Snakes from the pet shop ??

I suggest you consider a reptile show

Buying Snakes from Breeder can at times be quite expensive. Usually you get what you pay for, but then you have to pay about $40.00 or so to have the little fellow shipped to you. A lot of Breeder don’t want or don’t have to time to deal with smaller buyers coming to there home or place of breeding snakes. Personally I like to see what I’m buying before I purchase it. That may not always be possible if you want a very rare/special snake.

Other wise I suggest you consider a reptile show (that is if they held one in your neck of the woods. You can get your new snake directly from the breeder ask them all the questions a pet shop usually won’t have the answers to. Plus you usually get the best of the best of what they have to offer. There less than best is sometimes sold to the pet shops.

The competition at the reptile shows usually offers some real bargains. You may very well find what you are looking for at a price well below what a local pet shop would sell it for. I strongly recommend going directly to the breeder. Above are just a few of over a dozen good reasons to buy directly from the breeder.

Droptines said:

:eek1: I know,I know,,buy a snake from say, a Petsmart is not smart.But,now it is possible to get a healthy snake from a store like this.The key/trick is to get it before its been in the store for very long,,would you agree ?.It's just that whole dang price thing.The local snake dealer starts his prices at say 80.00,and goes up to 125.00 or so :eek1:
You can pick up a corn for 39.95 in the local Petsmart.Thats a pretty big difference,wouldn't you say ??.
Anyone ever use a thin piece of natural slate over the warm end of the tank ??.

Click to expand...

:shrugs: It has been a LONG time since there was a reptile show in my "neck" of the woods.I think last year there was a show within a few hours of me,but as usual I had way too much going on to make that trip.I'm going to keep looking though.I would drive a few hours to spend an afternoon looking at a bunch of really cool looking snakes,,and if a had some money burning a hole in my pocket,well.. :grin01:

If there were reptile shows in the uk where it was legal to buy then yeah I would do that. But over here the only shows are show only and no selling, and have to be run like private clubs. Members of the public tend not to be able to attend or are unaware of when and where they are being held etc and find it hard to obtain that info. I guess I am lucky in that the only questions my shop could not awnser for me was the sex of my corn and its possible hets. Both of which are things I dont need to know just yet anyway but can find out though breeding trials and a visit to the vets.

Good Customer Service goes a long way!

Dear Sarah,

That’s interesting what you said about the UK I never new that. :sobstory: It sounds like it’s a matter of who you know. In other words you need to know the right people in order to get into one of those shows. The way I learn about my local Reptile show was thru my Local Family owned Pet-Shop. This particular Pet Shop in my opinion is above the rest. I buy some of my supply from them the rest I buy online. I like buying online when I can because I usually get the best prices.

Speaking of this local family owned Pet-Shop, they can look at two baby Corn Snake an easily tell which one is a male and which one is a female due to the size and length of the tail. See if you can get your local Pet-Shop to show you this difference and if they are unable then you may want to invest in a good book on Corn Snakes or simply pick up a few at the library.

I would save the expense of a vet visit to when my little ones are sick.

A really good Pet-Shop would lovingly allow you to bring in your pet for FREE and they will answer any basic questions you have about your new Corn Snake Such as the type/phase of Corn Snake you have. They should be able to tell you the sex of your Corn-Snake as well. Good Customer Service goes a long way and they know it. If the Pet-Shop you purchase your Corn-Snake from is unable to help you then go to another Pet Shop. Ask you friends where they got there reptile from or ask the http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/.

I wish you nothing but Joy and Happiness as your raise your Corn Snake. :rofl:

sarah s said:

If there were reptile shows in the uk where it was legal to buy then yeah I would do that. But over here the only shows are show only and no selling, and have to be run like private clubs. Members of the public tend not to be able to attend or are unaware of when and where they are being held etc and find it hard to obtain that info. I guess I am lucky in that the only questions my shop could not awnser for me was the sex of my corn and its possible hets. Both of which are things I dont need to know just yet anyway but can find out though breeding trials and a visit to the vets.

Click to expand...

Actually the trip to the vets resulted in me being told a place locally where I could get my little one sexed, so I did not need to spend cash there. The shop I got my little one from was able to awnser all the questions I had apart from the sex and possible hets and were able to tell me which morph I was buying. If they had breed the corn themselfves I am sure they would have been able to tell me bout the hets as well, but as for pet shops here it is really only cost effective to buy from big wholesalers who dont keep or pass on the het or other parental info for each snake. The place my pet shop used is called peregrin live foods.

Smooth_Earth_Snake said:

Speaking of this local family owned Pet-Shop, they can look at two baby Corn Snake an easily tell which one is a male and which one is a female due to the size and length of the tail.

Click to expand...

Sexing by visual inspection, especially of hatchlings, is not reliable.

Some Pet-Shops are better than others.

Some Pet-Shops are better than others.

It sounds like you have access to a good Pet-Shop one that you like and trust. That’s GOOD!

One of my breeders has only been in the business only 10 years the other almost 30 years. They both come highly recommend, they both have WEB pages, are available to answer additional questions that I might come up with later and one of them has the parents of my little guy registered on-line. I’ve seen pictures of both parents of my baby, and on-and-on-and on.

My breeders Answered all my questions including the date of birth, when and what they east last, and when they shed last. As well as a host of other things that were important to me. I ended up asking 12 questions that the members from the CornSnakes.com Forums suggested I ask breeder at the reptile show. I find this forum to be very in lighting.

May you have many, many year of enjoyment with your Corn Snake. :wavey:

sarah s said:

Actually the trip to the vets resulted in me being told a place locally where I could get my little one sexed, so I did not need to spend cash there. The shop I got my little one from was able to awnser all the questions I had apart from the sex and possible hets and were able to tell me which morph I was buying. If they had breed the corn themselfves I am sure they would have been able to tell me bout the hets as well, but as for pet shops here it is really only cost effective to buy from big wholesalers who dont keep or pass on the het or other parental info for each snake. The place my pet shop used is called peregrin live foods.

Click to expand...

h is why I am taking my little one to be popped or probed depending on which way the place that can sex them does it. By the way my little one is not a hatchling having hatched some time last year. My little one does however have quite a bit of catching up to do, but has been making steady progress since may when I brought it.

"I am taking my little one to be popped or probed"

Hello Sarah,

Some people feel quite confident when it comes to just looking at a Corn Snake and telling it’s sex others don’t feel that, that’s a very reliable way to tell.

There seem to be no controversy when it comes to telling the sex by means of probing. Even thought the snakes might not like it. I’m told that it doesn’t hurt them.

When you discover which sex your Corn Snake is let us know.

Sound like your snake is eating well, GREAT!

Keep up the Good work.

sarah s said:

h is why I am taking my little one to be popped or probed depending on which way the place that can sex them does it. By the way my little one is not a hatchling having hatched some time last year. My little one does however have quite a bit of catching up to do, but has been making steady progress since may when I brought it.

Click to expand...

Smooth_Earth_Snake I will let you know when I know which it is once I find out. Yes my Rainoo is eatting well and since may has gained weight and length nicely, having progressed from 9 grams to 38 grams since I brought him or her home. Rainoo has also gained lenght from about 10 inches to 22 inches so seems to be catching up on where a 05 hatchling would normally be quite nicely.
I am rehomming Rainoo shortly into a 3 foot viv and once the last of the fuzzies is gone will be moving him or her onto hoppers. Rainoo is in blue right now but once the shed is over I should have some good photos to share, especially as I could do with some opinions on the extreame colour changes Rainoo seems to be going though.