purchase

Before purchase: Before deciding to purchase a snake it is a must to gather detailed information about the animal's needs. Nothing is worse than to lose an animal due to lack of information, especially as there is sufficient material available that offer comprehensive know how about snakes. You may surf the internet check out special "books" or participate in one of the many "chats". From time to time it will be helpfull to ask for advice from experienced reptile shops. In any event such advice does not release you from acquiring some basic know how since it may happen, that the sales staff only has an eye to business but doesn't really care about the animal. That sounds negative but unfortunately this is reality. Once having sufficient knowledge of terraristics and after making a choice of your favorite animals it should be no problem to get the material you need. You can find well assorted reptile shops almost everyhwere offering a broad variety of vivaria, lighting aquipment, hiding places, etc. Please pay attention to only buy electrical aquipment that has a control stamp in order to avoid problems with your insurance in case of damage. When the vivarium is set up you should run it without the animals in it for some days. This way you can control the temperature and make corrections if necessary. More over you have the chance to check whether all electrical appliances work accurately and fine-tune time switches, thermostats, etc. Purchase (different possibilities): If all this preparatory work is done you can concentrate on the purchase of your animals. To make the right choice is extremely important because there is a certain risk of getting animals that are not faultless and this may end up in disappointment. It is a matter of taste where you buy your animals. Basically you have the following possibilities: purchase from a breeder, on a fair, or from a trader. No matter where you buy there are certain advantages and disadvantages. Generally a breeder has healthy animals that have already eaten on their own. He will also be willing to let you know details about the animal's origin, it's parents, previous conditions of maintenance, etc. Animals from a breeder tend to be more expensive than those purchased from other sources. On fairs it frequently occurs that the animals are apathic and suffer from stress due to permanent traveling. Moreover fairs always attract a lot of visitors. This prevents the seller from spending much time on expert guidance. On the other hand you may be lucky and make a real good deal on a fair or even find rarities. Certainly it is a good idea to take an experienced terrarium owner with you when it comes to purchasing your animals, no matter where you buy them. As a beginner you might be rather excited and forget to ask important questions or overlook signs of sickness. In most cases traders offer wild-caught snakes. Those tend to suffer from parasitical infestation. This problem needs special attention when you buy a snake. But even if the animal seems to be healthy and vital internal parasites can not be excluded. Wild living snakes get internal parasites via their feed. In general those parasites are not dangerous for them. If, however, wild snakes are kept in captivity parasites may increase considerably and if the infestation is left untreated it will lead to the animal's death. Therefore you should have the snakes excrements examined by a vet. He will inform about steps to be taken and recommend appropriate medicin. A trader usually offers the animals at lower prices than a breeder but often he will not be able about the animals origin, age, etc. My conclusion: I for my part prefer to buy my animals from a breeder although this is often a little more expensive. The certainty of being happy with my animals for a long time is more important to me than the extra money. Besides that you have to consider the costs that might await you when buying a wild-caught snake. The costs for the examination of the excrements, the cure of mites and medicine predetermined and often are immense. You should be aware of all this when buying a wild-caught snake and when finding a breeder who takes a higher price for his healthy animals that have been examined. You won't always find a breeder for the animal you want to keep but if you consider the points mentioned above you will be able to make a good buy somewhere else as well.