I’ve already asked a few questions on egg eating snakes, and have gotten good answers. Today I’m going to a reptile convention that will have several wild-caught egg-eaters. I am considering getting one from there, and would like some tips on how to know if they are good. I might not get the answers in time and will still do my own research, but how should I check for parasites? How do I make sure the snake is healthy? How do I know if the seller is reliable? What questions should I ask?
I’ve been trying to buy captive bred ones from reliable breeders, but I’ve only found 2 and neither have any currently available and are not one is ignoring me. It’s been a few months so I think I may resort to wild-caught snakes, but I am concerned about the possible health, feeding, and handling issues that may come from that, as well as the possible ethical concerns. I already know that they don’t easily get internal parasites, but they could still have diseases or external parasites like mites or ticks. I am also worried about long-term feeding, as it is wild caught it will be used to eating seasonally so I’m not sure if I should follow those seasonal feeding patterns or what I should do if it refuses to eat for several months at a time.
Help would be greatly appreciated, and thank you for everyone who has already helped!
Personally I don’t think it is wise to buy a wild caught egg eating snake. You have too many uncertainties at the moment regarding the care of this potential new snake.
You may very well be getting a sick snake loaded with parasites that will need to be treated in addition to acquiring an egg source and then getting the snake to eat, which will take time.
You may just end up with heartache. I would put my energy into looking for other CBB breeders who can provide you with a healthy snake that is already eating. Even then I think you will have a challenge keeping it alive and healthy.
Please don’t take offense. I am just looking at the practical reality. No matter what you decide to do I wish you good luck.
I agree with @caron. I would personally start clear of a wild caught egg water and wait for a captive bred one to become available. I hate to sound discouraging. I know you’re ready, and you’re frustrated. I do understand that you’ve been looking for a few months, @honeyandbee. I do know how hard it is to wait and search and try to find something special. I’ve waited for a very long time myself for certain creatures. There are just too many risks - serious ones - to getting a wild caught one.
I’ll try and answer some of your questions to the best of my ability. These apply to any potential in-person purchase. You may already know many of these things. If so, apologies. I’m trying to be thorough, yet reasonably concise.
You can and should visually inspect the animal for mites. Look carefully around the eyes, and in the folds of the throat. Mites tend to be there if they’re anywhere, though they may be between snakes elsewhere on the body. They’re usually visible as small black dots. You will not be able to see internal parasites, which may be serious. This will require a vet check of the animal’s waste. Assume every WC animal is carrying a parasite load. Get a vet check ASAP and follow strict quarantine.
Look it over thoroughly and critically. Scales should be uniform and eyes should be clear. Mouth should be closed. There should be plenty of tongue flicks. If you note any swelling in the abdomen, any discharge anywhere, any questionable respiration, steer clear. Reptiles hide their distress as long as they possibly can.
If you can see it, it’s already serious. Again, a vet check is a good idea.
Check out their reviews here on MorphMarket. See if they’re active in the community in some way and check their presence there. Here on MorphMarket Community, on ColdBlooded, on other social media sites. Ask about their business, about how they care for the animal’s, about their breeding history and what projects they’ve been excited about in the past and for the coming season. They may not want to share everything, but they should be happy to share some things. People who love the animals care about the people who want to buy their animals. If they aren’t willing to take the time to talk with you before a sale, they’re not likely to be willing to help you if you have questions or concerns after a purchase.
Again, I encourage you to wait. You’re already in contact with people who are ethically breeding in captivity what you want. Once you have your snake, a healthy one, it will hopefully live many years. The extra wait time on the front-end will melt away. It will be so worth having waited, and may well save you a lot of money in vet bills and a tremendous amount of heartache.
Whatever you choose to do, we will be here to help as much as we can. Best of luck in finding exactly what you want!
Thank you for the advice. I really am trying to find Cbb egg eating snakes. I check MorphMarket twice a day, and have tried to ask the breeders I’ve found if they have any available yet. Unfortunately neither are responding, even when I check in. As far as I am aware no one has able to ship to us has any cbb egg eaters available, but I am still looking. I check the first breeders website everyday but they won’t have any available for a while it seems. I’ve also been going to multiple reptile conventions but this was the only person who has them at all. I really wish I could get a cbb but I don’t think there will be any adult females available for a while.
And I am aware of the difficulty finding eggs, which is why I am specifically looking for an adult female, because those can eat quail eggs we can buy at multiple places near our house.
I do understand they are difficult to care for, but I have and am doing as much research and asking from people with first-hand experience with the snakes for advice.
Also, they didn’t have the snakes yet so I still have more time to prepare, and there is no guarantee we will buy from them at all. But if we do meet with them I will physically examine the snake to check for any signs of illness, and if there are any I will not buy the snake. I will also ask for its feeding history.
