Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi
i was just wondering how you can be so sure that the ball python you buy from a breeder has a 100% het and how could you tell if he is lying or not please help it would also help me if someone gave me couple of trustworthy people i could buy ball pythos from a place with a good reputation
thanks

Buy from someone credible who has a name/reputation to keep in this business. They will more likely give you a true het if they say it's a het since their reputation is on the line. Besides, it's not worth tripping over pennies on their way to dollars by defrauding someone out of a few bucks by selling them a normal advertised as a het.

Be cautious of "I bought this het from XYZ" type of guys. I'm not saying they're out to defraud you, I'm just saying "be cautious". When buying 66% hets, etc., ask to see photos of the clutch. There should be a homozygous animal in the bunch, along with some hets/possible hets if the breeding parents were het themselves.

One last word of caution. Don't buy ANYTHING from anyone selling het for spider!

Ron

You need to be careful buying 100% hets from anyone. The big breeders are usually the best, But I think as long as someone can verify the animals in question then I would not hesitate to buy from someone that is not so well known. We all have to get a start somewhere and if no one every buys from the NEW guy that does not have a strong name in the business then how will they get a good name? Yeah, people get snakes in trades and it is hard to keep up with the 100% hets once it leaves the original breeders hands so that could be another problem. But if they have the paper work and photo ID should be a problem. Since it takes 2-3 years to raise these things up. You have to wait that long just to see if you got scammed. I am in the process of proving several 100% hets and 66% poss hets I got from a certain company that I am not sure was legit. I guess time will tell. Bottom line I guess is you have to buy from someone you can trust. Thanks DAVID
-----
1.0 Pied(04)(RDR)
1.0 Albino(04)(RDR)
0.1 Spider(04)(RDR)
3.2 Pastels(03's)(04's)(ASF,Graziani,Bell lines)
0.1 Yellow belly(unproven)(04)
1.3 Yellow belly(unproven)(02,03,04's)
2.0 100% HET CLOWN(04's)(MHMR)
3.3 100% het albinos(03's)(high contrast bell line)
0.1 poss Het Albino(03's)
2.0 100% het pieds(03's)(Vin Russo,CRE)
0.2 100% het pieds(03's)(04's)(RDR,TWL)
1.2 Poss het pieds(03's)(PETE KAHL)
2.1 Poss het pieds(00's)(01's) hoping to get PIEDS this year(Vin Russo, Pete Kahl)
25 Normal adult females
60 04 females
15 normal mixed 03's
20 Assorted weird ball pythons 04's

I have some buying tips here at the link below. Buying from an established and reputable breeder is probably best. That being said, they weren't always established They had to start out small like the rest of us.

Just be careful and don't rush to buy. If someone tells you they have 10 buyers just waiting for you, then pass.

How do you verify a 100% het? If it's not a visible het, currently, the only feasible way is to "prove" it out. That does not add much comfort, I know, but that's what we have for now. Just do your research and you can at least feel good knowing you took precautions.

Good luck!
Buying tips

-----
Jay A. Martin