Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am thinking of picking up a female ball at a pet store. It is about 1200 grams and wild caught. How long would you quarantine this snake before adding it to your captive bred? I have access to panacur and flagyl. Would it be a good idea to treat it? I was told it has eaten, but they are a little shady so it could be a lie. It only cost $50 so I figured it would be worth a try. Thanks for any help.

As for the quarintine, 30 days is minimum 60 is better. In general, Wild Caughts are a bad idea. You have the parasite meds so that's good. They are known to be hard to feed, I wouldn't believe the pet shop unless I saw it eat myself. It could be months, if at all, before it eats. And adults are usually harder to get started than young ones.Whatever you decide, good luck with it.

Quig

My other question is what types of problems can a WC pass to a CB? Is it mostly external parasites, or can internal parasite be passed even without any direct contact? I am planning on keeping her in a seperate room, but I was just wondering what could be the potential problems if they were kept in the same rack system?

Most WC are a pain in the butt to work with - they don't eat - they bite - they harbor parasites - and they don't breed (tho some have had luck with it a magority say they won't). If you don't mind the uphill battle then go for it knowing what you are in for. Quarantine time - 3 months minimum for a WC - make sure you get it to a herp vet to have it checked out and have a fecal done. Be sure you know how to properly administer the panacur and flagyl and what to do if you find other parasites, be sure you have access to a variety of food items and assess your patience level (you will need them) if you decided to go forward with the purchase - best of luck to you!
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

I decided against it. I went to the store and the 1200 gram female they told me about end up being 690 grams. So the $50.00 was'nt that good of a deal. Thanks for all your resonses.

Good choice!

WC are no picnic.....or shortcut for that matter.

Honestly,find a few nice cbb hatchling females(they usually lay eggs in the half the time it takes for the wc to do so).

wc are homesick,while cbb are at home in their tub...

good luck to you

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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.