I will be purchasing my first snake in years soon, a beautiful colorful corn snake. Over the last few weeks I’ve been educating myself both here on MM and also a couple of books I’ve purchased.
I’ve found a snake I really like. Also, the price seems very reasonable… almost too much so. This snake has very little information accompanying it: just one photo and the minimum amount of genetic info (seem like this snake should have more). This snake is a popular morph and given the very reasonable price I am wondering why it hasn’t sold yet.
The last part of the situation is that the seller/breeder has a stellar rep here on MM. Being so new to the MM community, the last thing I want to do is offend by asking them questions about things most other sellers seem to include in their descriptions.
I am a cautious person by nature and I just can’t understand why this snake is “priced to sell” and hasn’t sold in almost 5 months. I have a feeling, due to my newbness, that I am missing the reason the snake is still available.
Is there possibly an expert who might be able to look at this snake/ad and give me some advice? Regarding the ad, I would rather not identify it here. I don’t want to cause problems for the seller nor do I want to lead other snake lovers to the ad and maybe lose my chance at purchasing it.
Thanks for any help that can be given to this Newb!
Could be a few reasons for this. Some breeders are more volume focused. They have a lot of animals, list them at low prices to move, and can have more basic information. There’s also the fact that the market isn’t great right now, so many breeders have been holding onto snakes a lot longer. Five months really isn’t a long time for an animal to be listed before selling. We’re coming up on spring breeding season, and often prices will go down so breeders can move older stock to free up space before new clutches are laid and start hatching.
My general advice is this: Ask the breeder the questions you want to, they were the ones that didn’t provide enough information in the listing. If they’re offended or refuse, that would be a bit of a red flag, as a good breeder should be willing to answer questions from a potential customer, even if they’re considered basic. I’m a corn snake breeder myself, and I actually prefer customers who ask questions. Makes it clear that you care about the snake you’re purchasing and that you’re trying to find what’s right for you.
I will say, if you’re looking for a snake that’s going to be more of a pet, that you want to be handleable, your best bet would be a smaller breeder. The more animals produced, the less time they can spend one-on-one with each individual, especially if it’s a solo operation.
Is this a high volume breeder/seller? If so maybe someone else who works for this breeder/seller did the listing without paying attention to details such as genetics?
Since you are concerned about offending the breeder/seller by asking for more information regarding the genetics of this animal you can start with “I would like to respectfully ask the following questions”. I believe you will be more apt to offend this person if you want to quibble about the already seemingly fair price.
If you really like this corn snake, don’t let a couple of harmless questions stand in the way of acquiring an animal that really appeals to you. So just jump right in! I do feel the need to warn you of the danger of belonging to this community though. You may start off with one reptile, then another and another and another……. So you can’t say you haven’t been warned!
You do have to pay taxes here but we accept pictures and lots of um!
I am terrible with corn morphs, so I am definitely no help there.
If the seller lives up to their stellar reputation, a potential buyer with questions is a part of it. Communication is a big part of things.
Some breeders will be a little antsy about updating photos or sending additional ones…(possibly because of scammers trying to use them) But any other questions should be easy enough for them. If they are rude or condescending, they shouldn’t be worth any more of your time or money.
But also don’t feel afraid to post any later questions you think of here. And make sure you pay the tax by showing pictures of the new little guy when you do decide on one.
And I agree with @noodlehaus. Ask the breeder any clarifying questions, and if they don’t want to answer or brush you off, move on to the next breeder. And I’m happy to take a look at the ad and see if it raises any red flags if you want to send me a link privately.
Hooray for another person who will soon be joining those blessed to have a corn snake! You are in for a lot of joy and fun.
Absolutely feel free to ask questions of the breeder. Communicationd are part of doing business in any case, and for most of us, it’s an enjoyable part. I’d encourage you to list all the questions in one message. Any responsible breeder will reply to reasonable questions, and they should do so in a reasonable time. Not everyone responds within an hour, but if you haven’t gotten a reply within 24 hours, I’d be surprised.
And absolutelynice on to your next choice if anything about your communications with that breeder doesn’t feel right.
Looking forward to seeing your new snake when you get it!
This could be due to having a large inventory. A lot of larger breeders will simply copy ads just to make things go quicker and give more info once they talk to an individual whos interested in buying, asking questions never hurts! If they are offended by you asking questions about the animal they are selling though it could be a red flag and its perfectly fine if you are put off by how they communicate, you can always find another breeder if they make you feel uncomfortable. Have the questions you want to ask clear and concise.
As for the price, it could be them lowering the price to sell more and make room for the next breeding season which is coming up very soon.
A lot of new people I’ve seen get into the hobby are shocked by this fact but some breeders have to hold onto their snakes for years simply because of the market. It took 2 years for me to finally get to sell my first snake from my first ever clutch, it was a Brooks’ Kingsnake.
There’s nothing wrong with you wanting to be cautious though! Its a good thing to look out for things that can be potential red flags and you are always welcome to bring up these concerns here
Some “big/stellar/5-star” breeders don’t always have the best practices unfortunately but its not all of them, you just have to be keen on weeding them out.
Thanks for your valuable insight. I’m going to follow your advice (which has been echoed by others posting responses to my questions/post).
Regarding the main reason I am adopting a snake: #1 is as a pet (as you correctly guessed), and/but #2 I can definitely see myself wanting to do some beginner level breeding somewhere down the Yellow Brick Road. One of the things that I am good at is extrapolating and I can see how mixing genetics would be fun for me.
I still don’t have a great feel for what a “high volume” seller is. They do have perfect 5s as their rating and do have multiple dozens of ratings. I’ve also heard other members reference this business as being a valuable place to get snakes from. My guess is that there could be multiple employees involved.
I like how you suggest to word my my communication with the business. The word “respectfully” is always a positive way to include in the beginning of an email.
Thanks for the warning about what might happen regarding “SAS”: Snake Acquisition Syndrome. This has a relation to another area of interest for me… “GAS”… Gear (specifically: guitar) Aquisition Syndrome. Luckily, I have a regulator regarding SAS, because I live in a small 1 BR apartment and cant fit too many enclosures. I suppose there is a chance that I might get BIT (pun intended) by the SAS bug and move into a larger place. Who knows?!
I’ll definitely include some photos of the new dude for sure!!
Interesting point about scammers trying to use photos that don’t belong to them. I guess the world of reptiles is another area where the dishonest #@#&% spread their BS into the lives of honest folk. As is said in South Park… “THOSE BASTARDS!”
Thanks for mentioning requesting additional photos. I wasn’t sure if that was OK to do but going by your response it is OK to make the request.
I like how the tax to be paid is by posting photos. The first time I heard about paying taxes I thought that there was a cost of doing business on MM and that I might be charged some actual moolah! I can be gullible at times…
I’m an old fart and consider myself kinda uninformed with somethings on these boards. I don’t know how I go about sending a link privately to you. Would you be able to explain that to me?
I worded it badly. I should have described the breed/seller as one who keeps a high volume of animals in inventory at one time. That’s actually what I meant.
Just wanted to echo everyone here saying that it’s totally okay to ask sellers questions. Any reptile breeder worth buying from will care about providing good customer service and will be happy to answer any questions you might have. In fact, in my experience, most of them really enjoy having the opportunity to talk to someone about the animals they love. And they’ll want to help you find the snake that’s right for you.