Thank you for your advice and help, I will definitely consider this when searching for these snakes!
If you are willing to do some work and put in some money, you may be able to import one. For example (I don’t know where you are located so I just going to say you are in the US for the example), a lot of places in Europe such as Germany seem to be a lot more willing to put in work for getting captive bred animals. So if you find an animal for sale, see if they are able to export it to the US. If they are, then great! If not, then you are still in the same situation as before. The import fees and work may be more than the snake itself but if you want it that badly, I think it would make sense.
Thank you so much for your advice and help. I will try again to contact the breeders and am still checking their website every day, as well as MorphMarket. I will still meet with the seller (they did not get the snakes yet), and will use your advice to check the snake. I will ask for its feeding history and how similar snakes have done after buying, but I will definitely be as cautious as possible. I will only buy the snake if I am confident that no cbb will be available any time soon (as in the next 6 months) and if I am confident the snake is healthy, and even if I do buy then I will have a vet check it. I probably will follow its natural feeding patterns if possible to make sure it eats enough but not too much, but will still do more research on that. Thank you for your help. I will keep this in mind and continue searching for cbb egg eaters.
Thank you for this advice. I am located in the US and haven’t really considered buying a cbb snake from places like Europe. Do you have any places I could find them? I haven’t seen any on MorphMarket and am unaware of any other reliable online reptile sites.
So I second @caryl’s sentiment about what a heartache you are going through wanting a certain type of animal so badly. I don’t know why you would want one so badly but hey to each his own!
It’s definitely worth the time to check out what this seller has and what kind of shape these animals are in. @caryl knows her stuff and has given you some great advice.
I for one would like to know if and when you find one so don’t hesitate to keep the updates coming….
Thank you! I will definitely let you know
When in the search thing go to the search settings and put it onto all regions. That allows you to see the animals listed from all over!
Thank you!
I’m also going to add, I asked again and the first breeder said she isn’t sure when the females will be available as it can take several months to recover, so I will try to wait until then if possible, especially if I decide not to get this wild caught snake. The second breeder just said they will let me know if they have any available.
Also, I don’t see any new snakes when I switch to “all regions”, so either there aren’t any or I did something wrong, but it’s probably the latter.
So I am just curious. Do you want this particular type of snake to keep as a pet or for breeding purposes?
Since there seems to be so few CBB available, breeding them could be a lucrative business……
I will refer you to my post here as to why that is highly unlikely:
and @honeyandbee Yep I saw this post after I posted so I gracefully retract it.
Some animals should be left alone and this is one of them imho!
Thank you Travis! I hope things are well with you and your wife…… 
Well enough. I am pretty much back to normal post-surgery. We are still in limbo with my wife, waiting for her to drop below that “magic number” the doctors have imposed on us… 
Definitely will start out as just a pet, but maybe as I get more used to them, get more space, and if I can find a reliable source of smaller eggs I could start breeding. I’m sure it could make good business, I just need to be more prepared. I am interested and it sounds fun, but I think finding the eggs for the babies would be the main issue.
Although yes, there are many other issues aside from even starting. Finding homes that will be able to feed them would be difficult as well.
I am glad you have healed well but I feel badly for your wife. I am not going to criticize the process because I don’t know anything about it but that being said, it seems to me that since you have done your part, your wife should be moved several notches up the ladder.
I am putting you in my prayers tonight.
After rereading @t_h_wyman Travis’s posts I am hoping you will heed his instructions because I don’t believe you are going to find any better advice regarding this particular type of animal.
However I changed my mind on my breeding suggestion because of the very delicate feeding regimen and the constant quest for appropriate eggs. And as you eluded to, if you were successful with a breeding project, would the people buying the babies be responsible keepers by keeping them healthy or even alive.
I know I would worry and I think you would too. You are seeing the ethical aspect of breeding these delicate creatures and then sending them out in the world, which is wonderful because a lot of people would not.
But kudos to you for doing so much research before buying. And you take advice really well. I for one have enjoyed these threads/discussions. I know a lot more about egg eating snakes thanks to you!
So no more rambling. I wish you the very best in which ever direction you take. No doubt if you keep an egg eating snake as a pet first you will get first hand experience that will either make or break a breeding project, unless you keep all the babies.
Thank you for your help! I agree, they have been very helpful, and so have you!
Thank you so much for your help and comments, I do enjoy these discussions as well.
It I ever do end up breeding these snakes, I will definitely make sure to have a reliable source of eggs, and have to ask any customers questions to make sure they are able to care for the snake. But it will likely be a while until then.
Again, thank you!
Wishing you the best of luck, @honeyandbee. It’s clear that you do care and want to have the very best information you can get prior to getting an animal. That’s a beautiful thing. You can’t get more rock solid information that from @t_h_wyman.