Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok this isn't my normal forum so hi to everybody. If you where to start a ball project what morphs you pick up. I have somebody offer 2500 give or take in trade. so im just trying to figure out what would be the best projects to get in to. thanks

Well, albinos and pieds are always going to be hot. Both these snakes will probably hold a high value for years. Although, you could go for something not many people are working with. I am about to get a pair of het clowns.

If I was just starting out I would chose a pastel project. I would get a male pastel and get a few normal adult/ sub adult females. The reason for this is simple. Pastels are fairly cheap and can make more pastels on the first breeding. With baby pastels you can sell them fast or trade them for all of the other morphs. I really don't like working with hets that much because it takes time and if your just starting out time is NOT on your side. Say you buy a pair for 100% hets(clown, pied, albino, ghosts, axanthics, etc) you will have to raise the babies up for 2-3 years before you get the visual morph, Yes you can breed the male in a year but you will only have POSS HETS to raise or sell, where if you get a male pastel you will most likely get pastels that same year you purchased it, if not I know you will get them in 1 year. For me its a time game. I should produce enough pastels this season to get the other morphs I want. Don't get me wrong I like and have several 100% and 50-66% poss hets(pieds,clowns,albinos). But I am not looking for a quick return on the HETs. I am in NO way SAYING don't work with HETs, I just believe the best starter morph would be PASTEL. But you also have to look and see what you motives are and what Morphs you like for yourself best. That is where I would start my projects. Thanks David

I agree that pastels are the best way to start (for all the obvious reasons). But I'm wondering since so many people are starting to get into breeding balls, if most start with pastels, won't the market be flooded with them in the next year or so, there can't be that much demand for them can there?
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Tosha

1.1.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
5.4.2 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I've been advertising my two (2) Het Pied girls for sale lately. Everyone calls and asks the same thing.

"Why are they still available? They're way under market! They should be sold already."

I always reply with a joke.

"I think this time of year, everyone's already spent all their money on a Pastel male and several Normal females. (insert laugh here)"

Almost EVERYONE gets kinda quiet and says, "Yeah. I did that."

Next year the market will be flooded with Pastels. I'm not saying the price will drop, but it may take a while to unload all those babies. Just my opinion, though.

Chris =/
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

Yea.... the price of pastel males will probably drop even more this season...But we all have to remember Not everyone will spend 500-750.00 on a snake but most of the people wanting a pastel will spend 200-400.00 on one for sure. With that said the lower the price the more people can afford them, the more will be needed to fill the demand thus the more being sold and so on. And is for some weird reason they drop below 200.00 just think of who all can get a baby pastel at that price. Just look how long Albino Burmese have been around and the prices they have sold for, I once purchased baby Albino Burmese for 25.00 each several years ago and now you can see them for around 125.00 and Ball pythons produce a lot less babies than a burmese and people still sell the hell out of albino burmese pythons. I personally don't think pastels will drop that much because it takes pastels to make a lot of the new morphs coming out(pastel mojave, pastel butter, pastel platinum, pastel spiders, and so on) Thanks david

I agree. I believe Albinos and Piebalds will be strong for a fairly long time. They are the staples of any Ball Python collection. And Piebalds have yet to be crossed with anything. There are a BAZILLION potential crosses that would be absolutely amazing -- Pastel Piebald, Super Pastel Piebald, Orange Ghost Piebald, Axanthic Piebald, etc. Once the crosses start, Piebalds will be immortal!

Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

I would get a pastel male and a 100% het albino female.. After you produce a litter from that breeding you can grow up one of the pastel males from that litter to breed back to the het female and possibly produce albino pastels. Of course I would also pick up some normal females to use the pastel male on in addition to the het female, but that would be the way I would go..
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

thanks for the advice. I think Im go to just pick up a bunch of different female hets. like everybody said Ill have to wait a couple of years for them to produce but in three years hopeful the male morphs will have come down in price by then and if not hets should a lest stay about the same price, that way i can be male morphs and produce 100% hets and the morphs in four years in stead of produceing a bunch of poss hets and hope that the greater number of poss het turn out to be hets. pastels are cool but like some people said everybodys already working with them.