Why are snakes so often sold in pairs?

[spartybassoon]

I was looking at breeders pages lately and notice that lots of snakes (Drymarchon was what I was looking at in particular) are being sold in 1.1 pairs. Is this so that they can breed later? I have zero knowledge of snake genetics, but I thought breeding brothers/sisters was a no-no. Why are they sold this way?

[Skiploder]

Females are often not sold alone because breeders get stuck with multiple males that they have problems selling.

[redstormlax12]

Skiploder pretty much hit the nail on the head. Also when breeders are selling uncommon or rare colubrids, or any herp, they aren't usually bought as pets but as future breeders.

[spartybassoon]

So then they ARE sold to be future breeders? I'm sorry if this is one of the dumbest threads you have seen, I just am trying to understand if the pair is intended to be bred together or not. I'm also curious if that is okay or not (breeding brothers and sisters together). That's not okay in a lot of other animals, so I would be surprised if it was okay with snakes. I could be wrong, though.

[piper]

So then they ARE sold to be future breeders? I'm sorry if this is one of the dumbest threads you have seen, I just am trying to understand if the pair is intended to be bred together or not. I'm also curious if that is okay or not (breeding brothers and sisters together). That's not okay in a lot of other animals, so I would be surprised if it was okay with snakes. I could be wrong, though.

Some do, some don't. You aren't obligated to buy in pairs, but generally they are sold at a discounted price so as said above, they aren't stuck with males, which are generally cheaper for the most part. If you buy a pair of 100% hets, you have the option of breeding them in the future to make whatever it is they are het for, if you aren't looking to breed, buying a het is pointless and you may as well just buy a morph if interested, or a normal.

[spartybassoon]

Ok, so you CAN breed related pairs? At what point does this become wrong?

[JLC]

Ok, so you CAN breed related pairs? At what point does this become wrong?

Breeding related pairs of snakes is not a problem. In the wild, they don't meet up and compare family trees. Many, many animals of all different species inbreed in the wild.

[MarkS]

snakes are sold in pairs because only worms are sold in apples..... badumbum.

Like others have said, although you don't see it as much anymore, snakes have often been sold in 1.1 pairs because otherwise the breeder will end up with a bunch of males which are harder to sell (to other breeders, which is usually their biggest client base). However if your goal is not breeding you could requeste a single male for a pet and most breeders would be happy to accomodate you.

However if your goal IS breeding, and you're worried about inbreeding, you can always buy another pair from another breeder and swap the males. However, I've never found inbreeding to be that much of a problem with snakes.

[spartybassoon]

Thank you for the replies, everyone. I didn't realize that inbreeding wasn't as much of a problem with snakes as it is with other animals.