Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to start this by saying that I love all bp morphs.

That being said, is a male normal really worth anything to a breeding program? I'm fairly new to bp genetics, but it seems like most of the prevalent morphs rely on normal females, not males. Just how useful are normal males? I have a baby normal that I love, and I think that it might be a male. He's got a great jungle pattern and is very dark/greyish--very pretty, but as a beginning hobbyist I want to keep animals that I can start my breeding program with. Can I consider this guy as a part of my future program, or should he be more suited as a pet? Thanks for any input.
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2.2 Beardies:
Ozzie--GG X
Dunkin--Sandfire X
Caine--hypopastel clear nail het leuc., poss. het trans.
Matilda--hypopastel clear nail het leuc., poss. het trans.

2.1 Cornsnakes:
Chester--anery stripe motley
*RIP* Ducky--bloodred
Josie--anery
'No name'--ghost

2.1 Ball Pythons:
Percy--normal
Fynn--pastel
Layla--normal

2.2 Other Pets:
Simon, Cooper--chihuahuas
Cleo--DSH cat
Piper--cockatiel

really answer the question your looking for w/o knocking on you. That being said, I'll answer...

No, he's pretty useless to your BREEDING PROGRAM if you're wanting to make money at this. The only way he'd really be useful would be if you only had a normal female, didn't want to spend any money and just wanted to breed for the fun of it... Then you could hatch out normals, and have a TON of fun at it.

If you're doing this as a "hobby business" and you breed him to another morph, it'll be a waste. If you had a morph female, it would make 100x's more sense to buy a male pastel for a few hundred dollars and produce "pastel whatevers" rather than just "whatevers"(insert whatever morph the female is).

If you're looking at having a "breeding program" though, normal males will rarely fit into it. I sell all mine to local pet stores. Good luck!
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Jeremy Conrad
bpConnection
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...Can't...stop...must...get...more...balls...

Normal males make good pets. That's about it.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

You said that "you think it might be a male". I think your first step is to have it sexed. What makes you think it is a male? If it does turn out to be a male I agree with the other posts that it is really only good for a pet.
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John Vandegrift

What if you had an odd female you thought may be a new morph? Wouldn't a normal male make it easier to "prove" her out without mixing in any other genetics?

Thanks for the responses, they were pretty much what I had already figured on. No, I am not sure that he really is a he, and I do need to get him sexed by someone that is qualified to probe (unfortunately, I am too much of a newbie to do this). Only then can I make a decision as to whether he stays with me as a pet or goes to one of my friends. I am very new to bps, hence the question, but you have to start the learning process somewhere! Either way, he is a very pretty animal. I am in the process of obtaining more morphs than the pastel I have, and will hopefully be getting my new bps within the next two weeks. I can;t wait! Theres also a huge reptile expo around the corner....
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2.2 Beardies:
Ozzie--GG X
Dunkin--Sandfire X
Caine--hypopastel clear nail het leuc., poss. het trans.
Matilda--hypopastel clear nail het leuc., poss. het trans.

2.1 Cornsnakes:
Chester--anery stripe motley
*RIP* Ducky--bloodred
Josie--anery
'No name'--ghost

2.1 Ball Pythons:
Percy--normal
Fynn--pastel
Layla--normal

2.2 Other Pets:
Simon, Cooper--chihuahuas
Cleo--DSH cat
Piper--cockatiel

I use my normal male for "pet purposes" When I get the inkling to handle one of them, or when people are over and I want them to see how cool BPs are, out comes my normal adult male. I want my girls and pastel male to basically rest up for now, for this years' beeding season; so it's cool to have a snake that's "off" and therefore more handleable.
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1.3 normal BPs
1.0 Pastel BP (Graziani, from the Sutherlands)
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs
1.0 black cat
0.2 paint mares, 1.1 paint foals
Also have fancy goldfish, african cichlids, and rats.

i think its been pretty well explained but personally if you asked my personal opinion....normal male ball pythons have several purposes.....

as said in another reply they do make good demo snakes for some one who wants to see a snake...

IF you think you have some real cool "new" snake you may want a TRUE normal so you can prove/disprove it as genetic, not only genetic but dominant or recessive

My personal reason for keeping males.... when i have to "retire" some rodents or get rid of surplus... (yes females can do it too lol)