Corn Snakes 101 - Buying Your Snake at a Reptile Show

While you may not live close to a corn snake breeder, you could still meet one in person (to purchase a snake) by attending a reptile show in your area.

These shows run the gamut from one-day events with 30 or so breeders to three-day events with hundreds of breeders. And due to the immense popularity of the corn as a pet snake, I guarantee you'll find at least one n snake breeder at nearly every reptile show in the United States.

These shows are a great way to expand your options when shopping for a snake. Professional breeders travel from all over the country to attend reptile shows (especially the bigger events). So you may have a lot more options for purchasing a corn snake by attending such an event.

There are two ways to find out about shows that may be coming to your area: (1) using the Internet and (2) checking out Reptiles magazine.

Using the Internet, you could just do a Google or Yahoo search for "reptile show" plus your city or state's name. For example: "Reptile show +California"

Reptiles magazine is another good place to learn about upcoming shows in the U.S. At the end of each issue, they have a list of events covering the next few months at a glance. You can pick up a copy of Reptiles magazine at most major pet stores, such as PetSmart and Petco.

Once you've discovered a show that's coming to your part of the country, the next step is to identify a corn snake breeder who will be attending the event. Once again, the Internet is a great place to start such a search. Here's how I would go about it:

1. First, make a list of professional corn snake breeders. You'll have to spend some time online, perhaps even using a corn snake forum like the one at Kingsnake.com. But you should be able to come up with a list of ten or so breeders fairly easily.
2. Next, after you have list of about eight to ten breeders, make a second column beside each breeder's name and label the column "Shows." What you are doing here is creating a helpful checklist for future research.
3. Use this checklist to keep track of your research -- which breeder is attending which show, etc.
4. Leave space for some additional note taking under each breeder's name. When talking to breeders via email or on the phone, use this space to jot down notes about snake availability, ordering process, or anything else you want to remember later on.
5. Now all you have to do is contact each corn snake breeder on your list by phone or email to start filling in the blanks.

I hope you have found this article helpful, and I wish you well in your continued research into corn snakes. Good luck.

Brandon Cornett is the author of the "Ultimate Guide to Corn Snake Care," which offers over 100 pages of helpful advice on corn snake care and keeping. Learn more or download your e-book by visiting http://www.reptileknowledge.com/cornsnakes

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