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Snakes from the pet shop ??

Droptines

Droptines

New member
: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 ??.
 
I have found that most pet stores sell normals, amels, anerys, and the occasional snow. I've never seen snows at PetCo, but I see quite the variety at PetLand. The Petsmart in my area does not sell snakes.

PetCo wants $50-60 for a corn snake, no matter what variety (not a sale price). PetLand sells its normals for $60, its amels for $90, and its snows are well over $100. In both cases, you won't know the gender or genetic history of the snake (along with health). I'm not sure why they are so pricey up here :shrugs: .

I chose to purchase from a breeder in Texas for many reasons. 1) It's so darn expensive here, that I caught a better deal online...even with shipping!. 2) I can pick the gender. 3) I have the hets I want.

I purchased a snow and a normal het snow ($25 and $20) and paid an additional $47 (or something like that) for overnight shipping. Frankly, I got 2 for the price of one.

Which morph is the local breeder selling? Could there be a certain reason why his are priced higher than local shops?

Lets put it this way: I could buy a cheap dog from a puppymill, or I can go with a registered breeder and pay more. I'd pick the place where they have only the best intentions and pick up a higher-quality animal (my opinion).
 
Droptines said:
Anyone ever use a thin piece of natural slate over the warm end of the tank ??.
Click to expand...

I do, but he doesnt really use it, he would rather hide in his cave. Although sometimes at night he sits with his head on it.
 
How hot does the slate get? I would check on that.

Anyway, I've gotten 4 snakes from pet stores. One was fine ( a recently acquired garter); one had mites and was cohabing with a python; one wouldn't eat, and I ended up trading him (I let them know he had prob's); and another had mites, wouldn't eat, then died.
I do not buy from pet stores anymore. I have gotten corns from $10.00 and up from breeders that have been great, and they combine shipping costs, so if you get more than one you really save $.
:cheers:
 
PnyKlr said:
PetCo wants $50-60 for a corn snake, no matter what variety (not a sale price). PetLand sells its normals for $60, its amels for $90, and its snows are well over $100. In both cases, you won't know the gender or genetic history of the snake (along with health). I'm not sure why they are so pricey up here :shrugs: .
Click to expand...

Your corns are expensive! My local Petco has snows and amels for $30. Of course, the hypos are $90 and there's a striped anery for $80...
 
Even if the snake is healthy, buying the snake from a pet store is supporting their practices. If they take good care of their snakes, that's fine. But if they don't--like the idiots near me who were trying to feed the snake minnows--you're just encouraging them.

Either way, you know what you're getting when you get it from a breeder, and you have a person you can go to if there are problems--not just some guy who happens to be on shift that day but the person who actually put the mommy and daddy snake together to get your snake in the first place and then incubated the egg, watched it pip, etc.
 
I don't know: I just don't get the whole niggling over price thing. Okay, we've got people on the site who are still in high school, maybe they have problems scraping together enough money. But most folks are adults supporting themselves. I have a regular day job, I pay my bills.

When I decided to get a corn snake, I looked at the ones I could see, and I picked the one I liked best. I got one single male okeetee from Kathy Love, cost $45 plus $48 for shipping. So I paid $93 for one corn snake, and then had to buy everything so that I could care for him properly (well, the other way around, but whatever). Somehow we have still been able to make ends meet. Moreover, I don't regret a thing. My snake is the perfect snake for my tastes, he was guaranteed to be a good feeder (he is a very impressive feeder as I just discovered), no ailments, parents registered with the ACR, and he's as pretty as all get out.

How little have you budgeted for this endeavor? If you need a lot of them, i.e. you are breeding, you would never consider getting one from a pet store anyway since the genes are anyone's guess. So, you want some limited number of corn snakes as a pet or pets. Are you prepared to go to the vet if your snake has some serious health problem? That's going to cost more than the snake.

Stop being cheap, folks. Find the money somehow to get the right snake and support the people who are producing the best snakes and treating them properly. Heck, if you wanted some kind of dog breed, it would be at least hundreds of dollars even at a pet shop.

-end of rant.
 
Good point, one must always be prepared to shell out big bucks for any kind of pet. That is one of the responsiblities of having a pet. YOU are responsible for this creatures well being...only you. We just bought a American Bulldog and got a great deal on him....still alot of $ PLUS we have spent mega bucks shots, neutering, parasite meds and he sprained his knee and that was costly. Never look for the cheap way out because there is none. Snakes....must have proper housing, food, vet care if needed. I remember being laughed at for taking my daughters sick RAT to the vet and paying about 10 times what the rat cost to make her better. Yeah, I took that responsibility when we bought her for a pet.
I'll stop now...nothing pisses me off faster than irresponisble pet ownership.
 
