looking for info on 05 ch baby balls from tony hurt

I was just wanting to know if any one bought any ch female ball pythons from TONY HURT @ SNAKE EVOLUTIONS. If so what kind of shape where they in? So if you bought a large lot from him please let me know how they looked. I bought a 160 animals from him and i have 90 of them now. I know that they are captive hatched but that seems to be a lot to die. I got a bunch of dehydrated and regurgitating animals.
Just wanted to know if any one else has had same problem.

Wayne Alford

Wayne,

A while ago I bought a few babies from Tony. Great animals and in top notch health.

Regards.

Have you contacted him about this?

If not, I would highly suggest you do so.

yes,he told me that he couldnt be responable for them because i have had them since 6/6/05. but they are dying any where from 2-5 at a time since i have had them,even had my buddy to send him some meds because he was having the same problems.

Wayne Alford

Wayne,

I am sorry to hear you have lost some babies. It is always a tragedy when any animal perishes. One thing I know Tony and he sells great animals. As for Tony being responsible for the animals that have perished in your care, depending on what his TOS are he really should not be held responsible. After this long of a period it is really out of his control. Purchasing c.h. babies late in the season sometimes yields a higher mortality rate rather than earlier in the season. Tony gets babies in from importers much as most of the other re-sellers of c.h. babies do. They get the animals in, check them over for any obvious signs of problems, offer then water, some will offer food depending on how long they have the animals and then ship them off to the end owners. I personally feel that in this situation it is more than likely just bad luck on having the animals perish. It sometimes happens. One year we imported direct from Togo over 1000 babies. We had a really high mortality rate in some of the shipments. Hell, one of the shipments we got in was a 400 animal shipment and we ended up losing all but a handful of the babies. This was a shipment late in the season and more than likely the exporter had the babies all housed together with no water or proper care. There was no way to know as they all arrived looking great and it was suspected that the animals perished due to their kidneys failing from dehydration prior to arriving into the US for me. Again I am sorry that the animals perished but it just appears to be bad luck.

Hey Wayne, sorry to hear about your loss. I purchased 150 females from Tony this year and when i recieved them they were all very plump and healthy and i could tell they were hydrated prior to shipping. I had 7 regurgers, but when i downsized the meals to mouse fuzzies they held it down and are doing fine now. I did lose a few, but i think that comes with the territory with those guys, overall i was very pleased with the animals. Most fed the first 3 days, i still have a couple picky ones, but that is just par for the course with them. I felt like i was treated more than fair on my babies, i would do business with Tony again, he always kept me informed on the status of my shipments. Good luck on the rest of your little ones.

George

I'm having the same prob myself. I picked up a 25 lot from Tony and I'm down to 9 now. It hasn't mattered how much water has been offered they just shrivel up and die. I've been attempting to run meds thru them but so far only 4-5 have kept the meds down. The ones that have are lookin good so far but in my case as well as yours I have to suck up the loss .

I know he took in 2 seperate shipments and I'm thinking the 2nd shipment probably had the worst of the bunch. Othr than that not much else I could add to help you out. The animals dying isn't any fault of Tony for sure , its almost always a gamble when dealing with ch.

I have bought several snakes from Tony, ch baby females and high dollar snakes. They have all come to me in very good health. I will continue to do business with him.Thanks Tony
David

The only secret to maintain healthy, baby ball pythons is first of all keep them in separate containers. Second, maintain the right temperature and moisture. Too little or too much temperature and regurgitations are likely. Too little moisture = shedding trouble, too much moisture = increased risk of blister disease. But most important of all immaculate cleanliness, both of the substrate, and of the drinking water (if not: blister disease and/or mouth rot). It takes time to accomplish all this. If everything is at hand (disposable towels for substrate, and clean water at hand) it takes me approximately 1.5 minutes per animal every other day. That is roughly 3 in 5 minutes, 36 per hour or close to 3 hours non stop for 150 babies.

Regards.

I cannot agree with the Boidsmith more!. Back in 1999 I started single housing Ch babies as soon as I got them and I immediately cut my losses by 99%. I have tried a few dealers animals and I will admit that quality vaires with the dealer, when the animals came in, april vs may vs june, and how long they sit at the dealers. I have dealt with the same person since moving to Florida and I always get the same time of year shipment and out of 1000+ balls I have lost less than 40 in 4 years!

In my opinion the most important steps are:
1. make sure you are getting fresh balls, and rehydrate them immediately
2. individual housing
3. paper towel, newspaper or some substrate that can be thrown out a couple of times a week.
4. give them 3-4 days minimum to settled down before you maul them by sexing, photographing, and looking for that black backed-clear belly- blushing-spot lipped-majestic headed-ringer-granite banded that you so sorely needed for your het clear project. Just let them sit there unbothered for 3-4 days to calm down.
5. Do not "shotgun" treat them for parasites until then are well hydrated and you have an idea of what your group is harboring.


Balls are small but they are still pythons, give them a chance to settle in and they will be as tough, durable, and feed as readily as burms or any other "big"python, you just have to baby them that first week or so.


As far as Tony's quality I have heard a lot of people that have had good transactions and I have known a few people that have had some bad experiences. I think that anyone who sells enough animals will eventually have something problematic happen. Most people are starting to realize that-but nowadays most of us are judged on how we handle a problem situation. I would base your judgement of tony on his after the sale care of his customer becuase if you are moving a few thousand balls I am sure he cannot remember every little one innately.

Thanks
ben cole