Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Why do you sometimes see wanted ads where people want to buy large quantities of Ball Python babies? Are they going to resell to pet stores? This is only thing I can see, and even then, would it be profitable enough to be worth the hassle? I mean even if you only pay $8-&12 each for them, you need to ship them to you and then to the person you sell them to. In the meantime you will need to feed, heat & house these babies. They are almost gauranteed all to be normals with all the feeding problems & potential health issue (mites, URI's, parasits, etc..) that require time and money to fix. To me it doesnt add up, when I see Ball babies at petstores for as little as $30 sometimes... I must be missing something??

My guess is that it use to be pretty profitable. Only a few people had the hook ups years ago and made a ton of fast cash each year during the end of the breeding season in Africa. Now that the big chain pet stores are selling pastels and spiders, I am sure that will be the next big thing, selling lots of the basic codoms. It is sad to for see where the normal ball python will end up and be treated. For some people it is money first and the balls second. For the normal ball that will probably end up being last on the list.

Bill
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2.1 Tripple Het Caramel, Orange Ghost, Genetic Stripe
1.1 Het Lavenders
1.1 Het Caramel Albino
0.1 Het Albino
0.1 Spider Het Albino
0.1 Het Pied
1,1 Pastel Het for Orange Ghost
1.0 Albino
0.1 Spinner
1.1 Super Pastel
0.1 Jungle Pastel
1.0 Pied 50 percent White
0.1 Clown
0.3 Normal
1.1 Kids
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Chocolate Lab

It is also possible requests for large numbers of low cost snakes, is to use them as feeders.

With ball pythons, captive hatched babies imported out of Africa are very cheap, almost not worth getting unwanted babies from US breeders scattered all over the place. Be far cheaper to order them Africa in the crate load, paying maybe only a couple bucks per baby.
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PHLdyPayne

This is what I was thinking too. There are some Cobra breeders that also breed Kings and Balls as feeders. Honestly, I could think of a lot of worse deaths for those Normal babies. Sold as a $10 pet for a four year old is among them.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I didnt think of that - np! Cobra's gotta eat too I guess? I would rather go to sleep at the fangs of a cobra, then a very slow & painful death from a snotty 10 year old with no supervision.

I am actually glad that the demand for normals has been replaced. I hope it goes away entirely. The pictures of those snake wranglers digging up all those pregnant mother snakes and babies ever year and raping the natural beauty that is Africa, not even for the benefit of the local economy and people, but mostly only for fat outsiders and an elite few in that country is very disturbing.

It would be nice to see importation of animals that are fully established in the pet trade eliminated, or at least severely curtailed. This could go a long way in presenting organizations like USARK and the pet industry in a positive light to non-snake & exotic animal people for a change. If the direct result of the pet industry and its many breeders and hobbyists was that it took away the demand for wild caught animals and therefore was actively contributing to the preservation of wildlife and the natural habitat in places like Africa, South America and South-East Asia where these animals live. It would also take the initiative away from pro-snake ban folks who have enjoyed the benefit of the other side having absolutely nothing but bad press and a horrific image in the public’s eye.

I would like to think that our side is politically adroit and savvy enough to realize that we need to take the initiative back and we need to begin to frame the issue in our favor for a change. This absolutely can be done because collectors and hobbyists do a lot of good and we contribute in many positive ways environmentally, socially and economically throughout the world. We need to realize that the other side is playing hardball with the congress and in the press and we should do the same if we hope to have any chance. Settling for scraps from the table, or the idea of compromise with the radical environmentalists and anti-pet people is a recipe for disaster.