I’m making a generic questioner that I can copy and paste for every time I buy a new snake. We’ve all heard horror stories about people getting a sick animal or an animal that was different from how it was listed etc. Please comment if you can think of anything to add or if something should be left off. Maybe this can help someone someday. Here’s what I have so far:
I’m just doing my due diligence. Is this snake for sure a male/female? Does she have anything wrong such as kinks, wobble or other birth defects? Scars? Is she eating regularly? Can I get a few more pictures please?
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I don’t really have a copy paste document or anything like that. Every situation is different. If I’m dead set on the purchase there are a lot of additional questions I’m going to ask that I won’t put someone through if I’m just curious, or browsing.
Without going into too many case by case specifics I’d say the most important things to know would be
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Diet. What do they eat, how well do they eat, bonus Points if the breeder actually keeps records on everything many don’t but I like working with highly organized people, it shows they care. (that’s me personally.)
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Current size/weight and hatch date if not provided in ad- current pic if seriously intending to purchase
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I usually ask about the pairing. ****Especially if it’s a het…like with my het pied girls I always asked for pairing information and a picture of the pairing or at least parents. Depending what morph it is this might not be very important to you but that’s me. If someone is selling a double het and they can’t give me any pairing info that’s a big red flag for me and I’m going to assume that’s a high risk purchase. Not necessary in all cases though.
If I’m serious about buying there are a lot of other things I ask about. I really don’t think you can copy paste a questionnaire or anything like that. You need to approach every conversation like it’s own thing, and gather the info you need to make a decision.
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@jolan84.
I’ll just say too if I’m that breeder and you send me a long paragraph that’s obviously copy pasted and not typed out, I’m going to be annoyed. And depending how desperate I am to make a sale you might not get much of a response back.
Every conversation is different.
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@thecrawdfather of course I would only ask questions like this if I was serious about buying the snake and I feel there are certain questions that must to be asked ever-time someone buys a snake from an unknown seller unless it is stated in the listing. Even if it is stated it never hurts to ask and if this annoys a seller and they don’t want to do business with me because I ask to many questions than I wouldn’t want to do business with them anyways. As for cut and paste, it’s so I don’t forget to ask something important like I always do. Things can be edited and tailored for individual occasions.
Yeah it’s not about asking questions, it would be about getting an obviously copy/pasted paragraph. Hold yourself to the same standard you are holding a breeder to. If you want them to take time to have a personal conversation with you and answer your questions above and beyond what’s listed on the ad you should do the same courtesy for them imo.
I would say age, current size, feeding info would be the most important on every snake regardless.
- I don’t see the point of asking gender, unless of course it’s not listed. Maybe instead ask if they probed, popped, or both for sexing.
- I don’t see much benefit in asking about defects each and every time, if I saw something that looks amiss in pics I would follow up with questions
- Same with scars I don’t see the point in asking unless I saw scars on a picture.
- Definitely asking about feeding is good.
- Current pictures are good.
Maybe add age, current size, parents morphs to it. (If not listed.) Other than that I think it’s all situational from there.
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@thecrawdfather I don’t understand your problem with the cut and paste function. Words are words regardless of when they were written I wouldn’t care if the response I got was copy and pasted as long as the reply was honest and sincere I Didn’t have any reason to ask about scars or injuries when I bought this snake and look what I get for just assuming everything is fine judging from pictures alone. Not a big deal I just would’ve liked to know about it. Pictures don’t always tell you everything.
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I’m not sure if you’ve already followed up on that at all, but to me it looks like stress rubbing. My first female had that because there was a sharp spot on her water bowl that I missed and she was rubbing her face on it. I used antibiotic cream (Silver sulfadiazine) on it every couple days and it resolved beautifully. No evidence of any permanent scarring. Of course, I also sanded down any and all sharp spots I could find in her tub!
I am with @thecrawdfather about a rehearsed questionnare/response. I’d be at least mildly annoyed if I took the time to type everything up to receive a canned response back from the breeder.
However, having a set list of things to ask is a very smart idea! I also almost always manage to forget one or two important questions, but most of the breeders I’ve dealt with on here are okay with receiving multiple messages with questions you forgot to ask (within reason - don’t send 10 messages before they get a chance to respond).
To answer the initial question, I normally will ask about the current weight, hatch month (I know most breeders don’t record the days, but I record each day on my hatchlings), the pairing, and what they’re eating or how well they’re eating. @thecrawdfather had a pretty comprehensive list in his response.
@thecrawdfather @windy4always There is some good stuff here, thanks for the input guys. I will definitely take it all into account.
Just my opinion. Pick and choose from it what you will. I think other perspectives are good.
Also definitely stress rubbing on the picture in question.
Like you said, copy/paste is just a function on the computer. It’s not really the issue. Most of the inquiries I get could easily be copy/pasted and I would never know or care.
Mostly I’d make sure to read thru and delete out anything from the canned message that’s not relevant to that animal or are clearly answered by looking at the ad.
The good news about those marks is that if you give the snake a good enclosure with the right hides/temp/humidity they should stop rubbing their snout trying to escape and those marks should heal up. The advice about Silver sulfadiazine (or a Povidone Iodine (Betadine) solution) is a good precaution too, but isn’t completely necessary if there’s not signs of redness or infection starting up. Generally it’s a good idea to have one or both of those on hand anyways though.
