What should turn me away from buying an adult or even draw me to it? I have a few specific but any advice is appreciated.
I’ll usually check out the breeder first, get a few pictures in my head of their overall operation, ways of keeping, etc… If I’m looking for a proven female, one that just slugged out wouldn’t be at the top of my list knowing I’m going to shelve her for at least a season or two before trying to breed her again. Could’ve been the male but I’m still going to give her the next season off.
An older snake that’s never bred, I’d ask if she was always just a pet first. If the seller breeds normally then that would be a bit of a flag for me but would end up just asking a few more questions before going forward with her.
A female that has just laid, I’d like the breeder to possibly get a meal or 3 in her before attempting to send her out. A female that possibly reabsorbed for the breeder might actually be a plus. My females that have reabsorbed in the past have primarily laid larger clutches the following year.
Hope this help, primarily I’ll look at the breeder history, the overall look of the snake & end up asking a few questions why she’s being let go in the first place in making my final decision. I’ve actually only purchased one proven female now that I think of it and the breeder was letting her go so he could focus on another particular gene and she just took up much needed tub space on his end. His loss, my gain!! Good luck!
- What if the female is proven but the last clutch slugged out, that could be a male problem /something normal. Or is it riskier than that?
Can be the male, can be the temps etc, either way because a female slugs out does not mean she will again, and if she laid healthy clutch before does not mean she won’t slug out next works both ways, that is just one of those parts of breeding, there are no guarantee even when you do everything right. You can go from 10 healthy eggs to slugs and vice versa.
- An older snake at weight but had never been bred. Could she/he might not want to breed? Or have a problem.
It happens however a lot of people forget that not everything breeds at 2 years or 3 and some female take 4 to 6 years before they are actually ready to, you can’t force anything on them even if they are proper weight proper age etc it’s up to them, but many are in so much rush they think if a female did not produce eggs by the time she is 4 there is something wrong with her, there can be but it’s not always the case.
- A snake that is on the lighter side of breeding weight was bred because she showed sign and slugged or lost those eggs?
Smaller weight will not increase the chances of producing slugs, again when they are ready they are ready and there is nothing you can do about it , I have bred smaller females 1100 grams and they went on producing 6 eggs, not generally my preference as I prefer to breed females 1800 grams and up but in those cases those females we 4 years old and over and not the best growers well until they were actually bred.
So whether you raise an hatchling or buy an adult there are no guareentee the main thing to keep in mind when buying an adult is that even if they are ready or proven it does not mean they will go that first season for you, adult often take longer to settle some taking 6 months to a year to do so.