Where to buy a pet snake
Getting ready to get a new snake can be a daunting process. Locating the perfect pet shouldn’t be. In this guide we will show you four of the best places to locate a snake that is for sale.
- Craig’s List
- There are often snakes listed for sale on Craig’s List. Simply visit www.craigslist.org and select your city, state, or country from the list. Once you’ve done that look for the Community section (currently upper left corner) and the click on Pets. Once you do that take advantage of the search function in Craig’s List and search for terms such as “snake”, “boa”, “python”, or whatever other snake related terms you can think of. At this point it is as easy as clicking through to the ads.
Advantages: Local area and the prices is usually lower than average because people are simply trying to get rid of their snakes.
Disadvantages: Often snakes come from previous owners who either didn’t know what they were doing or were simply neglectful. The animals are often in very poor shape and need extensive medical treatment.
Recommendation: If you have experience and are willing to take on a project, yes. For the average person no.
- General chain pet stores
- Depending on the store they may or may not have snakes for sale. Usually it depends on the particular franchise as in one store they are selling them and in another in the same town they don’t. These aren’t at all hard to find. Just look in a local phone book under “pet store” and you’ll probably see a good number of them. Then you just have to get there to have a look around.
Advantages: Local
Disadvantages: Poorly cared for overly priced animals.
Recommendation: Absolutely not
- Specialized reptile pet stores
- The challenge with these types of stores isn’t if you can buy a snake, but locating one can be a difficult. Not every town has one but if you’re will to do a little traveling you’ll usually be able to find one within a reasonable distance. These stores specialize in moving exotic animals. Particularly lizards and snakes. Staff is generally knowledgeable and pleasant to work with when it comes to their snakes.
Advantages: Knowledgeable staff, local, and pricing is usually competitive
Disadvantages: Less of selection and often times they only specialize in 1 or 2 species.
Recommendation: In 99.9% of all cases yes, but as always buyer beware.
- Online reptile markets
- If you have an internet connection and a credit card (or paypal account) you can easily buy a new snake and have it shipped directly to your door, usually within 24 hours. Sites like Fauna Classifieds and King Snake provide a centralized location for people from all over the world to buy and sell their snakes. These sites don’t actually sell snakes instead they allow buyers and sellers to network together.
Advantages: Huge selection and potential for some really good pricing.
Disadvantages: Lack of face to face contact and buying animals sight unseen.
Recommendation: Yes, but be sure you read and understand the Board of Inquiry at Fauna pay attention to member feedback on both sites so you don’t fall victim to a scammer.