Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I been looking at het albinos and ghosts but $700-900 is a little steap for me right now. Does anyone know a cheaper way to get in on a project and be able to produce a morph? I know possies are cheap but those are really just norms am i right?

Possible hets are a lot cheaper. But more work.
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RicK @ BbI

Ball Boutique,Inc.
The home of the singing snakes!

I would say the least expensive way would be pick up a 100% het male and breed it to a few females. Hold back the female offspring which will be 50% possible het and breed them back to the father. Long process but can be effective.

George Knaack
GLK HERP

If you want an albino, go with a het male albino for $200-250, get several females that are of breeding size and breed the male to the girls, then breed the daughters back to dad. But you are looking at a minimum of 2-3 years.
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0.2 Normal Adult ball pythons
0.2 Normal Adult ball pythons (on breeding loan)
0.1 Sub-adult
1.0 Normal ball python
1.1 Bell Line Pastel Ball pythons
1.0 Adult Het Albino Ball Python
1.0 Het Pied Ball Python
1.0 Het Carmel Ball Python
1.0 66% Het pied Ball python
0.2 50% Het albino Ball Pythons

Most of the hets in that price range would be babies right?
That would take two years till he is breedable.
Then three years till his daughters can be bred.
Wouldn't a morph be 5 years away that way?
Would the prices drop so much by then that it wouldn't be worth it doing it that way? I would love to have a pied or pastel ball but by the time I go through all that would it have been easier to just buy one 5 years from now or would they still be very expensive then?
Just asking because I am new to ball pythons and would like to try breeding them but I wouldn't want to get stuck with babies I would not be able to sell. That is the only reason I would hesitate breeding my normal female even though I am dying to produce babies with her.
Also what is the correct age/size to breed a female for the first time.

You could get a hatchling male to breeding size in a full year maybe even a bit less time.. It would still be 2-3 years befor the females where ready to breed back so, that puts you at about 4 years.. Or you just save your pennies for a year and get a het pair but then you are putting everything on one pair instead of a het male with up to 5 females. If you are dying to just produce babies the just buy a adult het male and produce poss. hets!! There are your babies!!

A Corsi
Corsi Morphs Reptiles
203-526-7228
Link

If you are only getting into ball pythons for the $$ and not for the love of the animals and the joy of producing your own babies, it'll just be another job for you, and you'll get sick of it before any money (if at all) comes rollin' in. Good luck with that....

I breed chameleons now! talk about a no money situation. lol
Actually I breed crested geckos and leopard geckos too.
I have about 30 breeder animals and I love them all.
I truly enjoy the time I spend with my animals and even though I am new to snakes I am not new to breeding reptiles.
It is stricktly a hobby for me even though it mananges to support itself. My favorite snake is a female normal Ball due to her appetite and sweet disposition so to answer your question I will not at all be dissappointed if I make no money on the deal. I just love the egg laying, incubating, hatching process and I am also looking for a way to afford a piebald ball python without breaking the bank. It is kind of hard talking your partner into wanting to shell out $10,000 for a snake if they are not a snake person.
At the same time even though I am wanting to breed my normals I hesitate due to the fact that I see thousands being sold and I don't want to create an animal that will not be wanted and end up homeless or having to be destroyed. That is one of the reasons I am cutting back on my Leopard gecko production and only breeding a pair or two of my nicer looking ones.

Buy a pair of $100 animals and breed them. Sell the babies and make $1,000. Flip (re-invest) that money back into snakes and buy 2 $500 animals. Make $10,000 off that project and flip that back into another, more lucrative project. Not much capital risk on your part, plsu you get the experience. If I had 10 cents for every schmo I've seen some along and never own a snake, yet want to breed expensive morphs and make tons of $$, yet disappear within 6 months, I would never have to work again, and I'm in my TWENTIES!!! Crazy.

Personally ? I went with 2 males that are 50% het for Caramel albino.They are 03's from a local breeder.
I have 1 female that is over 1700grams and 3 more that will be ready next season.So here i am eyeballing the 2 boys for clues as to which to put with the big girl this year.

My next project is going to be a male het albino with possible het females.Even if the girls turn out to have had been normal,i will still get my own 50% het offspring.

Or,you could get a pastel male and make little pastels with a normal girl.

It IS alot of work that requires you to be attentive/understanding/and patient!I didnt start by trying to breed.I started by trying to get my first BP to eat!(4 years ago)

My favorite author said it best in one word (his "word" "Tanstaafl".It is an acronym for "There aint no such thing as a free lunch."
So if you are successful it must mean that you enjoy it.
Best of luck to you.
Charles

So if you are successful it must mean that you enjoy it.

Too true!