Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anyone bought from anyone in kansas city...their are 2 groups in the clasifides with "CB" babies selling for a low $250 a piece...

do people sell low like that because they are probably imports or because not many paople would buy from a new name to the game???
i know anyone can get imports, but kansas is not real big on it and with 2 groups selling i'm kinda wondering...

advise???

shiloh

What you must remember is, Bushmaster's U.S. facility is in Colorado. I'm sure these $250 "CBB" chondros are from Kam. I don't know of ANYONE that would put the work into getting babies started for $250 ea. I wouldn't.

Brandon Osborne

i am not really planning of it.... but please answer me this Brandon... if they will eat for me at the store would you say its ok???
i'm at a slight disadvantage here... all but one of my snakes came from europe, so i really dont know the rules of buying from a pet store...
if they eat for me and are active ect... would you consider it a safe buy???
and if not please explain why...
thanks

shiloh

Hi:

If you see a chondro eat in a pet store, you'd be best to wait until the chondro has digested the meal before transporting it back to your facility. To do that, you'd need to at least be able to trust the pet store, and be able to make the necessary arrangements with them to hold it for you until it's ready to go...all this assuming you've determined the snake is otherwise mite-free and healthy, etc.

Though I'm sure it's been done (successfully) in some isolated situations, I can't think of any time where I'd transport a snake after it has just eaten.

Good luck,

Stu

I would never buy from a pet store. They may be eating, however there may be other problems. If you watch it eat, then it's a step in the right direction, but i'd want to see eat/defeciation/shed records from the snake. Especially a snake as high end as a Chondro should have records on it. If they don't, that would red flag it for me.

But as I said, one meal is not as much of an insurance policy as you may think. You may get it home and can never get it to eat again. I would make sure it has at least 10-15 meals, documented on paper, in it before I brought it home. Most breeders wont let their Chondros go before they have had this many.

As Greg Maxwell puts it "You are not shopping for the right animal nearly as much as you are looking for the right breeder!" I honestly have to say better words haven't been spoken.

Personally, I don't buy anything from pet shops except for caging supplies. Reason is that usually in pet shops you'll end up with a lot of highschool kids who just want some money to go get drunk on the weekend, they don't know how to care for the animal, and so they won't. I know of one pet store I used to actually work at that only would feed their neonate snakes every other week! When I questioned this, I was told "well they rarely die from this." That, along with a lot of other things, caused me to quit and turn them in to the feds, but thats another story.

You can also get snakes from pet stores that have parasites, mites, etc. if you DO decide, for some reason or another, to buy a snake from a pet store, quarantine it in another room for at least 6 months to make sure it's free from parasites/mites...this will help prevent spreading to the rest of your collection. (Really I quarantine all my new snakes for 6 months, no matter where I get them. I'm obsessed about that.)

If you do decide to get one from a pet store, quiz them. Quiz on feedings, care, husbandry, etc. Ask to see their back room. Some back rooms are absoutely filthy. Some are nice. It's just the luck of the draw.
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-Chris

0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat
1.0 Black Rat
0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
1.0 Green Tree Python
0.1 Texas Bairds Rat

The educated are the few. The uneducated are the masses.

North American Rat / Corn Snake Care Sheet

Hi:

I had considered saying much the same thing about buying -ro rather, not buying - snakes (especially chondros) from a pet shop. However, I decided not to because, while there are many pet shops that, in my opinion, ought not to be selling snakes, my first couple of dozen snakes were purchased at a pet shop (fish and reptiles only). The owner was, himself, a reptile keeper and kept his pet shop - and the snakes he sold there - in tip-top condition. He guaranteed everything he sold me and stood by his guarantee. Not the usual pet shop I'll grant you, but reason enough to prevent me from broad-brushing all pet shops.

However, I do agree with most of the advice you give, along the lines of what else to look for other than watching the snake eat a meal, etc.

Stu

Why not just go directly to Kam? I'm sure he'd set you up with what you need. I don't like to give advice like this. lol. I don't want to be the one to blame later on.

Brandon

i'm not looking for anyone to blame... i'm just asking opinions... i was just wondering what you would do if you were in my shoes... well now that i think about it brandon you could just sell me that male you just breed that you havent named yet... lol
i'm having so much fun with this hobby... these snakes are really easy to care for once you understand all their needs... not that i knwo all the in's and outs yet but i'm getting their...

maybe someday i'll reach brandons level... or maybe i'll just buy one of his snakes...

thanks for the advise... i'm going to check them out on wednesday and see if i can get them to eat... if i can get them to eat i'm going to go shopping at the furnature mart for a few hours and come back and check them out... i'm only about 1hr 40 min away, so i would be transporting them that evening... that is IF i like that i see and have no doubts...

shiloh

Don't feel bad about that advice! I bet some of the most well known Chondro breeders in the U.S. have bought, owned and bred Chondros they bought from or by way of Bushmaster. Just go to Chondroweb and ask around. I'm sure they will tell you all about it!

If it was up to me, I would buy captive bred end of story. I recently purchased a "farmed" and "well started" from a well known retail store and it died within 3 weeks. They gave me half off next purchase but for the price of both purchases I could have got a captive bred and a for sure well started animal from a reputable breeder for the same price. I won't make that mistake again. Just my .02 cents.
Travis

Like stated in an above post, it's all in knowing you have a really good breeder. It's not always a bad idea to buy from a pet shop, and it's not always a good idea to buy direct from a breeder. Just like with dogs, younger snakes sell easier. Bacause of this, a lot of breeders/stores will feed the animal just enough to keep it healthy, if even that much.

If it's something like a ball python, or a bearded dragon..something like that...i have no problem buying from a pet store. But something like a chondro, unless the store owner was the breeder, you have to question what it's doing in the store. Chances are, it's either wild caught, not eating right, or both. Also, a store 99% of the time won't be able to give you any info on locality, parents, an exact feeding schedule, ect.

What it comes down to, is if you're gonna spend the money on something like a chondro, regardless if it's from a dealer or a pet shop, don't buy unless the seller can give you a feeding chart, locality (not always nec.), parental info,and atleast an appx hatch date if it's a store-exact if a breeder.

Just my thoughts on it

Chris
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