King Snakes
How To Buy Grown King Snakes
Snakes -> King Snakes -> How to buy Grown King Snakes
A common question from reptile keepers is how to buy grown king snakes.
True, most king snake specimens available are captive bred hatchlings. It makes sense for the breeder to sell them at that size because until he sells them he'll have to keep them all separate, all heated, each in a different cage.
In addition, if the breeder keeps some specimens to sell when they're grown he's going to need even more space and even larger cages.
What's more, all the additional space required, the extra time it's taken to grow them on and all the food that has been fed to them can make them very valuable.
After all, if you spend, say 50c a week on feeding a snake and wait to sell it till it's fully grown - at about 24 months old - that's a lot of extra money they've invested before they make any extra profit.
Furthermore, don't forget that the few grown king snakes that are available to buy will often be snapped up by other breeders because the specimen can go straight into their breeding program rather than having to wait years before they're of breeding age.
But that's not to say it's impossible to buy grown king snakes.
It's just a little harder and you need to know where to start.
If you're looking to find out how to buy grown king snakes there are only two reliable sources.
The first are ex-breeding stock, the second ex-pets.
Let's examine both.
Breeders will often raise more baby snakes than they need for their breeding purposes with the aim of just selecting the "best" specimens to breed from - the most docile, attractive and healthy.
The others are often sold on, sometimes as breeding pairs, to other breeders.
The various reptile societies and clubs often publish newsletters on a monthly or quarterly basis which list member's specimens for sale.
I have personally succeeded in buying a number of grown king snakes by this method - and at very reasonable prices.
After all, in general the limited space available to breeders means that when they decide to sell a few adult specimens they want them gone as soon as possible.
The other main option is to buy king snakes others have been keeping as pets but have decided to sell for whatever reason. They're moving, having a baby, starting a new job that doesn't leave them with much free time etc.
Whatever the reason the best place to find out about these snakes is in your local neighbourhood - in the local newspaper and / or in shop windows or pet store notice boards.
From time to time pet stores may actually buy these specimens themselves to sell on but it's a lot cheaper to get them straight from the source.