Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am trying to decide what I should do. I wanted to look for a small Albino Ball Python, but the place I have been doing business for years said that he would give me a pair of 100% Het for Albino, born in October of 06 for $650.00, and throw in a second male for free to free up some space in his store. Does this trio of 100% Het sound like a good deal? Or is it over priced?

Also 100% Het theoretically should give me 1 Albino egg for every three layed, right?

This would be my first Ball Pythins so I am not too familar with the pricing. Thanks to whomever responds...

A little high unless the female het is in the 900 to 1000 gram range.I thinks you could get that combo in 08 animals with one being an albino this year for the same money.

If it were me - I'd stick with the original plan and pick up an albino male. If your plan is to breed - just keep your eyes on the classifieds for an adult or sub-adult het female - they pop up every once in a while and you got yourself a nice breeding pair.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

I see albino regius for prices around 750$ so why spend that much on hets.?

I agree. It's a good deal for three snakes but not if they're only Het for Albino. I'm sure you could find a better deal somewhere, and you'd probably find an Albino pair.

-Patrick

I've also not been following pricing but a here few questions that might factor into your decision:

1. Do you trust the person selling this snake and the ownership chain all the way back to the producer to be sure this trio are 100% hets?

2. Do you want to breed ball pythons and produce an albino or just own an albino and how patient are you?

If you just want a pet albino then buy a hatchling albino. However, if you want to hatch albinos any time soon it could get pretty expensive to buy adult albinos close to breeding size and if you buy a hatchling female you are looking at a minimum of 2 years and likely longer to hatch her first eggs.

Assuming these are for sure reliable hets (otherwise no use even considering them) then an older female het is the only way in the budget you are talking about to even have a shot to hatch albinos in the next year.

With that trio the only one that is really worth more than normal price is the late 06 the female. How much does she weigh and is she eating well? I assume maybe she didn't produce this year which would have been the first possible but not really common that soon. But is she big enough and eating well enough that she should have a shot at reaching 1,500 grams minimum and breeding next winter and producing summer 09?

The other side of the equation is odds and risk. Even if you had the big bucks to buy a pair of adult albinos today you would have to keep them alive and feeding well and be lucky enough to get them to breed. But with the hets after all that there is the risk that you are not guaranteed they will produce an albino first try. Assuming both really are het albinos the odds would be 25% chance albino per egg. That isn't the same as saying there will be 1 albino in every 4 eggs. Think of it like flipping two coins per egg and you only get an albino if both come up heads. Some practice "clutches" you might not get two heads in any of the pairs in an average number of flips/eggs (maybe 6 for a first clutch more or less depending on how big you get her). Maybe you'll be lucky and get more than one pair of heads but there is no guarantee. But at least with an older het female with good size you will have a shot years before buying a hatchling albino this summer.