What to add to the collection over the next 2-3 years?

[Xaila]

Right now I have just a pair of BPs (albino and normal het albino) who are still very much juveniles, so I've got time to do things like invest in a rack and work out any husbandry issues before thinking about a breeding project. Since I'm still somewhat new to these snakes I'm ok with the wait

However, I'm wondering what I should possibly add to the collection that might make for a good starting project? I'm not in it to try and turn a profit though it'd be nice to produce things people would want. Mostly I'd just like to have a chance to produce something neat without bankrupting myself Some things that caught my eye were black pastel het albinos and spider het albinos. I really like the look of albino black pastels and albino spiders. I've seen black pastel/spider het albino males go for ~$150-250 on kingsnake which is feasibly in my budget. Or should I be going for another female first? I'd like to keep things under the $400 mark (so no crazy designer morphs, much as I love 'em) and not more than a few more snakes (to keep things manageable).

Anyone got any ideas/suggestions?

[Mike41793]

I would get a 0.1 black pastel het albino and a 0.1 spider het albino. Raise them up and breed your 1.0 albino to them.

[youbeyouibei]

Recessive genes tend to hold their value better over time than what do incomplete dominant or dominant morphs, if that figures into your equation at all. As far as breeding goes, I'd buy the female(s) first. Males tend to stay cheap and their prices usually drop from year to year, whereas a female will take a few years to get to size and that would be time you'd be paying to feed a male to raise him without being able to recoup any of your money until 2-4 years down the road, depending on how quickly your female gets to size and whether or not she's receptive to breeding. Black pastels are fairly popular, as are spiders, which is both a pro and a con: there are tons of both on the market, so it's fairly soft and might not be all that easy to move them if you do elect to breed in the future. I've come around on some of the spider morphs, as I used to not like them at all but the issues I have with them are the lethal super form and the wobbles some exhibit. If you're attempting to prove a het animal with your albino pairings and have spider in the mix, that might complicate your breeding plans. Black pastels don't have any issues I'm aware of and make a pretty neat super, albeit they can sometimes be duckbilled and/or bug eyed.

Sounds like you have a good approach as far as breeding what you're interested in and not trying to create the next designer whatever, as that will leave you bankrupt and disappointed, I'd think, lol! As far as advice, I'd say buy the absolute best quality example of whatever morph it is you like. Spend the extra money and buy the best looking animal you can and that will make a huge difference in the future when it comes time to breed them, if you elect to. Recessives take a little more time to prove out but some of the combinations you can produce with them: dreamsicles (lavender albino x pied), lightning pieds (axanthic x pied), pied ANYTHING, either as the base morph or in combination with other morphs, snows (albino x axanthic), cherry bombs (albino x mojave), etc. If you look at World of Ball Pythons.com, stay off of Kingsnake and Fauna for at least 24 hours after you look or your bank account with be in overdraft and your credit card(s) maxed, lol! It's a great site to see what some of the potential combos are though. Good luck!

[Xaila]

The 'wobble' issue is why I was fence-sitting on the spiders. I love their appearance and some of their related morphs (bees, etc) but I wasn't sure how much of an issue the neuro stuff was. Does anything else have known issues? The only one I can think of offhand is caramels and kinked spines (which is a shame because I love them too).

[SylverTears]

Usually the spider wobble doesn't really effect them as far as their lifestyle if they are still eating and drinking regularly. My bumble bee has the wobble pretty bad but it is usually only visible when I handle him.

[Rat160]

not trying to be a scrouge here but why does everyone ask this??? Its simple. Add what you want to add. Not in it to turn a profit yet you ask what would people want to buy. You should produce what you want to produce and enjoy what you want to enjoy. Not what other people want you to enjoy.

Its like me buying a car.. Am I going to ask a bunch of people what kind of car I want to buy? Nope, Im gonna do my research and buy a car that I want.

Never understood why people always ask: "what should my next snake be."

[Xaila]

Ball pythons are popular enough that good info on nearly every morph is readily accessible, but I always value hearing a bit of anecdotal evidence and advice from real people. You don't always get that from google. Oftentimes people will bring up things I hadn't even considered or didn't know about. Asking for reccomendations and advice is not the same as asking someone to decide for you, though I'm sure people do that.

Not sure what you're implying about the 'profit' thing. Selling hatchlings =/= making bank. Would I sell or trade future hypothetical hatchlings? Yes. I'd probably hold some back too. Is profit my primary goal here? No, I'm not looking to start a snake breeding business.

[Rat160]

Ball pythons are popular enough that good info on nearly every morph is readily accessible, but I always value hearing a bit of anecdotal evidence and advice from real people. You don't always get that from google. Oftentimes people will bring up things I hadn't even considered or didn't know about. Asking for reccomendations and advice is not the same as asking someone to decide for you, though I'm sure people do that.

Not sure what you're implying about the 'profit' thing. Selling hatchlings =/= making bank. Would I sell or trade future hypothetical hatchlings? Yes. I'd probably hold some back too. Is profit my primary goal here? No, I'm not looking to start a snake breeding business.

was just saying that you stated your not breeding for profit but wanted to know what would sell. Not saying you are doing this but was more so just pointing it out I guess.

I just see so many people that see a snake selling for a couple thousand so they go out and buy snakes expecting to make tons of money. When realistically. Since I started breeding 3 years ago I have probably lost over 10k between snakes supplies food ect ect. It is not an easy way to make money thats for sure. As long as you enjoy doing what your doing then its all good.