Breeding Ribbon Snakes?

[BJhoffman]

Has anybody had success with breeding Ribbons? If so, where could i get some good quality ribbon snakes of breeding age?

[Albert Clark]

Can't really say that I know of anyone close breeding ribbons. But several big dealers are selling them. The one that comes to mind is LLL reptile. Underground Reptiles is another. Be sure to read their terms of service before ordering from them. Beware also bc both of them have questionable reps on the board of inquiry records. Good luck. Check their websites. You may find their records on the Fauna classifieds website. You may find some ads for ribbons there also. One other place.to search for captive born ribbons is Kingsnake classifieds website as.well.

[joeysgreen]

I had thought there was someone mentioned in a different thread that had 30+ species of thamnophis, and they had ribbon snakes. Steve probably knows who I am talking about.

LLL reptile exploits commercial (aka large scale) collecting and I'd hate to support them. I'm pretty certain Underground does the same. If you have to resort to a wild caught individual, I'd rather see you collect one; it'll have less impact on the population, and you'll likely end up with a healthier individual.

Ian

[Albert Clark]

The ads for the animals that LLL reptile and Underground reptile sell will usually state whether the animal is wild caught or captive born. If that is a issue for you, and it's not clearly posted just ask them. Personally I am a born free live free herp keeper but different people have their views. The final decision is yours, we are just putting the information out here so you can be informed.

[d_virginiana]

With the prices LLL offers on their captive born snakes, I get the feeling they are only captive born (as in they collected gravid wild females) rather than captive born and bred... So unless it says cbb instead of just cb with those dealers, you can still expect to see some of the health issues you would with wc ones.

[Albert Clark]

With the prices LLL offers on their captive born snakes, I get the feeling they are only captive born (as in they collected gravid wild females) rather than captive born and bred... So unless it says cbb instead of just cb with those dealers, you can still expect to see some of the health issues you would with wc ones.

This is true. That's why you have to inquire and gather the correct information. Just call and ask! Actually, I looked at both sites yesterday and they do say cb but not wc in most of the ads. Did not specifically check the ribbon snake ads though or if they even have any. I don't think bhb has any ribbons but they have some nice checkereds and albino plains.

[Qwerty3159]

LLL has ribbons.
At the top of the page it says something along the lines of "anything not marked CB is not captive bred" so the ribbons are indeed wild caught. Last summer they had some babies on the site that were born from some of the ribbons in store, so you could always email them! I was thinking about getting one myself but they sold out.

[joeysgreen]

I saw LLL Reptiles once at a NARBC show in Illinois. They had about 50 animals in stacked deli cups labeled "desert lizards", and included an assortment of whiptails, sceloporus, horned lizards and collared lizards, all sickly, dehydrated, and scared out of there wits. That's what I see when I see LLL and why I'm quick to spread the word.

[Albert Clark]

I saw LLL Reptiles once at a NARBC show in Illinois. They had about 50 animals in stacked deli cups labeled "desert lizards", and included an assortment of whiptails, sceloporus, horned lizards and collared lizards, all sickly, dehydrated, and scared out of there wits. That's what I see when I see LLL and why I'm quick to spread the word.
Maybe those animals were scheduled for quarantine? Are you absolutely sure they were for sale? Maybe they were scheduled to be examined by a herp vet when they got back to California? If they were in "stacked deli cups" then were they on display to be sold? Did you inquire about the physical condition of these animals? I found LLL to be rather forthcoming when I inquired about specific animals on their "for sale" lists. Are you "spreading the word" fairly bc of a single observation that wasn't really qualified by any actual dialogue with the LLL reps and salespeople? Yeah , they have been scrutinized in the past and even the more recent past for problems with customers for different reasons ,but when you are dealing with millions of customers and animals you are bound to have some that are dissatisfied. Some of the animals may get sick, it happens. That's why I said read the b.o.i. threads and their terms of service before buying. Buyer beware is true for every scenario when purchasing any animal. It doesn't matter who the breeder is.

[joeysgreen]

Mmm, these were for sale, and I undersold my point when I said 50 deli cups. This was also a single entity on their massive display, which was full of wild-caught animals, in all assortments of conditions, and certainly thousands of deli-cups. They also had a large number of captive bred animals. Not all wild caught animals were mislabeled or in outwardly poor health. The people were indeed nice, and this post is indeed all opinion and observation. No one has to share my values regarding mass commercial collecting of wild animals for profit, but I'll share them and know that my background for some, adds some weight on the matter.

[Albert Clark]

Well BJ, the information concerning breeders of quality ribbon snakes has been presented to a degree. The choice is yours, and it doesn't begin or end with our opinions of the availability of the animals. As you can see the dichotomy runs deep. All we are trying to do is put the information out here for your perusing. Just continue to do your research and ask questions of the breeders / sellers once you are prepared to buy. Good luck and hope this helps.