Hello, Guys and gals... I'm curious. Have any of you ever ordered a snake from the Internet (kingsnake.com or some such site), and if so how was his/her condition and health? I dunno, something about ordering a live snake through the mail (off of kingsnake.com, most likely) is a bit... unnerving. The reason I ask is that I'd like to get a jungle carpet and a western hog, both of which are insanely hard to find locally (read: haven't found anything as of yet). I live in MI, so... if I ordered a snake, I'd probably have to wait 'till spring, right? It's cold up here these days... which again, makes me nervous when ordering something. Anyway, I guess I'm just asking what your personal experiences were... and if I should wait or not. Thanks for any and all responses. ^_^
Although I've never taken a snake by mail, I've had several geckos so I'll share what I can about the subject assuming that the overall process is somewhat similar. I've ordered from both known breeders and from a couple of private sellers from classifieds and so far I haven't had any trouble with the actual supplier. Before you buy, make sure you've seen a good amount of pictures and ask them any questions you might have about the animal. The seller should be easy to get ahold of, knowledgeable, and be able to answer any question you have thoroughly and politely. They should send you the tracking # for the package so you can watch online where the little guy is going The biggest problem with ordering online is not being able to physically hold it in your hands to inspect it, so make sure there are adequate pictures and if your not convinced, ask for more! LOL, if they really care about the animal they should be willing to provide for you, the customer, with anything you want before you purchase. Yes, you may run into an A-hole or two who are short with you or ignore you, but down the road you wont regret not doing business with them. I feel like I've annoyed the hell out of a couple of breeders but knowing what your getting into before the box arrives is the whole point of ordering online. Honestly, if they provide a phone number thats even better still. If they have a reliable way of contact with you and can guarantee the health of the animal and are going to be there for you after it arrives, then thats some weight off of your chest. Find out if they guarantee the health of the animal and if it's had any vet checks, what its been feeding on, their general husbandry care for the animal, etc. Now, I clearly like to kind of go over the top with some of this =) You can pick and choose from that what you feel is necessary, but if I'm making a several hundred dollar investment on an animal that going to be with me for decades to come, I want to make sure I'm getting what I want and what I pay for. Typically shipping isn't a big deal, but talk to the breeder about how they feel with winter weather shipping. Some sellers who don't need the animals to move right away may be willing to hold on to the animal and ship it in the spring or when things warm up a bit for you. Some others be willing to meet you halfway, or do a pickup at a nearby reptile show (obviously that depends on where they live). Find out what their policies are and their opinion on the matter, personally I wouldn't ship anything below 40 degrees F, but I only ship out crested geckos who are very intolerant of heat above 80 degrees so I need to be VERY careful when using heat packs. Other species of lizard or snake may be more tolerating of winter packing and excess heat from the packs or dips from the outside environment, but the seller will let you know their confidence with that - and should hopefully have a refund policy on DOA's. Another Option: perhaps post somewhere that your looking for these species of snake and would be willing to drive X miles to meet somewhere for pickup because you would rather not ship. EX: I'm going to the Cleveland show tomorrow and my buddy is looking to get a Jungle Carpet as well...I can meet you in northern Indy or something for pickup if you wanted me to pick you one up too =P <--- just an example, obviously you would want to see the animal your buying first rather than trust my judgment on the snake Anyway, I realize this is all somewhat unorganized and lengthy ('I've got some down time here). If you're really unsure about ordering be patient and wait for warmer weather so that you have no worries. Buying an animal should not be a nerve-racking experience, but an enjoyable one! Or keep an eye on the classifieds for anyone selling in your area or surrounding states, try to decide how far you would be willing to travel for a pickup if you don't want to ship now; or if the seller thinks shipping will be fine, your probably okay there too =) Good luck!!
Whoa, thanks for the awesome reply. And yeah, that's the first thing I look for when surfing the ads online: some good pics, and hopefully lots of them. It can be tough to see exactly what you're getting, I've noticed. XD Most of the breeders, I've noticed... don't like to ship in temps below 40 degrees. That seems to be the norm, and since we are colder than that (it's around 10 here, give or take... usually take) I'm thinking I need to wait 'till the spring. I don't feel comfortable ordering a critter in sub-freezing temps. I can wait, or at least keep checking the expos and getting names. Come spring/warm weather though... here I come. ^_^ Thanks again for the epic post, it really helped a lot. *thumbs up*
