Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

[Rakshasanyc]

With much trepidation, I've decided to try my hand at keeping (and breeding) Ball Pythons. All the cool kids are doing it, and it doesn't require as much space as breeding Burms or Retics.

So far I've got Hiroyuki, a 1.0 albino (around 200g). When the weather warms up I'm waiting on Dalchini and Nimboo, an 0.1 Black Pastel and an 0.1 Lemon Pastel, respectively. My present thoughts are.

Hiroyuki's Harem
0.1 albino
0.1 100% het albino (0.2 albino, depending on budget)
0.1 pinstripe or 0.1 spider, depending on budget

For Dalchini and Nimboo, I'm torn between getting a Black Pastel male (which would give me a great shot at making Super Black Pastels and/or Pewters) or splurging on a Pewter male (which should result in several Pewters and possibly even a Silver Bullet and/or Silver Streak). Thoughts?

I'm thinking 3 females to one male is good: would the folks on here recommend a higher or lower ratio?

I'm not going to be breeding until the '08 season at the earliest, although I may get an adult female pastel or two if I have a male ready to go. (If not no worries: I'm hoping to make some coin from this in the future, but I can definitely wait two or three years for returns).

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[LadyOhh]

Well, there seems to be many questions...

First off, get what you like, what you enjoy, and what you want to see pip out of the egg. There is no-one that can tell you what you like more than yourself. As for investments? I don't think anyone can hazard to guess the prices in three years...

Albinos are always a great investment, all recessives are.

I love Black Pastels very much, and think that they are severely underrated.

Pewters are awesome, but you will be putting out a pretty penny. If you don't care, then go with that. :)

I would suggest getting your females now, grow them up, then buy your male in the next year or so. As for the ratio, I tend to go with 1 to 2-4, depending on the outcome of the clutches. There is never a guarantee any one animal will take, so as the saying goes: "Don't count your eggs before they hatch!"

Have fun with it. It's a blast!

[NorthernRegius.com]

What Ladyohh said :iagree:

BUT 3 years from now will not likely see you in the black; as long as you are happy with possibly covering your feeding expenses by year 3, you'll do okay. Make sure you enjoy it even if you never quit your day job; if you love the animals, you'll see a reward in them doing well for you.

Best Wishes- Deb

[Rakshasanyc]

What Ladyohh said :iagree:

BUT 3 years from now will not likely see you in the black; as long as you are happy with possibly covering your feeding expenses by year 3, you'll do okay. Make sure you enjoy it even if you never quit your day job; if you love the animals, you'll see a reward in them doing well for you.

Best Wishes- Deb


I am not expecting to turn this into a major profit-maker for years, if ever. I'll be perfectly happy if I can subsidize my snake addiction by breeding Balls. I also want to breed White-Lips but that's totally a labor of love on my part; I don't think there will ever be a big market for high-strung snakes with exacting husbandry requirements.

Right now I'm leaning toward a male Black Pastel and an 05 female Pastel. That would give me a decent shot at Pewter in the 07 season and would put me in a great place for 08. I'd also like to find a subadult 100% het albino female from a reputable breeder for Hiroyuki, so I can possibly see some albinos in the 07 season. I know that the females I've purchased so far won't be ready until 08 at the earliest, maybe 09, and I'm fine with that.

(So far I've been pleasantly surprised by how well Hiroyuki eats. I was prepared for the worst but if rat pups were crack he'd be Whitney Houston. Now if only some of that would rub off on my hatchling Papuan. :(

[Clay Davenport]

I will warn you now, get into ball pythons at your own peril. You'll wind up like me, I never intended to get into balls to the point I am, I sort of got sucked in and now I'm in too deep to get out. I started out just wanting to eventually get myself a pied, and perhaps a bumble bee. Now I've got het for this and het for that, some visuals and a few codoms, and who knows how many normal females.
And give up on that naming them, you'll have 40 of them before you realize what you've done.

I won't offer any real advice aside from what's already been mentioned, get what you like first and foremost. If you don't really like the morph to begin with don't bother with it.
Myself for instance I simply don't like black pastels, and have very little appreciation for mojaves. I will probably never have a cinnamon, and if I do get a mojave it will be when they are a couple hundred dollars. That would have been this year had MKR remained in business, but now it will probably be a while. :)

If you're looking for something to hold value better, then recessives are the obvious choice. Clowns are still underrated. Even recessives are feeling the hit of the market adjustment though.

I'd look to adding some larger het albino females and soem sort of pattern mutation to add to your albino project, be it stripe, pied, spider, or whatever.

You mentioned considering a female spider to add to your albino, and that's a good idea, btu I'd also consider a male spider to put with your female pastel for bumblebees.

It all boils down to what YOU like personally. If you love the morph, whatever it is, you'll be excited to see the eggs pip. Making some money off the snakes is great, but the money alone isn't reason enough to start a project, you have to have the personal interest to go along with it or else it's just another job.

[LadyOhh]

Clay said it... I never intended to get as many animals as I have, and honestly, I don't feel like I even have enough!!!!

It gets very addicting, and will be a great labour of love only if you make it that way. If you don't like them, don't waste your time. It's not worth it.