Starting out?

[Fawkx]

Hi guys,
I would just like other peoples input on this idea for a project I'm having. I haven't bred ball pythons before but i am always blown away by the amount of morphs there are and i think they are amazing! So I figured I'd give it a go. I really like the axanthic morphs so i was thinking of breeding a male and female pastel het axanthic. Do you think this is an all right starting point? I have done my research but any tips are welcome

Many Thanks
Fawkx

[ARBallMorphs]

well yeah that CAN be a good starting point. Axanthic super pastels are cool! But... keep in mind that when you breed an pastel het. axanthic to a pastel het. axanthic you only 2/16 (1/8) pastel Axanthic and a 1/16 Super pastel Axanthic. + the fact you'll get some babies that are het and some are not, you wont be able to tell the difference so those will all be 66% possible het axanthic.

concidering that it might be a better idea to get an Pastel het. Axanthic female and a Pastel Axanthic male.

[Slowcountry Balls]

This is really a matter of personal choice. Just my opinion, I would look for another incomplete dominate morph for one of the pair. I would also have my female be at least a visual Axanthic. For example, a Fire het Axanthic and a Pastel Axanthic as opposed to both being Pastel het Axanthics.

[Fawkx]

Thanks guys for the tips I may go for one axanthic then

[Daigga]

IMO if you have all the proper tools for ball python breeding, with the obvious exception of normal males there is no wrong starting point as far as morphs go. Whatever you want and can afford is a good starting point for you, and if all you can afford is a pair of hets, then by all means. Will it turn out better if you buy a visual recessive? Probably (I think the male visual is a better investment than a female, btw). Will it turn out fine if you only have hets? Yeah. Some people will also say you should start with doms or codoms, but the best rule to go by is not to let anyone besides you decide on what makes up your collection.

You aren't doing this to please a bunch of people you've never met on the internet.

[Fawkx]

Very true daigga thanks for the input. I'm looking at axanthics but I think they are out of my price range so I think I may have to just go with hets

[Slowcountry Balls]

IMO if you have all the proper tools for ball python breeding, with the obvious exception of normal males there is no wrong starting point as far as morphs go. Whatever you want and can afford is a good starting point for you, and if all you can afford is a pair of hets, then by all means. Will it turn out better if you buy a visual recessive? Probably (I think the male visual is a better investment than a female, btw). Will it turn out fine if you only have hets? Yeah. Some people will also say you should start with doms or codoms, but the best rule to go by is not to let anyone besides you decide on what makes up your collection.

You aren't doing this to please a bunch of people you've never met on the internet.

You have some very good advice in your post. The only thing I would expand upon is that a visual recessive male may be better if you buy multiple het females and are trying to keep costs down. I feel that a visual female is better if you are only buying a pair, or if you want to get away from producing hets sooner. This is because you can replace a het male with a visual male that you produce far quicker than you can replace a het female with a visual female that you produce. So as usual, it comes down to a choice of time or money. I always recommend that if one has the money available, they should get visual females because of the time it takes to raise up a visual holdback to replace a het female.