i have been looking into getting a snake. i have decided on a ball python. i have been researching them and their care requirements for a while now so i know the basics of their care fairly well and im confident in my ability to care for one properly. i have found a vet and everything. i have chosen to get the snake from petsmart on account that their snakes are captive bred and petco does not advertise their snake as either captive bred, or hatched for that matter. so i would love some feedback about your experience with petsmart and the snakes there. such as, were they healthy upon purchase, did they eat well,did they take frozen thawed or did they seem to have another preference, and how was their temperament.i don't get all my information from the sales person because i dont wont to be told what i want to hear just so they make a sale. answeres to any of these would very helpfull. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
thanx much :)

Personally I'd skip any big box retailer to get any reptile. I would try to find a breeder locally, or drive out to the nearest reptile show. If that isn't available try to find a smaller reptile or even just a smaller pet store that has someone who knows what they are doing. A good pet store will have records for each critter about when it was fed, what it was fed, and overall conditions.

Big pet stores get their animals from dealers, who often get them from other dealers who get them from breeders. That is an awful lot of people to keep track of a snake. The snakes they get are the leftovers the breeders couldn't sell anywhere else. If you don't believe me check kingsnake classifieds. There are numerous listings on there at any time from big stores saying they will buy breeder's leftovers. In my experience ball pythons from stores don't feed well, and the stores I've worked at it was a struggle to be allowed to move non-feeding snakes off the sales floor. They certainly weren't tracking which were eating and which weren't. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

If a snake at a big box pet store won't take frozen I expect it won't be fed. They sell frozen food only, and I highly doubt they are breeding mice to feed to animals that insist on live. They might luck out and get an employees willing to convert them to frozen, but most likely they are put in a box with a defrosted mouse, left for ten minutes, than put back in their cage.

A normal ball python hatchling from a breeder should be $25-$40 at a reptile show. The more interesting the morph the more expensive the snake. The same snake can be anywhere from $50-$90 at a pet store. You are paying extra for a snake that has passed from hand to hand like a hot potato.

Make sure you paid attention in your research to the likely hood of your snake going off feed. I have an 8 year old ball python who has been fasting since mid-September. He does this every year, but after 3 months you start wondering when they will be hungry.

7 years keeping reptiles.
2 years working pet retail hell.

As someone else has already mentioned, every Petsmart I have been to has their ball pythons labeled as captive hatched. This is not the same as captive bred. Captive hatched means either gravid (pregnant) females were caught or eggs were found in the wild and hatched in captivity. To me, they are the same as a wild caught snake. Why buy an imported ball python for $69.99 when you can buy a healthy captive bred one from a breeder for $25 or $30?

Petsmart animals, especially the snakes, are overpriced. ><

Id recommend a reptile show. they have good deals on snakes. ball pythons are about 30 dollars.

It is good not to buy animals from a pet store. All the pet stores want is your money they don't care about the health of the animal when it is sold. Heck they would sell you a dead animal if they could. I bought a Brazilian rainbow boa from a pet store and it never ate and ended up dying. But if you want a ball python i would suggest going to a reptile show. At reptile shows all the babies are captive bred animals. And reptile shows are normally like 20-40 dollars cheaper than pet stores. If you can give me the city and state you live in i can find the closest reptile show to you.

I wouldn't get a snake from petsmart at all. Petsmart doesn't have quality reptiles or anything for that matter. I'd go to your local family owned petstore or a reptile show and get one from there, the best choice being a local small petstore. It will be cheaper, the petstore owner or show vendor will definately give you some pointers and info and you'll get a better quality animal. Ball pythons arn't very good eaters to begin with and if your get one from a chain petstore you'll probably end up with the worst eater you can get. i would go with frozen thawed, there's no risk of it injuring the snake and there's also no risk of transferring parasites to your snake. they're also much easier to store and cheaper than live.the temperment of a ball differs, but generally they're really sweet. you'll end up with a shy one if you get one from a chain petstore, and more often than not it will just curl up into a ball in your hand, but with regular handling will most likely get more comfortable and explore you. but honeslty, for a first snake i'd go with a colubrid. corn snakes, milk snakes, rat snakes. along those lines. they're prettier, better eaters, and require less heating elements. but other than the picky eater thing, balls are great.