Finding the right snake at EXPO's

I'm guessing and this is only a guess but IMO I would think that snake breeders do not bring their best snakes to the EXPO's to sell.

Here are my reasons (Not Facts)

Waiting list. Most breeders have them and most people on them want the best looking snake. (At least I would)

Breeders hold backs. Sort of like the pick of the litter. If the breeder doesn't keep it he probably will hook up someone he knows with those snakes first. If they don't want it I'm guessing the people on the waiting list will snatch them up.

Price. Of course depending on the snake the price might be out of reach for most people or no one would see spending that much for that type of snake.

Large scale breeding. If a breeder has hundreds or even thousands of snakes the breeder may have an over flow of very nice snakes and the expo would be a great place to sell them.

I'm just not sure if I should wait for Daytona or not. I am very; very picky so just leaving my perfectionist side in the hands of someone else has always caused me problems. Driving hundreds of miles to hand pick the snake is not my cup of tea. I want many kinds and expo brings them all to me. My only concern is finding those great looking snakes. Great color, unbroken bands or smeared blotches that connect to another. Yes I am very picky. If we sold snakes like we do cats and dogs I would have to buy a SHOW snake every time and not just a pet snake for hundreds less. I know we do to a point but what are the chances of these snakes making it to the expos? I'm guessing by Daytona the best of the best are gone...?


I would like to hear some thoughts from breeders and people who visit these expo's? Am I close or am I way off here?

My favorite snake came from Daytona!

I think there are two things to be hopeful for. Some breeders are so large scale they can no longer hold back all their best snakes. They have to sell them.

August is when a lot of people start selling hatchlings. Right now it's June, and hatching season is just beginning. There are stlil the majority of clutches left to go! August is when those babies will have had their three meals and be ready to go.

One thing I've heard about Daytona, and it probably goes for any show- if you see something you love, but are undecided, because there might be something better at the next table- it'll likely be gone when you go back.

Nanci

Yep, what Nancy said... even though a number of the breeders don't bring everything they have to the table - you can still find some really nice animals. Especially at the larger shows (Like Daytona and a few others.) It is worth it to go and look and see what is available - there's always be something that will strike your fancy, even if it wasn't what you were originally looking for.


Jenn

I've got my plane ticket, rental car, and hotel already for Daytona. I don't think anything rivals it for quantity and diversity. It seems to me that many vendors bring the best of what they have to Daytona. It is the place to show off what you've done. Are we all still gonna get together for dinner?

As far as I know! I haven't decided where to stay yet. Host hotel is nice, but expensive, but on the beach. I wonder what Stephanie ever decided about the T-shirt.

Nanci

I'm sorta half and half on this one.
While I do think it is a great place to pick up steals, I also wonder about breeders pushing off some of their underweight hatchlings at great prices lol.
I mean I got my 06 Charcoal weighing only 24grams I was a little dissapointed by that.
BUT on the plus side she's a great feeder, has a wonderful tempermant, and has already gained 9 grams having only been feeding her since 5/10 and she had a regurg. So I consider myself lucky to have gotten so a wonderful first snake for $35 :grin01:

Joe and I have attended quite a few shows/expos over the last year and Daytona, by far, blows them all away. The number of vendors, the quality and quantity of snakes and other reptiles available - just far and away the best show to be found.

After attending some of the smaller shows earlier last year in Tampa and Orlando - when we got to Daytona last year I was almost prepared to be disappointed. But when we walked in the door and saw how huge it was....I was overwhelmed. I think you would be hardpressed to walk out of that place empty handed.

The biggest and best breeders from all over the country come to this show and I think they bring a wide selection of what they have available. Not everything is going to be your "perfect dream snake" of course....but not everyone is looking for that perfect snake either. There are a lot of people just looking for a normal average snake which is why I think the breeders bring such a wide variety...and why Daytona is such a great show - it really covers the spectrum from the person just looking for a pet, to the beginning hobbyist to the other big breeders looking for new blood for their lines etc...
There are hatchlings, juveniles and adults...snakes, reptiles and arachnids....

And a tip - if you see someone selling the morph you are looking for, but there isn't one on the table you like...ask if they have any more. Sometimes there isn't enough table space to display everything they have with them and they might have more UNDER the tables that they can show you.

Corny Noob said:

I'm sorta half and half on this one.
While I do think it is a great place to pick up steals, I also wonder about breeders pushing off some of their underweight hatchlings at great prices lol.

Click to expand...

I am sure that is true for some breeders, but not the majority. Sure, everyone has a story about a skinny, sick animal they saw at the local expo, but for every one of those scrawny animals there are hundreds of large, healthy, and robust animals.

Many breeders have jobs (besides breeding), don't have web sites, and/or don't have the time/patience to deal with individual members of the public all the time (i.e. email conversations, phone calls, FedEx shipments, etc.), so they save up all their critters for shows and expos.

I do that with my birds sometimes. Show customers get the same high quality animal that an individual private buyer would get. At a show I am able to sell for a bit less because I'm selling a larger quantity of animals in one day than I would if I shipped single animals or allowed individual customers to come spend an hour in my aviary just to pick out one bird.

Gotta love the convenience of a show/expo, especially for those of us who are more interested in the science of animal husbandry than the PR hassle that goes along with it. Not every animal person is also a "people person".

What is the HOT snakes like at Daytona? Is there a big selection? How about for CB babies in this case CB07?

I do not believe they have any HOT snakes at Daytona.
The CB 07 selection should be pretty good as the majority of the selection available last year was CB06 hatchlings.