Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone! I'm new to the site and ball pythons. I was wondering if someone could explain papers that come with some ball pythons but not all. I know about dog and horse papers/registration, but I have no clue about BP papers. Is it just a guarentee more or less? or ??? What is included on them? Thanks!

Some people supply a photo ID and written gurantee that the snake is what it is supposed to be (ie; Het for Pied, Clown, etc) and maybe the sire and dam that produced it. They should also supply feeding and weight records that tell show you how much the snake has been eating. This paperwork is sometime helpful for resale, but it is only as good as the person behind it who sold you the animal.

Welcome aboard! These are great questions, keep em coming.

Thank you so much Zefdin!

Not a problem. What are you thinking about getting (if you dont mind me asking)? The paperwork is mainly good with hets to prove the are real, as much as is possible, because they look normal. If you buy a snake from someone like lets say V.P.I. for instance and have the paperwork, besides possible being worth more because the stock is from V.P.I. and they wrote the book on Balls (literally), people will feel more comfortable buying it from you.

Take care.

Well... LOL The two weeks we purchased 17. 10 Double Het Albino Pied, Pastel, Spider, and normals. I'm hoping to pick up a lesser, mojave, and cinny girls within the next year.

good god lmao

That's a lot of money out the door real quick! Wish I had that laying around.....

I've not had much luck with paperwork being of any value. I do like having weight and food records but when buying babies there's really not much to record- but it is helpful to know the baby is eating-- but how hard is it to 'fake' something like that?

Like was said before- its only as good as the person giving it to you.

Good luck!

~Beth
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Until there are none, Rescue One! Get ready to welcome the new and improved Oklahoma Animal Rescue Group -- Just a few weeks away from getting our 501c3 status!!!!!

...we purchased 17. 10 Double Het Albino Pied, Pastel, Spider, and normals..

Now that's jumping in with both feet and not worrying about the water either!

Please keep all this great and free advice I have been offering in mind a few years from now when I am getting all my stuff from your collection!

Very Nice! I hope you are getting some good prices if you are buying that much stuff? Have you thought about going to some shows with a pile of cash to buy? Go on the last day and offer cash. NO ONE wants to take their animals home when they can move them.

PM me if you have any questions on this subject you may not want to ask in the forum. I am not the brightest, but I know the average & current prices and I might be able to save you a few bucks? It free advice, you can always cicular file it - right..

LOL

I'll gladly take all of the tips I can get!!!

Yeah it was a big leap even though they were mostly babies. Bad thing, we bought a "female" spider at a show, got it probed, and "he" won't be laying any eggs for us. It was disappointing. We had bought a gorgeous male pastel that same day and were hoping for Bumblebees. You live and you learn. Now if I can just find someone to teach me to probe...

There are some You Tube vids on probing that are very good. It is pretty easy. The main thing is to get a nice probe kit with 5 or 6 sizes and that have a 'ball tip' on the end of the probe. You want to make sure you use a good sized probe for the snakes size, but without it being too big (if that makes sense). Use KY gel or mineral oil is OK I think, just not petroleum based products like Vasoline. You lube the probe and insert tip first on either side cloaca, and push very gently towards the snakes tail. If the probe inserts more than 5-6 subcaudal scales it is a male. Males need this extra room or pouch area to hold their hemipenes (privates). A female will have no pouch and therefore the probe insertion will stop at less than 5-6 subcaudals. There is sometimes a gray area where the probe inserts right at 5, 6 or maybe even 7 scales deep and it may be a little tricky to tell if the snake is male or female. I will usually 'pop' these snakes to decide. Many people make mistakes with these gray area 5-6 ones. Maybe that Spider of yours is in this gray area, however, the seller should've been more careful. I would triple check that spider and have someone pop it to be sure. Maybe you really do have a female after all?

Another thing is that I like to probe both sides of the snake's cloaca, not just one. Especially with the older & larger snakes that have been around, because sometimes a snake will have been probed by someone that was not careful and the very thin membrane that stops the probe when you insert it will become damaged and may even get a hole in it. Whether or not this can occur naturally I do not know, but I would tend to believe it is caused by a big & dumb human that wasnt careful. I have seen this where one side will probe 4 subcaudal scales and the other will probe 9 deep? If only one side is probed on a snake like this it could be very easy to mistake it for a male, when it is actually a female.

Thanks so much for your help! I think there were a few sets on ebay. I'll have to see if I can get one. No worries on being to aggressive with it... I'm over precautious.

If your going to shows and buying double hets like you mentioned above, I hope you went to someone that has a good reputation so that they are real.

I also hope you got one heck of a deal if you bought that many doubles. Like I said, the trick is go late and bring cash. People will go MUCH lower than you think, but you have to stay very low key about it. The vendors (like you see here) are buddy, buddy. They will undercut their neighbor/buddy in a heartbeat for money, but they want to do it in a way where the other table(s) do not pick up on the fact that his neighbor - one table over, just cut him off at the knees and is selling snakes for 25% of what they both had listed on their stickers that morning.

People are naturally greedy no matter what they pretend.

Yeah I hear you. I actually bought the double hets off of here. We got Daddy and 9 babies. 5 of those were males that we don't need. We're trying to sale them but no luck as of yet. I think we have them priced accordingly and I wouldn't hesistate to take a bit less but ???

Unfortunately, I don't know of any shows around this area besides the one I went to this year, and its once a year. So next year I'll definitely have to be more careful.

Thanks for all the advice!!!

What's a good price for a 800g female pastel? LOL

yea...wait till the last hour....
and all the good stuff will be gone or have gone home...
we leave early all the time....a 9 to 4 show has dealers leaving from 1 to 3 all the time....why set around for another hour or three for nothing...???

...you want deals?....get there and ask right away....deals are made and alot of the good stuff is gone before the door opens....

bring cash, bring a good attitude , and the more you buy the better it gets...and don't forget to repeat purchases from nice guys that did you a favor last time....

people usually talk smack, get a deal, admit they are broke and then buy from some other person who may or may not be ripping them off in the long run.....shows are all over the place, good people ,scumbags all in the same room........and alot of good snakes get sold wholesale to each other due to the publics' lack of buying........we breed more than they buy....

.....and we wonder why this trade is getting worse....
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JY
Scales-N-Tails
reptiles ltd.

Yeah. When we went someone told me to wait till the last day. Within the first 30 min I passed up a pastel for $30.. yep thirty dollars. Should have grabbed it then and there but we wanted to check everyone out first. Guess its better though since we don't need that many animals. I'm hoping to stay below 20 total.

I am not the brightest, but I know the average & current prices and I might be able to save you a few bucks? It free advice, you can always cicular file it - right

>>>>>>>>

There are NO current or standard prices...trust me...you would not believe how far up and down they are ...
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JY
Scales-N-Tails
reptiles ltd.