Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If i get a Pastel male, and 3 regular normal females, how much do you think this would cost? and am i correct that every baby would be pastel becuase its Co-Dominant, or will i get some baby normals? i am 15, and just asking. I might get started to just bring a little extra cash flow my way. How much could you sell the pastel babies for? and when you breed pastel to pastel, that makes a super right? how much could i sell them for? I will probably never get above 10 breeding snakes. Please add in all food and vet visits. I thinking somehwhere along 20grand for getting started...would this be a good idea? for just a little extra cash? i love the hobby and want to exapnd my collection someday. Remember, i dont wanna be like the Barkers or NERD, i wanna just work with pastels for some fast cash and maybe a morph or two for variety.

Just my opinion, but get your females now and grow them up for a year before getting a pastel male. Males mature quicker then females and if you get a male now, he'll be sitting around with nothing to do until the females get big enough.

Mark

With mine it only took me about $3000 to start all of my stuff for my breeding project. I went the cheapest way I could but it all seems to have panned out quite well. I have a temperature controlled room for them with racks for my adults/breeders and another for my babies. I actually asked alot of people if they were willing to sell or let me borrow their females and I have actually gotten alot of interest in it. I got one female that is about 2000 grams for 5 bucks...talk about some luck there. Considering I'm 17 I am happy that I was able to actually get the $3000 to put into it but 20 thousand for a pastel and 3 females, housing and other things seems a little expensive for me. Just my 2 cents.

Luke

i was just shooting for the most expensive set up. im 15, so i have alot of time to think abuot it. I am working at lowes so i get a little discount on wood so i can build a rack really easy. even though im a sweeper boy, it goes along way. is it true though that one pastel male bred to 3 normal females, that all the babies will be pastel? what about pastel to pastel? im not wanting to get over 20 snakes breeding at one time, just small one i can say is mine and i get money for it.

Ok since pastel is a co-dominant morph, when bred to a normal half of the babies will be pastel and half will be normal. When breeding a pastel to pastel you can get a super as well. Most pastels right now are selling at about 1000-1500 for males and 2000-2500 for females, but the change in the market is so rapid all the time its hard to tell what will happen to the prices in the future. Super pastels are still way up there at about 15,000 I guess...I think I saw one the other day for that price. All in all prices change all the time and the bigger the name...usually its a higher price. Its a great hobby to get into though, just remember its not all about the money.

Heres my pastel male...

Luke

if you work at lowes, why dont you build yourself a cage instead of using an aquarium? cage = ventilarion, humidity, heat, looks and much better for your snake

Males can easily sire up to 6-8 females a year. But you gotta be choosy as to which females you pick to pair up. Not all females will lay eggs in a given year. That's the secret to doing Ball Pythons successfully, and what differentiates a consistent breeder with a one-hit wonder breeder.
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Male pastel: $1000.-
3 normal females: $300.-

Your answer: $1300.-

dont forget the expenses of heating, feeding, caging, other stuff i can't remember right now.

it take tons of money, time and effort. you won't make any money breeding for ATLEAST 3-5 years, and thats if you do everything perfect.

It doesn't take tons of anything but time, patience, love of your interest and appreciation.

Not all the babies would be pastels, unless you are extremely lucky. I paid 1065 for a male pastel that came from a clutch that just happened to be all pastels, (Pastel x Normal breeding). Thanks Tom, Cypress Creek Reptiles.

Pastel is a CO-DOM trait.

lol the punnent square will you help you out a lot in science class so listen up!!

____A___B_
_B|AB_|BB|
_B|AB_|BB|
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Where AB is pastel, and BB is normal.

Statistically you should get 50% offspring pastel from Pastel to normal breeding.

And to look for the going rates of the snakes, check out the classifieds and browse around.

I have 7 other normal females. 1.1 100% Het pieds, I am in the process of looking for a Ghost female. But with all I have now, total value would be around 7-8 grand in food, supplies, cages, thermostats, oh and snakes!

Hope this helps.

Joel
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- Joel Smith

"If you're not part of the solution, you're still part of the problem"

Trust me when I say tha when dealing with dominant and co-dominant genes, you use the SAME letter as the recessive gene (wild-type coloration in this case). Pastel is a het. Its Aa. Don't use B. You bring "B" in when you are dealing with another trait, such as striping or clown or spider. You just posted the most confusing punnet ever, in the history of punnets. Especially for the new-bees who don't have a clue. Pastel is Het for super Pastel. Therefore, its Aa. Hets aren't AB. AB is is what one parent (gamete) contributes to the chromosome. A big "A" and a big "B"
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Thanks Jeff, I guess my science teacher was drunk last night then??
He said if it was codom then you'd use it AB. Since A is pastel and B is normal both co dom. Therfore a 50/50 chance with the offspring.

Oh well, I'll take your word for it, it was just a Teachers Assistant anyway.
P.S. Have any ghosts for grabs?

