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Little Canadian Newbie

I

Irefe

New member
Hey! Name's Irefe, but feel free to call me Ire. I'm new to both this forum and the idea of owning snakes. I don't yet have a corn, but it's a thing I'm working on.

I've always had a really strong connection with snakes, ever since I was around 5 or 6, but my mom was always very adamant about not wanting snakes in the house. Now that I'm older and can afford the snake myself, as well as care for it completely on my own, she's much more giving on the subject (still not completely, but I'm working on it! I just need to prove to her that I'm serious about it). She still doesn't want a snake in the house, but I'm not giving her much of a choice at this point.

Anyways, I was referred here by some people when I asked on another site forum about anyone that could offer advice, and I've found the place really helpful! Pretty much all of the questions I've had have been answered just from a quick look around.

I think the biggest issue I'm having at the moment is where I'm going to get the snake, I don't like nor trust pet stores (though I am going to take a look at some we have near by, I don't have high hopes) and shipping is very expensive. I haven't been able to find any information on any local reptile expos, and even if I did, it would be unlikely I'd be able to go, first because my mom doesn't like reptiles, and second, because my dad, who is the only one in our family that can drive currently, suffers from chronic headaches and is on a lot of medication. He really can't/doesn't like to drive long distances, or be out of the house for a long amount of time.

So I am most likely stuck with either pet store, or a snake that has been ordered online (which my mom insists is as bad as getting from the pet store, because you can't actually meet the person) that I have had to pay expensive shipping for.

It seems I've gotten a bit off topic before I even posted the thread... Whoops, hehe. If anyone has any advice or can point me in the right direction though, that would be awesome. I live in Ontario Canada, for the record, in the Burlington area.

~Ire
 
http://www.reptileexpo.ca/ is the site for the expo's around here. and
Reptiles Canada is another forum, some people ask to carpool with people going from around their area or people going through their area. There's an actual thread for the expo's, you just have to scroll down and there's even a classifieds section there too.
As for anyone else to get a corn from, I'd suggest Rebecca at Tripple-R-Corns shipping can be expensive but her corns are amazing.

I'm From the London area myself.
 
Welcome!

Some local stores can be fine if you know what you're looking for. Things like clean surroundings (expect the odd bit of fresh poop as it's difficult to spot-clean during a business day, but there should be no build-ups) and fresh water in bowls. All animals (not just the snakes) looking healthy plus store staff who are willing to stop and talk and who seem to know what they're talking about (arm yourself with some basic facts from forums like this, then ask them and see if they come up with the same advice). A good indicator for me seems to be whether Corn morphs are correctly-labelled and whether the staff know where they came from.

Sourcing Corns from a known breeder (either direct or via a good store) will give you a better shot at a healthy animal, than buying one from a wholesale lot with an unknown background.

If you do a little research you can find online sellers with a great reputation - many are long-standing members of this board and there are folks here from Canada.

As long as you do your homework, you have a good shot at finding your perfect Corn!
 
Welcome :) I have 6 from Rebecca at triple R. Shipping from BC to Alberta was around $100. If you can't make it to a show check online classifieds like craigslist and kijiji. You can even post a wanted add and see how that goes :)

Here is the Canadian breeder listing maybe someone is close to you
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94572
 
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I've found that kijiji is a good bet. This way you can find something in your area, and meet them face-to-face. This way you can also examine the snake to see if it seems healthy, and there are no hefty shipping fees. I live in Canada as well, and I got my corns off of kijiji.ca.
 
Thanks for the help everyone! I looked into local expos and talked to my mom, it looks like I might be able to attend one in Kitchener at the end of this month. Hopefully I'll be able to at least get some contacts of local breeders, and possibly get some supplies.

In the meantime, I'm going to make some pet store trips (hopefully this Saturday will be the first) and check the conditions of the reptiles, talk to some people and look into the supplies available from the local stores (I need to figure out where I'm going to get mice from, at least).

I'll probably take a look at Kijiji and Craigslist, but finding something on those sites or getting one shipped from a breeder will probably be last resort for me. My mom was really reluctant about a $100 shipping fee haha, which is understandable. Though if it comes down to getting one shipped from a breeder, I will definitely look into Triple R, I was looking at them before and they seem to be a really nice place.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! I seem to be making progress with my family as well, both of my parents seem to be okay with it at this point, hehe.

