its cool i've been reading online the last few days about snakes, turns out i wouldn't want a boa anyways, i'd be too paranoid about it flipping out and strangling my dog if it got out of its cage.

apparently corn & king snakes are more pet / noob friendly

 

King snakes are pretty good for beginners. I think balls would be a little better for a beginner though. It can be pretty exspensive trying to get the hobby started out though. There was a breeder in blacksburg called loki herp(loki herpetology) who I had gotten my orginal balls from for $30/each. You may want to check around to see if they are still out that way. The only other breeder I know of around here is Boa Master out of bedford but he specializes in breeding rare boa morphs and exotics.(which cost a pretty penny)His site www.boamaster.com

I wish I still had all of my snakes maybe once I get my own place I can get some more.

 

I'll take it if you want to bring it to Norfolk

 

Could do what I did, find a sick/abused one in a name brand pet store (this one being Petco) and go off on the idiot who force fed it to much, "jus because he didnt want to have to feed it again in a month". I got kicked out and was told to never come back, but my boyfriend at the time staid to talk to the people and they gave him the snake to give to me. Already had all the setup from my previous snakes so it didnt cost me much at all. My ball has been a breeze to take care of compared to the other ones I've owned. When it has gotten loose I have never worried about it being around my other animals. I worry about my calico killing it, but my Tom cat and it have never bothered eachother. Only thing I dislike is the "lack of personality", it isnt very active at all and thats not something I'm used to. My favorite snake so far was probably the black racer I had for a while.

 

petsmart says they sell snakes on their site, so i'm assuming the one in roanoke does, at least the beginner breeds hopefully. thanks for the tips

 

Whaaaaaaaat.....last time i went in there they said they do not sell snakes nor feeders for snakes.....Hmm...

And FYI the Ball Is back up......her lawyer said to go ahead and get rid of it...as it's been more than 30 days the legel limit for him to collect his shit..


SO COME AND GET IT...Getting pictures tomrow....

 

hehe yeah I made the mistake once of going there to try to get mice for my snake... had to tell them it was going to be a "pet" for my younger sister.

I was going to ask about the 30 days thing. Cause thats really how I got my Starion. He left it at my place and didnt get in contact with me about it for over 3 months so it legally became mine.

 

Yea..it's been a year..she done tossed everything..and he recently got a subepene to get his shit back....her reaction was "fuck you"


so she wants the snake gone to..

 

well tell ya what... if you check it out for me and it's not aggressive,(have seen a few really moody ones) or in really bad shape, then I'll come get it. Just give me a time and place.

I wouldnt mind it being aggressive if there werent kids that came around the house. They love the ball I have now and when I'm around I do let them hold it, they're very careful with it and it seems to make their day. I just dont need one of them getting bit

 

Really? The balls that I had.. which Gary(amdxp2000) now has, have a ton of personality. Which I got them when they were abour 8 days old so that may have something to do with it. I did handle them on a regular basis as well which plays a big part in it.

They definately do not. Petsmarts are very weird.. the one in Roanoke only sells lizards(in the reptile family) Whereas the one in lynchburg I have seen sell turtles and tortoises as well.

If you are serious about getting a snake, I would strongly encourage you to not buy one from a pet store. Buy one from a breeder if at all possible. 9 out of 10 pet stores really do not know anything about the snakes that they have. A lot of them don't know how to care for the snakes and worst than that they do not know the precondition of the snake. For instance: lets say a snake is not eating. Well obviously there is a reason the snake is not eating wether it is sick or maybe the climate or humidity is not properly setup for the snake. Sometimes snakes just don't want to eat.. it is not real uncommon to see a snake go 1-2 months without wanting to eat. A lot of pet stores will force feed the snake which is something that should NEVER EVER be done.

The only petstore within the area I would trust to buy a snake from is Pet and Aquatic Warehouse in Lynchburg. They have a reptile specialist on hand who knows his snakes.They are also the only store in the area that has someone licensed to probe a snake.

There is a store in christiansburg that I have not checked out which you may want to do so that is called ZooQuatic PetCenter(I think they just reopened) on franklin st. in christiansburg. They might be worth checking out... but for sure before you purchase a snake do your homework on them and ask a lot of questions about them to the pet store if they sound like they don't know what they are talking about then I would not purchase from them at all.

Once again the best place to buy from is a reputable breeder... even if you have to get them shipped a lot of times it is still cheaper then a petstore would sell them for. Check out www.faunaclassifieds.com as that site is full of breeders selling every kind of snake out there from regulars to morphs.

It is an exspensive hobby to start out in.. expect to spend anywhere from $150-600 on the setup alone depending on what type of enclosure you decide to go with. Oh and definately do a research on the type of snake you want before buying it many snakes out there get in excess of 8ft in length although that would be uber cool.. it is very exspensive to keep buying a new setup for to accomodate it's size, not to mention all snakes are escape artists and it will not be cool to wake up one morning with your dogs head sticking out of your snakes mouth.