Looking for rational thoughts...

NIGRO51

NIGRO51

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Im in search of thoughts and suggestions on a situation because my first reactions are usually anger.

I purchased a baby "female het pied" back in 2011 from a reptile show. I knew it would take time to prove it out but felt confident in my purchase and wasnt in a rush to breed anyway. I do not powerfeed so she was finally up to weight last season and I was ready to breed. Paired with my visual pied male I witnessed a few locks but mostly fighting. The snake produced no eggs so I chalked it up to her not being ready.

Fast forward to this season. The snake is eating and growing like a beast so I can already see baby pieds hatching in my head. From the beginning the snake locks with my pied male with no issues so I think nothing of it.. until now. The rest of my females are gravid but this one seems slim in all the wrong places. I probe the snake and its a MALE!

What to do now>??....

Do I just bend over and take the loss because I should have made sure or do I rage a bit?....
 
It's been four years. Nothing you can really do at this point except be angry at yourself, and use it as a lesson to double-check the sex of everything you purchase in the future.
 
I like to give people the benefit of a doubt. I'm not sure if the seller intentionally sold you a male by calling it female, but the seller could have popped the snake and it popped female. This is why I always probe all my "females" once they reach a certain age. I've had several switch genders on me.

Your situation would still make me quite angry though, so I'm with you there. The only silver lining in all of this is that adult het pied females are relatively cheap now, so you could add one to your collection without too much financial pain.
 
I can't pop them once they're past the baby stage, but probe kits are only about $20 and well worth the investment if you're breeding. Its super easy too, watch a video and it's very obvious how to tell between the two.
 
Sorry I just realized you said you probed it, but why didn't you probe sooner? I try to sex within a couple days of getting a snake to make sure...if they're small it's super easy to pop them, and if they're bigger probing is easy.
 
I can probe thats how I realized it was a male. My big mistake was not being suspicious and checking for myself earlier. Im reserved to just eat my losses but I cant help but feel cheated a bit out of the time and years spent raising an animal that is now totally useless and monetarily worthless.

As for het pied adult females being cheap I think we have two totally different looking bank accounts :rofl: I saw one for $400 but for that I would rather not gamble again and spend less money for a visual female baby.
 
MCMB-2 said:
Sorry I just realized you said you probed it, but why didn't you probe sooner? I try to sex within a couple days of getting a snake to make sure...if they're small it's super easy to pop them, and if they're bigger probing is easy.
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2011 is when I started to focus on ball pythons so I was very new and it never crossed my mind to check since it was bought as female. Its a hard lesson to choke down but hopefully someone learns from this and goes on a sexing spree through their collection.
 
I'd be mad too, I don't blame you. After this much time though I think you just have to take the loss. It's a bummer but that's part of working with animals.
 
NIGRO51 said:
What if you are not capable of sexing? I cant be the only person who cannot pop a snake.
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I also have issues popping babies, especially smaller ones like my BRB's, though I've gotten better at it over the years. I have a friend come over and double check, and I don't tell him what I think it was so as not to sway him one way or the other.
 
bcr229 said:
I also have issues popping babies, especially smaller ones like my BRB's, though I've gotten better at it over the years. I have a friend come over and double check, and I don't tell him what I think it was so as not to sway him one way or the other.
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I do the same thing to my partner Victoria, I sex them first and then tell her to do it so she can get practice :p

It definitely takes a little practice but after a couple dozen I found it pretty easy. Its one of those things you can't really learn from videos or watching, you just have to do it yourself (in my opinion anyway).
 
It may just be me but I have never asked for paperwork at a show nor have I ever seen anyone else ask. I was so focused on the risk of getting a het that the sex never occured to me.
 
I usually provide paperwork and keep a copy in a folder on my puter. It benefits the customer if they also choose to sell or trade the animal in the future.
 
I do the same with all my hets. I provide the buyer with a photo genetic & sex guarantee, plus keep a backup on the computer. Alot more ppl should take the time to do that also. Would definitely help ppl buy with more confidence, good thing for the hobby.
We picked up a het albino adult fem from a show from a reputable guy. Hes always at the shows i goto & have talked to him at every show. Last year we bred her to a visual albino male & got all normals. We are doing the same breeding this yr but with a different visual albino. Should i have said something to the breeder or wait to see what happens this yr?
 
NIGRO51 said:
Im in search of thoughts and suggestions on a situation because my first reactions are usually anger.

I purchased a baby "female het pied" back in 2011 from a reptile show. I knew it would take time to prove it out but felt confident in my purchase and wasnt in a rush to breed anyway. I do not powerfeed so she was finally up to weight last season and I was ready to breed. Paired with my visual pied male I witnessed a few locks but mostly fighting. The snake produced no eggs so I chalked it up to her not being ready.

Fast forward to this season. The snake is eating and growing like a beast so I can already see baby pieds hatching in my head. From the beginning the snake locks with my pied male with no issues so I think nothing of it.. until now. The rest of my females are gravid but this one seems slim in all the wrong places. I probe the snake and its a MALE!

What to do now>??....

Do I just bend over and take the loss because I should have made sure or do I rage a bit?....
Click to expand...
I've lost count of the number of of females that I purchased from trusted sources which turned out to be males...
Nobody is perfect, mistakes happen, and - no matter how much we understand that gender doesn't change - there does seem to be a time limit on such complaints. I would make the situation known to the person that sold you the snake; but there's really no easy resolution that is likely to happen. I've never gotten (or expected) anything more than a sincere apology, and an offer to try to locate a female. Bottom line, confirm the gender in a timely manner - it's a lesson many of us have learned the hard way.

chrisis697 said:
We picked up a het albino adult fem from a show from a reputable guy. Hes always at the shows i goto & have talked to him at every show. Last year we bred her to a visual albino male & got all normals. We are doing the same breeding this yr but with a different visual albino. Should i have said something to the breeder or wait to see what happens this yr?
Click to expand...
BP clutches are small enough that the results often don't match statistical expectations. A single pairing that doesn't give the expected results isn't enough to make the claim that you got ripped off - do another breeding before contacting the breeder.
 
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