~Ire
 
I can't wait for that expo! It'll be the first one I've been to, and the only one that I'll be able to get to, and I was surprised that my dad agreed to it.

Before getting one from a pet store, keep in mind that their prices are extremely inflated. I realize that it's comparable to the cost of a snake + shipping, but they're prices are much higher then you'd find normally.
 
Awesome! I'm pretty excited about it, I just hope it really is on the 22nd, because if it's not I can't go since my dad will be working any other day.

Yeah, I'm going to look into other options before going with pet store, I'll only go pet store if they look healthy/are kept in good conditions/etc. or if I don't have much other choice. I took a look at Kijiji earlier and there are quite a few people nearby that are selling, a lot of them being adult corns with everything included for $100-300, which seems like a pretty good deal. Mom said we might be able to go that route if all else fails.
 
If you dont find one and are in Kitchener, I was in "Big Als" on Wilson Ave just last week
and they had a good selection of corns and other snakes
 
Thanks, and thanks for the tip Repsolal! I don't live in that area (about an hour to an hour and a half away) but I'll write it down and maybe we can take a look while we're there.
 
PAIN said:
Big Al's now sells reptiles?
Click to expand...

yeah, some of the Big Al's do sell reptiles, that one in particular, i was in there a few years ago when the first started to carry some. I talked with the guy (owner or manager) who was wanting to start selling the reptiles. and was in there this past year and saw it was nicely expanded to 3-4 times what it was.
They had some neat stuff there.
 
Thanks Sarae!

I went to the pet store today, they didn't have any corns, but I looked at their other animals and they seem really well cared for, the reptiles were only housed one per cage, and their rodents (hamsters and rats, etc.) were kept with 3-4 per cage and the cages were fairly large. All the water was clean and so was the housing, they also had lots of hiding, I could barely even see the kingsnake they had there, and I couldn't find a couple of the lizards because they had so many fake plants.

The guy I talked to said that if I talked to the manager some other day (he wasn't in and it was also really busy) they would be willing to order one for me, they mostly order reptiles on special order I guess, because they don't have a big display there. I may go back and just ask how it works and get some more information some other day, though the store obviously doesn't really have much for reptiles, just the basics, so I may have to look elsewhere.

There are some exotic pet shops in nearby places I may go take a look at if I can get my dad to drive me there sometime haha.

On another note, I got a book that I saw recommended, just a corn snake care guide that I'm going to read through for the time being.

Is it alright that I'm discussing this here, by the way? Or should I make another thread, or something?
 
It might be worth starting a new thread to discuss the care guide, with a title that indicates you have new questions. It just lets other members know that you have something specific to ask, which they might not be looking for in an introduction thread like this.

It's also worth using the Search facility first, to see if anyone else has asked your question recently.

Just a quick observation though - if the book is by Kathy & Bill Love or Don Soderberg, then you're on to a winner!
 
I don't really have questions though, it's just more me chatting about the things I find as I go, how the pet store is, stuff like that haha, I like sharing I guess? And getting any advice anyone might have for me.

The book is by Kathy and Bill Love, yes, I saw it mentioned in a couple places and I saw it at the store, so I picked it up for reference now and future reference if I have questions after I get my snake. I had thought about just getting it from the library, but I wanted to own it so I could look back at it later as well.
 
HazAnga said:
yeah, some of the Big Al's do sell reptiles, that one in particular, i was in there a few years ago when the first started to carry some. I talked with the guy (owner or manager) who was wanting to start selling the reptiles. and was in there this past year and saw it was nicely expanded to 3-4 times what it was.
They had some neat stuff there.
Click to expand...

I use to always go to the one on Wilson Ave in Kitchener for Shark Feeding night. Was only frogs, fish and turtles. Good to see them expand. I miss that place, it was fun going there. They have great set ups.
 
PAIN said:
I use to always go to the one on Wilson Ave in Kitchener for Shark Feeding night. Was only frogs, fish and turtles. Good to see them expand. I miss that place, it was fun going there. They have great set ups.
Click to expand...

yeah, they've been expanding more into the reptiles. I'll be due to stop by there again this year or next.
 
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