Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My room mate has two normal bp's, i jus got a king snake, but he is taking over the reigns on him. I like the bp's better as far as temperment and breeding possibilities.

I am gonna get some scratch together for next breeding season and just get everything i will need for two bp's together and ready. I was thinkin about 1.1 het albino's, since i would like an albino, and could sell some of the clutch to make my money back. If that first breeding cycle goes well and i think i can do it every season, then i will and maybe start a side business. I just love these snakes and am really intrigued by all the projects everyone has going.

What y'all have for suggestions??

Albinos would be a great start. Het Pieds would be a good choice too but they will be a bit higher starting off. For about the same price as the albinos you could have a male pastel and a normal female but if I were just starting out I would start with Het pieds. They seem to be holding their value a bit better than Albinos. No matter what you do good luck and have fun!

BRB Reptiles

>>Albinos would be a great start. Het Pieds would be a good choice too but they will be a bit higher starting off. For about the same price as the albinos you could have a male pastel and a normal female but if I were just starting out I would start with Het pieds. They seem to be holding their value a bit better than Albinos. No matter what you do good luck and have fun!

Held or holding? Albinos never even came close to the highs the pied had. But I agree, if he can swing pieds, go for it. They are my favorite.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Just buck for buck not saying they were ever the same

Good Day
BRB Reptiles

The het albinos would make for a good project and if you produce any albinos (remember, it's not guaranteed), you can sell them to help fund other projects.

You can also look into pastels but IMHO, I think you would be better off with something else. You can search this website for plenty of debates on pastels and the market.

You could also look into hypos. But most important, learn as much as you can about Ball Python husbandry and breeding.

Whatever you decide, good luck!
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Unless you're planning on purchasing an adult pair of hets it will be 2-3 years before you can breed the new pair.

Do you know if you have a pair of normals, or two females??

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billy jean king
BugBusters

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We have one normal female in house that is of age, she has never bread though, afaik.

I was looking at the albino het's as being the cheapest way to get in. Plus, they look real good IMO. I could swing the extra few hundred for het ghosts, but the extra $900 on the piebalds will be kinda rough. Thats just from looking at constrictors unlimited pricing though.

as for there being no guarantees on an albino or ghost from teh het's, by the basic geneology squares, i thought it would show one in 4 eggs, in a perfect world, being the albino, or whatever trait the het's share.

i have read a few basic writeups on geneology from a couple sites...but where is a good start to read from? I want to do this the right way, as it would be an expensive venture to half ass.

Thanks for all teh help guys

The AVERAGE is one in four homozygous from a het to het pairing. But that doesn't mean nature always follows the rules. You could get 3 albinos, or none just as easily. Your odds are good with het to het, and yes, its the best way to get in quick. Albinos or ghost would be your best bet, pick your favorite, not the one that will make more money... There are no guarantees in this game.

And see if you can get your normal girl prego this season if she is ready. Its not easy knowing when they've ovulated, when they're getting ready to lay, and keeping your hands off the incubator...

There's no reason to wait for your hets to be grown when you can gain good experience in the meantime.

I started my first project with possible het caramel male hatchlings(50%)and normal females.Which,are essentially normals til proven otherwise(possible hets that is).
Between the two adult females and separate sires(brothers),i now have six possible possible het females i hatched last spring,and they are growing up nicely....if just one of those females proves to be het...she would have cost me ...what? $2500? (05's)

I doubt i will ever use a possible het male again(Will just shell out cash for a het now)...but they are fantastic for first attempts!

Or you could just get a het albino male and try to make some of your own 50%ers.

Good luck whichever way you choose to dive in ...

and yeah...it is a rush no matter if they hatch out normal,possible,het or visual(well,i don't know quite what that feels like...not yet )

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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

Albino's are an excellent choice, maybe an Albino male and a few hets., this way you don't produce any possible hets. But chances are once you get into it, you'll get into other projects. Most important work with what you enjoy.
Mike Derks

Assuming you do not want to spend over $1,000 to get started, I would say one of two things.

1) You say you like Albinos, go ahead and get yourself a nice Het pair. Then you can eventually produce an Albino for yourself, and sell some of the additional offspring.

2) In my opinion, if I was just starting out again, I would get myself a nice Het Hypo female or two. Wait a year, get some good weight on the females and then buy either a nice Het Hypo male or a Homozygous Hypo male to pair up with the Het Female(s). I think if people are honest with you, for the most part, Ghost crosses have turned out better than Albino crosses, and see how many Ghost females are for sale vs. Albino females, and see how long each stay up for sale. I would say the Hypo would be the way to go.

Dave

The Hypo's are an excellent choice
Mike

start with learning how to breed and hatch eggs and get babies to eat and where to sell them'

normals........

het amels are not that much.........like $600 pair.......get a girl and learn to breed the normals while she grows up for 3 years....

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..................gottaLuvIt!!