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Best way to sell a couple of snakes

R

rfranch

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So I am going to be up front and honest here. My daughter brought home a couple of snakes. One should be male and one should be female. She bought them with her Christmas money. She bought them without permission. She has been keeping them in a cage in her closet.

I know she isn't caring for them right. She can't by food for them. Mom to the rescue. I don't like picking out a little rat or mouse. I know my cats and dogs hunt/kill/eat the rats around the barn. I just don't like shopping for live dinner. I prefer my steak without a face if you get my point.

I don't know anything about snakes. I want to sell them. I was hoping for guidance on the best way to sell them. Not a fan of craigslist. When I want something for my horses I go to a horse related site, I would prefer a snake type of site for this too.

So - What should I put in the ad? What kind of info do people want to know? What are good places? What is a fair price? I would like to get back what she paid for them cage and all.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would like to part with them quickly so don't want to over price.
 
Post moved to "General Herp Talk" forum instead.

Hi Rosa - perhaps the best start would be if you can post pictures of the snakes in question, then others will be better able to assist you. In your case, if you are able to post pictures of the snakes next to a common object (dollar bill, soda can) it will give others a point of reference for size, weight, etc. Thanks!
 
Pictures, location, price. There is an excellent classifieds section right here. Photos are important though.
 
My daughter is sending me better pictures. It's hard to take a picture of an animal when you don't want to open the cage. :yesnod:

Looking at the ads I thought this site was for breeders or professional sellers. Where do the private individuals post their stuff? Do I just put it under ball pythons?
 
Pictures first. We don't know what you have yet, unless you are sure they are "ball pythons". The site is for everyone minus scammers and spammers.:thumbsup:
 
Not good pictures.

Theses are the pictures I took and one I found on her facebook page. I would use better ones that actually show the snakes in the ad. snake1.jpg

snake 2.jpg

snake 3.jpg

snake 4.jpg
 
She was told one was male, one was female. She didn't pay to figure out which one was which. The male (supposedly) is about 4ft, the female (again don't hold me to it) is 4 1/2ft.
 
I just bought them a couple of small rats last night. I don't know how often they should be fed. The guy at the pet store said twice a week. I just don't want to feed them when they aren't hungry.

My Aunt's snake won't eat if it isn't hungry and I remember a friend with a snake that would do the same. The poor mice would have to sit in the cage until the snakes decided to eat. I know I am being a silly girl - I get the whole animals have to eat thing, but I can't stand seeing a mouse sit in a cage with the predator right there. Yes, I live on a farm. I have had to end an animals suffering. I cannot cause the suffering.
 
This site works for both LOCAL and SHIPPED sales.
In your case, I would say shipping is out, too complex and you have a cage.

You can put up an ad in the Ball python section for a LOCAL sale.

"2 Normal Ball Pythons, sex unknown.
Comes with the aquarium cage. Local sale only, can't ship.
Pictures below. Asking $100 or best offer.
I can be contacted by PM or email. Thank you"

Honestly, normal ball pythons are extremely common. If it were me, I might let this be a lesson to my child and get whatever you can get for them. Make sure they go to a good home, but if they go for $50 it is okay if you want them to move along sooner than later since you guys don't feel comfortable taking care of them.

Another option is talk with a local pet store, see if they will take them on a purchase OR trade of goods deal. Either way, you are probably going to lose money, but that is part of life and sneaking snakes into your closet.

Hope this helps!
 
Also, just in case... don't leave rodents in the snake's cage unattended. Either they are going to eat or not. Leaving a rodent in the cage might end up in the rodent eating the snake instead.
 
I don't know who you talked to at the pet store, but feeding twice a week is excessive. Once a week is more than enough, and some of my snakes won't eat more than once every two weeks. Every other week is A-OK for feeding, and there's less chance they won't take the rat that way (I'm guessing you don't want to be stuck raising rats AND snakes :p)
 
If you are on Facebook there are also reptile classified ad groups. You should be able to find one local to Florida or even narrow it down to your county/city since you want a local buyer.
 
You are very right not to leave live food animals in with snake - it's not nice for the animal, and it's often not nice for the snake - if the snake doesn't kill them quickly they may bite the snake and cause harm.

Hope you are proceeding with the sale - if not you need more advice on feeding and upkeep don't be afraid to ask for it, there are a lot of very helpful Ball Python keepers on here willing to help newbies.
 
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