I think it depends entirely on the petshop. The petshop I go to for my mice and crickets. The Quality of their animals is very good and I have purchased two snakes from them and I got to other snakes from an employee who was down sizing her collection of herps. They sell normals amels and anerys for $40.00, snows and hypos are about $60.00. They have a few normal mots that are $70.00 and an amel mot which is $99.99. I go there because they employees actually know what there doing. :)
 
It depends on two things--the pet store and what you are looking for in a snake. If you have a good pet store, with healthy animals, and you are just looking for a pet, then I don't see anything wrong with it. We've gotten two of our snakes from the Petco near here, and both are healthy and great eaters. But, as has been mentioned, I don't know their parentage, hets, hatch date or anything about them. But since they will just be pets, and not breeders, that's ok with me.
 
I think it depends on the actual shop to
I have 3 pet shops I visit on a reagular basis. I know they take great care of the pets (I'm a fishkeeper and have one snake now)


I've been to shops, looked around and walked right out because of the way they kept the animals and others I've started talking with the employees just to notice how passionate they are about the pets and to find out they keep lots at home as well!

So I narrowed down to 3 stores I trust!
 
Where in NY are you? If you are on, or get out to LI, try The Reptile Center in Lake Grove. They normally have a nice selection of hatchlings at decent prices this time of year, not just the usual pet store snows and anerys. My avatar pic is an Okeetee that I purchased there in 04'

Of my eight snakes, three came from there, and my other five were ordered directly directly form Cornutopia. They are all beautiful and healthy.

If you're not really close, but may head out this way in the near future, feel free to drop me a line. I'm in there all the time, and would be glad to see what they have in stock for you.

Cheers,
Scott
 
BTW- I've used slate in my tanks. It works well if you use it with a thermostat, not as a substitute for one. Cover some of your mat, and it will be cooler to varying degrees, depending on how thick it is. It's a good way to add some more temperature choices. Just be sure to place it flat on the bottom, and careful using it with with smaller hatchlings. Another benefit it it gives a nice, solid, rough edge for them to rub against while shedding.
 
I got my creamsicle from a local petstore for $50 with no problems. It's not a big chain like Petsmart though. The employees know snakes and take care of all the critters well, which is rare. It depends on the store, you can usually tell in 30 seconds if a petstore is someone you'd get an animal from. There are more around here that I wouldn't buy from than would. You can't go wrong going through a reputable breeder though and I'm going to go that route for my next corn, which will be an Okeetee....well maybe a Bloodred or.....you get the picture.
 
Like the others have said, it depends on what you are after. Pets or breeders, for the obvious reasons regarding lineage etc. I have snakes from both Petco and from breeders. I had a normal hatchling from a Petco that died within 2 wks never taking a meal, replaced by Petco with a snow that is a healthy thriving yearling now. I got a ghost and a lav in the same shipment from a breeder the ghost is thriving after 7mo and the lav died after continually regurging in the first 2 months. I paid $40 (1 snake) at the petstore and $150 (2 snakes) with shipping from the breeder. I have a BP from Petco that came with a case of mites. Snakes have been treated and all is well. I have a RTB that came from a breeder, she is beautiful and healthy.

I guess what I am saying is that you take your chances either way you go. Just be prepared for what you get. Even the most reputable breeder cannot guarantee a hatchling will thrive. Please don't misunderstand, I am not advocating for petstores that don't provide proper care for their animals either.
 
I would think that you have to go there knowing what to look for. Kinks, mites, non eater and stay away from them. Like stated above, do you plan on breeding or is the snake for a pet. Like anything you buy, you have to be a knowledgeable consumer.
 
I go every week to a store that *used* to be PetLand. Now it changed to California Pets. They seem to take very good care of their animals. I would have no problem buying a snake from there. But then again, I'm not a breeder and couldn't care less about their genetics. I just want a snake that's pretty and has no problems. :)

All their animals are really friendly and every week I make friends with the big parrots. :grin01: Even their reptiles are usually pretty friendly. Just last week, the staff let me hold a Columbian Red Tailed Boa. He was all soft from the water he was soaking in. (Weird, I thought, but if that was just 'weird', I hate to think of what our cat Sandy is. :grin01: )
 
I am just looking for a pet snake.No intentions of breeding down the road,so blood line isn't that important.If I do go the pet shop rout,I will be going over it with a fine tooth comb,so to speak.I'll let you know how I make out.
Thanks for all suggestions.
 
I think you have to be VERY careful with petstores, even if you think you know what the animals are like. I used to do some voluntary work at a reptile shop near me and I thought the animals were mega healthy there. I got Connor from there, no problem. I got my python there, three days later my vivs are swarming in snake mites. And the annoying part is that I examined this python like four/five times before I bought him, and I go in that shop a lot and never saw mites on any of the animals. I know Chester didn't get mites from Connor, so I can only assume they came from the petstore!

I'm not saying never buy from a petshop. I will again, simply because there really are no corn breeders near me. But I'm just pointing out that it pays to be careful, and don't assume there aren't things going on in the shop which you cannot see.
 
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