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how much for an Amelanistic corn snake

KyGirl

KyGirl

New member
My nephew has decided he wants his corn snake back and I do not want to let her go. If you read my previous post you can see why. Long story short, bad care. I have grown attached to her. He does not have a permanent home. He is 18 years old and engaged to a 26 year old woman with a baby. Dropped out of college. No job. I love him but he is a mess.

I am going to try and buy her from him but need to know what kind of price to offer. I cannot afford to pay a huge sum. I was thinking of offering him $40 for her and would go up as much as $60. Does this sound about right? He said he paid $120 for her but I don't think he did. I have put a lot of money into making her living conditions better. I built her a new viv, got a heat mat and thermostat for her, new hides, water fall and other miscellanous items. I have also been buying her food and switched her from live to frozen/thawed. He believes she should be fed live even though I have tried to educate him on how bad that is. She has grown a couple of inches in my care and put on a little weight. Current weight is 171.4 grams before feeding.

Sorry to ramble on. I am just really worried about letting her go. All his other exotics died and I don't think he can care for her properly until he grows up.
 
I have sold several "retired" breeders of common mutations for $50. These are full grown snakes in their prime. Only retired b/c I didn't need their babies. $40 sounds more than fair.
 
Completely agree with Chip. You can get an amel at a pet store for $40 to $60 sometimes more. Of course cheaper through a local breeder but for piece of mind that she is staying in a good home is enough to pay pet store prices. Now my question is, is he just going to turn around and put another snake in a poor situation or do you think it is just about the money?
 
Tell him the baby is going to get salmonella from the snake. Not true, but he won't know that.

And $40-$50 seems fair.
 
Amels run about $50 or so at Petco/PetSmart here-sometimes a little more if they're considered "fancy", so $40 seems like a good starting point.

I definitely wouldn't give him the snake back! Poor baby deserves a good home!

--Donna
 
Yes, Christen, I am afraid he will get another snake. He keeps talking about a boa. I love him but he is really spoiled. My sister has his Malamute(?spelling) dog. He talked the pet shop into letting him take it on credit. Showed the dog off for awhile until it grew out of puppy cute then left it at my sisters, his grandmother. In the last year he has had scorpions, spiders, an iguana, a cat and a bird. All but the cat and bird have died. The cat ran away. The bird is at his mom's. He said he was taking the dog too but his grandpa said no. He just isn't very good with the care of pets.

He does like money and is constantly broke. His grandmother is starting to realize she is going to have to stop giving him money. He says he doesn't want to give up his snake but my sister is working on him and I am trying to convince him he isn't set up for a pet right now. I am going to offer him $40 and use some guilt since I have been out the money to provide a proper home for her. If push comes to shove, I am just going to refuse to let her go, give my sister the money so she can put it in his bank account and call it a day. Time for tough love I think.

Oh, and the idea about salmonella might work if I mention it around the girlfriend. However, she doesn't even have custody of her baby. The father does. My sister has already warned him about snakes and reptiles carrying salmonella and warned me too. I know enough to know you have to wash your hands after working with any animal.
 
Call me a hard arse, but I'd add in the price of the stuff to build the new viv, the heat mat, thermostat, cost of food in the time you've had it and everything else and tell him flat out if it weren't for you the snake would be dead. This kid needs some hard love and that snake deserves you. Actually if it were me, I'd just tell the kid no he can't have it back and exactly why and stand my ground. Heck, sounds like you did him a favor by taking it {not to mention the huge favor to the snake}, I say he owes you more than you owe him - I'd tell him that too, lol. Ah, but I'm touchy when it comes to folks not treating critters right and can be an S.O.B. ;)
 
Honestly, I agree with HermesMom.

I'd be telling him to take a hike.

With his track record, he's obviously not a person who should be having a pet right now.

Personally, with someone like that, I'd consider the animal abandoned/adopted once he's

decided to hand it off to someone else to take care of. He obviously didn't care enough

about it to take care of it.

And I wouldn't have the slightest problem telling him that, but then again I'm rather

forthright to the point of rudeness when it comes to my animals.
 
HermesMom said:
Call me a hard arse, but I'd add in the price of the stuff to build the new viv, the heat mat, thermostat, cost of food in the time you've had it and everything else and tell him flat out if it weren't for you the snake would be dead. This kid needs some hard love and that snake deserves you. Actually if it were me, I'd just tell the kid no he can't have it back and exactly why and stand my ground. Heck, sounds like you did him a favor by taking it {not to mention the huge favor to the snake}, I say he owes you more than you owe him - I'd tell him that too, lol. Ah, but I'm touchy when it comes to folks not treating critters right and can be an S.O.B. ;)
Click to expand...

Agree with all of the above^^^

As I see it you are its rightful owner.

Who built it a proper viv? You
Who have it all the necessities for that viv? You
Who makes sure it's fed correctly? You
Who took it in from a bad situation? You
Who cares about this snake? You

As far as the money is concerned, he gave it to you with no expectation of money paid, so in my opinion you do not have any obligation to pay him for the snake. So why buy a snake that you already own?
 
No advice other than to say I understand having a spoiled (my mother's doing) nephew who is now an adult making decisions that make you crazy. I have 2. One is 21 and already divorced and had a car (that my mom signed for) repo'ed. The other is 18 and recently stole $1k from my mom and has dropped out of high school. Hope I learn from them that I will do my son no favors by over indulging him. :(
 
Okay, I took the hard approach. He came to the house last night and I told him he wasn't taking her until he proved he could provide a stable home. I pointed out all the mistakes he has made with animals in his care and how long my animals live. Cats lived to be 21 and 17?. One dog is 21 and still going and in good health for her age, another is 17 and the same, and another dog who is 12 and in good health. Never had a reptile so nothing to compare. He agreed that he hasn't been doing the best and needs to learn more. No one has really stood their ground with him but me. His dad died when he was a baby and his mother is a flake. Everyone has felt sorry for him and let him pretty much do whatever he wanted. Now that he is approaching adulthood, they are realizing they did him no favors.

I have agreed to help him get another snake, a boa, when he has had a stable home for at least a year. Shows me he has the needed equipment and knows how to properly care for it. If that time comes, I will make surprise visits to check on the snake. Now lets see if he is really taking this serious. His Grandmother has also told him no more pets and no more money for non essentials. I don't know if that will stick but she seems pretty fed up. Plus her husband retired and they just don't have the money to waste.

He has also agreed to help me with building my house. He also has to get a job. Lets hope he really is growing up. I love him and want the best life possible for him.

Pumpkin, the snake, will be staying with me.
 
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