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Ok so i'm wondering.. snakes are pretty much self sufficient from the egg. Cats and dogs have to be 8 weeks before they can be sold. What is the best age for a snake. what are the pros and cons for the ages you choose. Is it okay in your opinion to sell snakes right out of the egg so to speak.

I'm not a breeder, but i would get a neonate snake eating regularly before i would even consider selling it. As a potential buyer,i would definitely want to know that the animal was taking food on a regular basis. So, no, i would not sell a snake right after it was born. When i purchased my snakes, i was told and shown feeding records of each animal by the person i was buying the snake from.

Chrissy
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1.0 Ball Python-Siegfried
1.0 BRB-Pedro
1.0 Blair's Phase GrayBanded Kingsnake-Elvis
0.1 Paradox Albino Sand Boa-Cleo
3.1 Dodoma's
0.1 pug mix

I try to sell them after they have eaten at least 3 meals, but sometimes I will sell after two meals...if the person really wants the snake.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I usually try to feed 2-3 times before they I sell them. I have hatchlings right now that were marked as sold before their first shed, but I told the buyer I would get them feeding before I release them. However, some people actually prefer the babies fresh out of the egg. If I had a buyer like this, who was experienced with BPs, I could accomodate them, though it would not be my preference.
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Snakes:
1.1 gray banded kingsnake
1.1 california kingsnake
1.1 kenyan sand boa
1.1 western hognose snake
0.1 albino checkered garter
1.0 florida blue garter
1.1 het anery red sided garter
1.1 reverse oketee corn snake
1.1 blood red corn snake
0.1 amel striped corn
1.0 amel 66% het striped corn
1.1 het albino ball python
1.1 het ghost ball python
0.1 spider ball python
1.0 pastel ball python
1.1 mojave ball python
1.0 butter ball python
0.1 ringer ball python
1.0 African dinker ball python
0.3 normal ball python
1.0 piebald ball python
0.1 het piebald ball python
0.1 Genetic Stripe Ball Python
1.0 Het Genetic Stripe Ball Python
0.1 Mystic Ball Python

Turtles
1-eastern box turtle
2-spotted turtle
2-eastern/midland painted turtle intergrade
1.0-common musk turtle
1-Pink bellied sideneck
6-Northern red belly

Invertebrates
0.1 southern black widow
1-Tanzanian Giant Tailless whipscorpion

Amphibians
0.1 Ornate Horned Frog

Birds:
1.1 red avadavit
2-blue breasted cordon blue
1.1-black cheeked waxbill
0.1-star finch
1.0-Java rice sparrow
2.0-owl finch
1.0-hybrid munia
0.1-White bellied caique

Fish
2-corydoras cats
1-African upside down cat

normal stuff
0.1 black lab

In the vast majority of cases, it is best to only sell well-started juveniles, but IMO, it is "okay" to sell most species of snakes "right out of the egg", if one does so responsibly, by:

*Honestly representing them as such
*NOT doing so with particularly delicate/difficult to start species.
*Making sure the buyer is capable enough to have a reasonable chance of success.
*Such snakes should be offered at a reduced rate, compared to well-established feeders.

I don't offer juveniles of more delicate species (Lystrophis, Chondros, smaller milks and mountain kings) as "out of the egg" unless I know the buyer well, and can be sure they are sufficiently skilled to handle the situation.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Jungle Carpet Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase, Striped Desert, Newport, and Coastal California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

No. It is NOT ok to sell a snake right out of the egg. I don;t care who you are or how big your name is in this industry. It's irresponsible and bad business.
I also could care less whether a buyer wants an animal so bad that he'll take it with only one or two melas in him. Because that is the SAME buyer who, when he can't get the animal feeding because of the stress from the move, different temps, humidity, or barometric presure, will run to Fauna and start ripping on you as a breeder.
The onus is on the breeder to hold back any babies until they are established eaters.
That's 5 meals in my case.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

to keep problems at bay...it's best to sell after they have been established regardless of friendship or not.

people don't understand one of the quickest ways to end a friendship is to have an incident where money or something of monetary value is involved.

3-5 meals could be done easily within 2weeks after their first shed. so within a month the hatchling could be sold....if one could wait all year to breed, incubate, hatch.....one could wait another 30 days or so to be on the safe side.

2 cents....

Pitoon

>>Ok so i'm wondering.. snakes are pretty much self sufficient from the egg. Cats and dogs have to be 8 weeks before they can be sold. What is the best age for a snake. what are the pros and cons for the ages you choose. Is it okay in your opinion to sell snakes right out of the egg so to speak.
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I have to AGREE with pitoon.

Maddseason

I put my hatchlings up for sale after they have fed at least 3 times. This means, by the time they sell and are ready to be shipped, they usually have eaten 4 or 5 times. In some cases, well over 5 times.

Dave

I agree with most* here. I want to see my hatchlings eat 4-5 meals with no hesitation before "releasing" them... lol. I will hpw ever sell fresh hatched to local breeders if they MUST have them, as some want to start THEIR hatchlings THEIR way... I understand but give no guarantees if they must start them themselves.

Brian
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Brian Hettinger
480 Pythons
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