>>Trust me when I say tha when dealing with dominant and co-dominant genes, you use the SAME letter as the recessive gene (wild-type coloration in this case). Pastel is a het. Its Aa. Don't use B. You bring "B" in when you are dealing with another trait, such as striping or clown or spider. You just posted the most confusing punnet ever, in the history of punnets. Especially for the new-bees who don't have a clue. Pastel is Het for super Pastel. Therefore, its Aa. Hets aren't AB. AB is is what one parent (gamete) contributes to the chromosome. A big "A" and a big "B"
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- Joel Smith

"If you're not part of the solution, you're still part of the problem"

Gotta keep all the females back!! Heh heh....

Cheers,

Jeff F.

OK, i read all of this post and as a new Ball hobbist i got my thoughts on this for you.

I think starting anything at a young age is really good. Most people get started later in life and get old before they can enjoy a lot of what their goals were. So that's a BIG plus for you.

I would think any 15 year old with $20,000 available would not be needing cash flow(or a little extra money). I also think with that money and a job and a good Mutual Fund, you could be doing very well by time you 20 or 22.

OK, but if you really want to get into Balls, you got to kinda come into it liking them for what they are and not a money maker. Remember, its a lot of work and disappointment. You see all these breeders selling Balls left and right for lots of money. But the reality of a lot of what you see is not that at all. Lots of Balls sit around and get re-listed over and over. Lots never sell period. Look at Pastels now, seems like they are coming to a stand still. Males can't move for $1,000. So you breed a male Pastel to 3 females and lets say you get 3 or 4 males out of it. Then you can't sell them, what do you do? They still have to eat, they still have to be cleaned. Thats money down the drain as a business investment. Then what if the following year you put what you have together and get 4 or 5 more males, now you got 7 or 8 male Pastels that eat, need cleaning and you are stuck with them. That will make you wish you never went this route as an investment. That's why i say you got to LOVE doing this not wanting to make money from it.

Remember, if you love doing something, do it well, money will follow...

Ok, $20,000... If you just had to do this and will not take "no" as an answer. This is what i would do. 1st, want to start with racks(HOUSING), need a home before getting the Ball(s). So if you can get wood and all(cheap) build your own. Most people(posts) i see say they build racks that hold like 4 to 6 Balls for under $150 all included(tubs, water dishes, heat, controls, etc...). So if you plan on having 20 Balls as a breeding project, build housing to hold say 18 Balls(3 racks) to start with. Then build a rack that is for babies(holds say 20 tubs). So thats 4 racks that will cost say $700(give or take).

FOOD is next, i would go with breeding them(mice). If your looking for investment, its the cheap way. Then buy froozen rats. This way you have a cheap supply of food. I have 4 colonies of mice and they produce about 160-180 adult mice a month for me. Bedding and food only costs me about $10 a month to keep them. So you get 160 mice(food for Balls) a month for about $10. Then but your froozen rats in bulk and get them somewhat cheap too. I do not feed mine many rats and they grow like weeds. So i do not think you "got to buy rats" to do well.

ODDS & ENDS, you will need money on the side for all that. Electricity and so on. You can more than likely get away with $1 a day to heat them. Vet bills, well, have a little set aside(maybe $50 a Ball as insurance) per year. Put in interest account(if money is not used, its making you money)(never let unused money sit).

OK, to the BALLS themselves. If your going Pastel, that's fine. I would not go with a small male and 3 small females(like someone said). If you got $20,000 and can use it. Why wait 2 to 3 years to see a return? I would buy a breeder sized male and 3 breeder (ready) females. Yes, if you go with 2003 Balls you will get away with $1,300(like someone said), but why? Take $3,500-$4,500 and get adults. Then you can breed this season and get a return a lot sooner. In the long run, your money will work for you longer, thus giving you a bigger return. And remember, one big reason people get out of a investment is because returns take tooooooooo long to see(get). Also, i would even invest in Albino's(kinda the bread and butter) of breeding. Get adult male and female(maybe $6,000) and see results this season. And maybe you could get a deal doing the whole shooting match with one breeder(buying) or maybe with the Albino's(1.1, get a 100% het female for $500). So yopu have 2 females to breed, the Albino and the het.

So, for say $11,000 to $12,000 you could be well on your way with returns on your investment in less than 8 months. But then what do i know, been doing this for only 11 months...

PS- I am sure someone or a few long time breeders will blow my plan out the water. I am sure it has flaws. But its at least a starting point and maybe others can add to make the plan better. Thanks for the question...

JAZ

I have racks, as I'm sure most do that hold a lot more than 6 balls. Your estimate on racks was way too high. You'll need a rack for hatchlings, say 27 rubbermaids in one rack. You also need a rack for yearlings and up to say 2000g. My racks are 14 tubs per. Finally, you'll need a large rack for both breeding and for large females. 10 underbed rubbermaids for that one. All in all, the total for all of these racks should be well under $700.

20g's = biggest money figure i would think.