Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have owned snakes/BP's for years but have recently grown interested in getting into breeding. I'd like some advice on the best way to start.

I know it will take some time, because I don't have the money upfront to devote to a handful of adult snakes, so I'd probably try to start out with 08/09 hets in most cases.

What is a good foundation to a breeding collection? Albinos, pieds, pastels, spiders? Let's say I start off with an adult male albino and an adult het albino, that way I could potentially get some more albinos in a year or so. Maybe pick up a 1.1 pair of 09 het pieds and hope to have some in a few years? Just looking for some insight as to what to start with that will give me the potential for some good morphs in the future.

Thanks

ive been asking myself the same sort of questions...

i think you really have to ask what it is your trying to accomplish with breeding, if your using it to pay for your hobby, your best bet is figuring out market trends and producing what you think you can clear as quickly as possible.

if your trying to innovate, then you need a large initial investment for a rare morph.

and if your trying to just make a specific type of bp for your own pleasure, then thats pretty self explanatory, you do what you gotta do.

keep in mind that recessive genes tend to keep their value better, but at the same time take either a bigger initial investment or a large time investment to get into.

co doms are quick to get into, but can be difficult to move, with people now doing quad-co doms, the single and doubles are going to be much harder to sell, i myself skip anything in the classfieds with "09" in its name, because baby codoms simply arent a breeders market unless they are triples, quads, or have a recessive gene as well.

a good example of this is the sheer amount of people producing bumble bees this year, it took roughly a year and half to cut prices nearly in half, and thats only going to get lower.

i wish you the best of luck in whichever path your persuing, i myself have to continue my goal of a queen clown

If I were starting right now, I would be looking for nice co-dom/het combo females. If you like pastels, maybe pastel het ghost or pastel het pied. If you like cinny's maybe cinny het albino, etc. Since the females typically need to be a year older than the males, get them first. Then next year assume the recessive base morphs will be more affordable and get your male albino, pied, or whatever. Your first breeding season, you will be on track to hatch some very attractive recessive combo's that are much less common than the recessives themselves or the co-dom/co-dom combo's.
Paul

Something like a Bell Pastel 100% het nerd orange ghost?

If the pastel orange ghost is a morph you personally like, that is a good choice. The nice thing about that combo is you will probably be able to find an affordable pastel orange ghost male next year to both increase your odds, and have the possibility of hatching a super pastel orange ghost your first year. Or if funds are tight, you could always get another pastel het ghost and have longer odds, but still a chance at producing some fun stuff... So many possibilities!!!
Paul

it may also be a good idea to buy a good book or books and keep reading, watch the market, and go to the shows/ expos and talk with everyone you can to get ideas from them as well, everyone is a source and a good start.