Are there any BP breeders in the Charlottesville/Harrisonburg area?

Hello, long time lurker, first time poster with a question. I want to purchase a BP morph locally in the next couple of months. With my work schedule, I'm not comfortable having anything shipped. Are there any ball python breeders between Charlottesville/Staunton/Harrisonburg that accept local pick ups? Or maybe my best bet is to check out an upcoming show. What do you guys think?

thanks,
Shanna

1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Pastel Ball Python

derpinah wrote:

Hello, long time lurker, first time poster with a question. I want to purchase a BP morph locally in the next couple of months. With my work schedule, I'm not comfortable having anything shipped. Are there any ball python breeders between Charlottesville/Staunton/Harrisonburg that accept local pick ups? Or maybe my best bet is to check out an upcoming show. What do you guys think?

I think you are better off waiting until the next show in Richmond. Think it is July 29 or so.

I do not live in that area, but I can tell you that as a ball python breeder with a collection of morphs, I would never allow anyone to swing by for a pickup. Friends are one thing but never a random buyer from the internet.

Most people will meet you at a nearby location. Outback Reptiles is in Northern Va (I know, not real close) and they will meet people at a nearby location and probably have the biggest selection for viewing online. There are a few breeders down here that have a good selection posted online that will most likely meet up with you too.

What are you looking for?

I agree with Nick about Outback... the Manassas show is this weekend. We may pick up a few from Outback if they have anything we like. That of course is who has the biggest selection around (IMO) in the area at the shows... but then it depends if you want Quality or Quantity... some people have smaller selections but the quality of their reptiles are better than others....

Like Don said, what are you looking for in particular? any particular morphs??? We weren't ok with receiving an animal through shipping but if we research the seller and they have good reviews we are ok with it.... we also put forth the effort for traveling if needed or meeting someone.

Thanks for the info. I'm looking for a mid to low end visual morph, lesser or albino female baby. I'd love a piebald, but they seem hard to find and are on the high end of my budget. I'm not looking to purchase anything tomorrow. My only definite is female and baby. My price range is around $500~ish.

I work too much & have a decent commute. I'm not comfortable with a box sitting on my doorstep all day and the UPS/FedEx guys that deliver to my job are pretty mediocre.

I read that the Richmond show is mostly lizards. Any truth to that? I tried to search online for a list vendors, but didn't see anything. I guess, at the worst, we could make a nice day trip out of it.

Ideally, I'd rather buy & pick or meet up with someone local. Maybe I'm thinking of this too much like dogs, lol.

Thanks,
Shanna

If you keep an eye here on the classifieds, you may find what you are looking for. Several breeders on this site (including me) have eggs in the incubator or hatchlings. Now is the season and you should start to see ads going up soon.

The Richmond show is really 50/50. I've gone to most of them over the past two years. Sometimes it's all ball pythons, sometimes it's all bearded dragons, sometimes it's a ton of colubrids, it really depends. There are always ball pythons there, even if there aren't a lot, and I've brought home two visual morphs from that expo(a Mojo male and a Lesser female) for great prices. The Richmond show is usually best for BP buyers at its Fall show (usually in October). That's when I've seen the most nice-looking, most fairly-priced BPs, though anyone can correct that if they've had better luck at the shows in early Spring, or mid-Summer.

Also, there is a show in Chester that is trying to get off the ground. It has had one successful outing, last year, and was supposed to come back in March, but was unfortunately inadvertently planned the same weekend as the NARBC show, and was cancelled. The next Route 10 show will be Sunday, June 3rd. The only website for them right now is their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Route10-Exotic-Reptile-Expo/223993874292181 , if you're interested in checking it out.

The other Virginia shows are on these dates this year:
Northern VA show-- http://mdreptilefarm.com/shows/va/nva.asp
Richmond VA show-- http://mdreptilefarm.com/shows/va/richmond.asp

Good luck!

Stray wrote:

The Richmond show is really 50/50. I've gone to most of them over the past two years. Sometimes it's all ball pythons, sometimes it's all bearded dragons, sometimes it's a ton of colubrids, it really depends. There are always ball pythons there, even if there aren't a lot, and I've brought home two visual morphs from that expo(a Mojo male and a Lesser female) for great prices. The Richmond show is usually best for BP buyers at its Fall show (usually in October). That's when I've seen the most nice-looking, most fairly-priced BPs, though anyone can correct that if they've had better luck at the shows in early Spring, or mid-Summer.


Good luck!

Thanks! If I have that weekend off, I'll check it out.