Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Which combo would be the better investment? 1.1 Mojaves and 1.1 Pastels or 1.0 Lesser and 0.6 Normal? I am a poor college student and honestly am looking for a good investment. I have a lot of experience breeding leopard geckos and am trying my hand at breeding balls now. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Not as what's best.. do what you like...If your looking for just the money side there are many things that could go wrong.Before you get going..Just my 2 cents

Kevin Stoltz
www.KMSReptiles.com

I would have to agree with Kevin. Do what you think best. Get the morphs you like more, not the ones that might produce something more valuable. Get the ones that will please you for many years to come. I wouldn't get into this hobby to make money or get rich quick. Most of the money that you make from this hobby goes back into your collection to buy new animals, pay for needed supplies or whatever else you might need. I've heard it said that with dog breeding, if you're doing it right, you shouldn't be making any money. It usually all goes to pay for your collection. However, you may make a little profit, but not a ton. But like I said, get the ones that you think are the coolest, not the most valuable ones. That's just my opinion. But remember, do what pleases you.

dont buy co-dom

get pieds or clowns... they have been holding their price really good.

recessive is the only smart investment

but like the ppl before me said. you aint gonna make a profit out of them. you'll keep most of your females to grow your colony and BP's are pretty stubborn snakes.

your better of in the stock market...

If you are a poor college student, I would buy some Apple or Microsoft stock, or a stock you like as an INVESTMENT. Do you have a rack, housing, can you afford the rats each week, heat, baby racks...all things you do not need when you buy stock...a much better investment.

Now, if you are talking about getting some animals because you really like Ball Pythons, and want to get into the hobby, and hope your hobby pays for itself...I would go with the Mojave and Pastels.

Dave

the Mojos next to the brick pic.one was a sulfer i meant to reply ?is it the left or right one ,my reso.shows plum color on both.Chris

I'm a young college kid too and had the same thoughts starting off as you did. But money can't be your driving force... you have to do it for the awesome snakes that are out there... I started last year picking up snakes and couldn't stop. I have a pair of lemon pastels, a male spider, female albino, normal females and a male yellowbelly already... and it has been just over a year since i got in. So ONLY do it if you love it.... (And no, that is not with dad's money. lol.)

That said...

IF you really wanted to just make money you would have to go with the lessers and the normal females... they are going to get you the most return. But you have to consider how old the females are now and when you will be able to breed them.... Say if you succesfully breed 4 females with your lesser 2 years from now you will probably make back what you put in, in the first place... But like some of the other guys said... recessives hold their value much better... for now... soon it will be the double and triple recessives and so on that will hold the most genetic and money power... but i think everyone already knows that...

Just my thoughts.

If I were in your situation, I would be looking at mixing things like albino and pied with any morphs that you think might enhance these recessive characteristics.

I cheap way to get in is with hets.

A really cheap way to get in is with pos hets (from a person you trust).

I once raised up over a 100 female pos het for albino boas purchased from Pete Kahl and when they were all grown up, they produced almost exactly the percentage of albinos that they were supposed to.

Pos het females bred to known het males is a great way to get in on the cheap and have all the fun that the big breeders enjoy.

first off, learn about the morphs, understand how they work. Then think of neat combos that may or may not have been tried yet. Figure out how much money you have to spend on starting animals. Going with co-dominant or dominant morphs and some normal females means a high chance of having visual morphs in the babies, which can be sold or traded to buy a recessive morph (ie albino, pied, etc) which can be combined with co-doms...

If you can't stand the look of mojaves, trying to add that to other morphs, would be rather pointless.

It is also a good ideal to figure out how much money, time and space you have to dedicate to your hobby for the foreseeable future. If you can't afford to spend 50$ a week on rats to feed your snakes...then probably not a good ideal to get 6 normal females and a lesser plat. That is 7 snakes to feed, house, heat and clean. It may be better to go one co-dom morph (mojave, pastel or whatever) and a couple normals, or two co dom morphs and one or two normal females, depending on how much room you have.

In other words, there are a thousand and one ways you can earn some money selling ball python morphs but the secret formula is vary simple: Get what interests you. Don't buy over your means to pay/care/house/feed. Don't forget to have room for babies. Understand the care requirements and what all the genetics mean.

Don't go into breeding ball pythons to make money. There is no guarantee you can. It isn't a get rich fast method, as just because you have that $10K morph for sale, it doesn't mean it will be sold right away.

Start small, add more animals as time passes and you have extra money, time, space etc.
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PHLdyPayne