New from Fredericksburg and Full of Questions

Hi everyone, Lynn here.

I've been in the steadily moving process of working up to owning my first snake. The last of my supplies should hopefully be in by next week so that I can finish setting up my tub. It is my intention to start off with some form of king or milksnake (ideally I am looking for a Mexican Black Kingsnake, but they don't seem terribly popular in VA?)

I was hoping to find more information about VA specific venues, and am not terribly sure where specifically I should direct these inquiries.

1. There are two Reptile Expos coming up shortly; Richmond Reptile Expo on 07/19, and the Northern Virginia Reptile Expo on 08/23. Everything that I have seen so far seems to be fairly boa-centric. Would anyone happen to know if there are/have been in the past, any colubrid vendors present? The facebook pages for both of these venues are very sparse and that is a little off-putting.

2. Are there any local suppliers of feeders in the area?

Welcome!

There are colubrid vendors at the Richmond show, though the show is primarily balls and boas.

Jackins wrote:

Hi everyone, Lynn here.

I've been in the steadily moving process of working up to owning my first snake. The last of my supplies should hopefully be in by next week so that I can finish setting up my tub. It is my intention to start off with some form of king or milksnake (ideally I am looking for a Mexican Black Kingsnake, but they don't seem terribly popular in VA?)

I was hoping to find more information about VA specific venues, and am not terribly sure where specifically I should direct these inquiries.

1. There are two Reptile Expos coming up shortly; Richmond Reptile Expo on 07/19, and the Northern Virginia Reptile Expo on 08/23. Everything that I have seen so far seems to be fairly boa-centric. Would anyone happen to know if there are/have been in the past, any colubrid vendors present? The facebook pages for both of these venues are very sparse and that is a little off-putting.
2. Are there any local suppliers of feeders in the area?

Boa-Centric? nah it's Ball Pythons and almost all Ball Pythons at the shows.

Always a few Kings/Milks at the shows in Richmond

Jackins wrote:

Hi everyone, Lynn here.

I've been in the steadily moving process of working up to owning my first snake. The last of my supplies should hopefully be in by next week so that I can finish setting up my tub. It is my intention to start off with some form of king or milksnake (ideally I am looking for a Mexican Black Kingsnake, but they don't seem terribly popular in VA?)

I was hoping to find more information about VA specific venues, and am not terribly sure where specifically I should direct these inquiries.

1. There are two Reptile Expos coming up shortly; Richmond Reptile Expo on 07/19, and the Northern Virginia Reptile Expo on 08/23. Everything that I have seen so far seems to be fairly boa-centric. Would anyone happen to know if there are/have been in the past, any colubrid vendors present? The facebook pages for both of these venues are very sparse and that is a little off-putting.

2. Are there any local suppliers of feeders in the area?

My preferred list of reptile shows is at Kingsnake.  The list isn't exactly organized by location, but you can quickly see where the show is by looking down the second column:

http://www.kingsnake.com/events/index.php

Also, the NOVA and Richmond shows are run by the same guy.  Expect that he puts the same amount of effort into the show as he does for the Facebook page.  He's been saturating the show circuit for years and does 1-2 per month in the VA/MD area.  However, if you are looking to browse your first snake, those shows would be fine.  I would choose Richmond over NOVA though.

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'll go ahead and hit up both shows. The Richmond show was a bit of a surprise as I thought there was only going to be one this past Saturday but my supplies had not yet arrived for the tank. I'll try and head there first since it's a little earlier

@Project Python: I did check the Kingsnake Events but they all seem to match up with the ones listed for the VA expos. Hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for at one of these two shows. If not, there's the one in September. I have found a few online retailers that carry MBKs but but I'm not 100% certain that I want to order from one, and have not been able to find a breeder to order direct.

Excellent.

I actually didn't make it to the Expo today; instead I found a Thayeri king up for adoption on Craigslist that was too good to pass up. He's currently chilling on the hot side of a 100qt tub. Very docile, and easy going. could not ask for a better first snake. I'm still trying to think of a name that's fitting.

Just googled that kind of King. Very nice!

You did not miss much at the Richmond expo. I was disappointed in it to be honest. The manassas expo is ok and/should have more vendors. Like stated before the shows are ran by the same guy and not much effort is put into it. The Hampton roads show seems to be better.

Jons2012pied wrote:

You did not miss much at the Richmond expo. I was disappointed in it to be honest. The manassas expo is ok and/should have more vendors. Like stated before the shows are ran by the same guy and not much effort is put into it. The Hampton roads show seems to be better.

And the sad thing is it cost a fortune to vend the Richmond Show $80/6' table is absurd for so little traffic.

Last year the Richmond shows were much better, hopefully this one was a fluke.

As far as Hampton Roads go yes there are more vendors, but the selection is still a bit small outside of ball pythons.

A good show would be hamburg in pa or the steel city show. Venomous and non venomous

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome!