show...Take only as much money as you want to spend...leave the credit cards, the atm machine and the checkbook at home. They can get you in trouble. lol. (hint: the Atm machine is to the right as you walk in the front door You don't wanna know how I know that.)

My other tips would just echo the other advice that you got. The only other thing that I might add is to buy a can of provent-a-mite at the show and treat your new snake as soon as you get it home. I never take chances and all my new snakes get treated with provent-a-mite as soon as they come in the house.

Oh yeh, if you think about it, stop by Azteclizard.com's table and tell Bill that Steph says "hi".
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2.9.9 Leopard Geckos
1.2.3 African Fat-tails
0.1 Gonisaurus Luii
1.1 Central American Banded Geckos
0.1 Gargoyle Gecko
1.1 Calabar Pythons
1.1 Savu Pythons
1.1 Cornsnakes
0.1.2 Chondropythons
0.1 Standing's Day Gecko
1.0 Frog-eyed Gecko
1.1 Ball Pythons

Heehehee....Spoken like a true Herp addict.
I actually wrote that down, and was planning on stopping by AztecLizard's table because we are debating about another lizard (maybe a Leo??). I'll look for Bill.
How was Daytona? I saw some pics in another thread here at Kingsnake. The snakes were Awesome!!
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1.1 Ball Python
0.0.1 corn snake
1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish
1.2 cats
3.1 kids
1.0 husband

I know Bill is going to have a bunch of Beardies tomorrow, and probably a bunch of leos. If you ask him, he also might be able to point out a few good breeders for corns at the show. If this was any other WP show, i would have you look up another friend of mine, who is great at picking out healthy snakes. Unfortunatly, she is broke from the Syracuse show.

BTW, Daytona was awesome! I highly recommend you save your pennies and go next year.
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2.9.9 Leopard Geckos
1.2.3 African Fat-tails
0.1 Gonisaurus Luii
1.1 Central American Banded Geckos
0.1 Gargoyle Gecko
1.1 Calabar Pythons
1.1 Savu Pythons
1.1 Cornsnakes
0.1.2 Chondropythons
0.1 Standing's Day Gecko
1.0 Frog-eyed Gecko
1.1 Ball Pythons