Starting a breeding project. I would love opinions on morphs to acquire.

[versicolor]

Hello ball python forum. Wasn't sure if I should post this in the breeding section or here. I guess since I am wanting suggestions on what morphs to buy this is the most appropriate area. I am embarking on a brand new breeding project. I'm very excited about it and this forum has been extremely helpful. I have been taking lots of notes and absorbing as much knowledge as my little brain can handle. I have kept snakes, reptiles and tarantulas all my life but have never tried my hand at breeding. Well, I'm ready to give it a go. Within the next few months I will be dedicating a room in my home to keep and breed ball pythons. The room will be insulated and climate controlled. I have a list of all the equipment and supplies that I will need and also a written plan of action. As soon as I have my room all set and everything in place I will begin to acquire the snakes. I have already purchased my first male, (I couldn't wait, this guy looked really nice to me so I didn't want to snooze on him) a Mojave from BHB. Here is a video I put on youtube of him. http://youtu.be/YrGOc5hj760

Anyways, I just thought it would be cool and fun to get a bunch of different suggestions from people on what they think I should have as my breeding colony. All together I have $5000 to get this thing started and off the ground. I am setting aside $1000 to put towards the snake room and food for the first year and anything unexpected that I might have overlooked or comes up. So that leaves me with around $4000 to spend on snakes. Give or take some. Since i'm new to the breeding aspect I thought it would be a good idea to start small, so my plan is to have two males and 4 females. Raise them up for a few years and then see what I can do. I already have the Mojave male, so I'll be getting one more male and 4 females.

So what do you think? What would be a good start? I would like to make a small profit and perhaps potentially turn this into a small quality business if it all goes well, but my main reason for doing this is passion and love of ball pythons. So I'm just as interested in choosing based on striking colors and patterns, basically snakes that are wildly cool to look at. So I think it would be great to get feedback based on both the business perspective and and an admiration standpoint. Which morphs do you think will offer me a chance at a decent potential return on my initial investment, and which ones when bred together turn out something that you think is just plain striking and cool? Thanks for participating if you do. Any of your thoughts, opinions, advice etc. will be a big help. Later.

Paul

[1nstinct]

Pick what you want to breed, but I would go with some single and double gene females to start and go from there. Females take longer to
Mature so gives you more time to decide what makes you want. But it's all up to you decided what morphs that you like and want to produce and go from there. What are some morphs you would like to produce in the future and see what morphs you need to get there.
Tom

[masonhall]

Fire, enchi, lesser, are great starter, cheap, base morphs

For double combos, maybe the
Firefly (pastel x fire)
Pewter (black pastel or cinnamon x pastel
Lesser bee (spider x lesser) these are awesome!
Cinnapin (pinstripe x cinnamon) beautiful!

For recessive maybe:
Albino
Ivory (yellow belly x yellow belly)
A couple more that ate not
Coming to mind....
I personally like working with the doms and codoms

Hope this helps!





---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?pgnlkb

[Mike41793]

Go for what you like and what you wanna produce. I would get like 3 double gene females right now and let them mature up. When they get to breeding size breed your mojo to them. What i would choose to buy with $4K would probably be completely different from what you would pick...

[JohnNJ]

If profit is what you seek, young padawan, I suggest you take the $5k and buy some newly hatched morphs at wholesale prices and then turn them around and sell at retail.

No muss, no fuss, no waiting and the "little" profit you seek.

[satomi325]

Like everyone else stated, pick what looks good to you.

When do you want to start breeding?
If sooner, then I would start buying adult/young adult females. It will be more expensive this route though with each female going for 1k each or more depending on the morph. Females gain value as they reach breeding size.

If you want to save thousands of dollars, then start with single or double gene female hatchlings. They will take time to grow though. It takes the average female hatchling to reach sexual maturity by 2 years of age or more.

I wouldn't even both with males for another year or so. So that gives you time to think of a breeding plan. Also, desired males may come down in price by then. I would go w/ at least double gene males.

The upfront cost will be more for multigened animals compared to single gene, but it will be more efficient in the long run. Less housing, less mouths to feed, less time cleaning, etc etc compared to if you wanted 2 single gene snakes.

Pastels, Lessers, Cinnamons/Black Pastels, pinstripes, and spiders are the more basic starter genes.

Do you want a recessive project? Albinos are classic. Hypo/Ghosts are one of the cheaper recessives, but put out one of the more beautiful combos. What about Clowns?
If you plan on a recessive gene project, then I suggest investing in a morph het rather than just a normal het. For example, pinstripe het albino rather than a normal het albino.

[Cameron Lamb Exotics]

Does this 1000 include adults and baby racks, thermostats, heat tape..etc?

[dart]

You should probably be looking more towards putting 2000 towards the room and food. Building breeder racks with good thermostats, heat, tubs, etc is quite expensive. Not to mention, you'd need a sub-adult rack, hatchling rack and incubator. All of which would also need tubs, heat, thermostats, etc. Don't forget you'd also need substrate, water bowls, etc... the list goes on and on.

As far as which snakes goes, I'd suggest buying the morphs you personally like. It would make things more fun for you. Look around for awhile and purchase which ones really catch your eye within your price range. Btw, if you're thinking about making profit, breeding snakes is a tough way to do it. I know many breeders that are in the red year after year, but they do it for the love of doing it.

[versicolor]

Hey people thanks for the comments so far. Just to clarify, I intend to start with babies and raise them up. The $1000 includes everything to get this "started". I intend to have a total of six baby snakes, and everything that I need to raise them for about 2-3 years. I understand that I will need to adapt and change things, add things etc. as they grow. The $1000 was intended as a first year cost. Yes that includes the initial rack, tubs, heat, thermostats, etc. Keep the comments coming. This is a great place for me to be right now as I begin my journey. Thanks.

Paul

[dart]

Which morphs do you think will offer me a chance at a decent potential return on my initial investment, and which ones when bred together turn out something that you think is just plain striking and cool? Thanks for participating if you do. Any of your thoughts, opinions, advice etc. will be a big help. Later.

Paul

If you're concerned about ROI, purchasing babies is the wrong way to go about it. You're talking about AT LEAST a 2 year ROI. You would also need to factor in every dollar you've spent during those 2 years into your ROI. The better option would be buying proven breeders and starting from there.