pic request, PLEASE

hey everybody I'm thinking of picking up a second BP to breed to my female normal. my budget is about $200 so I'm thinking either a spider or a pastel male. i keep reading about "good looking" snakes and want to make sure i get one that will produce "good looking" offspring. Can you guys help me out and show me examples of good looking vs NOT good looking snakes of those 2 morphs?

EHH this you might have some trouble with because what you think is "GOOD" I might not and vice versa .... for instance when it comes to spiders some people like the spider pattern all connected some like it broken up , some like low white sides some like high. Pastels vary as well some have some nice blushing some dont, babies tend to be a bright yellow and as they get older lets just say isnt as yellow. Im no expert but I hope you understand what Im trying to say!

Here's my male spider:

http://eclipseexotics.eclipsemetaphy...Anansi_LRG.jpg

Rather than telling you he's good, I'll just give you information.

He's got high gold color, which I like a lot. He has a few spots, which some consider a flaw. He has medium white sides. His pattern isn't really very uniform or outstanding in any particular way. He has a wobble.

I think he's a good breeder, because I value his coloration very highly. He also has an excellent temperament, and is an excellent feeder. I disregard the wobble, because I don't believe it can be bred out. (Some people do).

I would pair him with reduced pattern females and clear-window females of light or high yellow color to preserve the gold and help improve his offspring.

Here are my two spiders, Hera and Juno.

Hera is what I would consider an "excellent" grade spider by my standards. I wouldn't mind adding more like her, but I've seen very few. She is bright gold with a very "drippy" reduced-pattern, no spots, and high-white sides. She reminds me very much of a Stingerbee (Enchi spider), though to my knowledge she is just a single-gene spider. (The pictures actually wash out a lot of her gold coloring.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...raSpiral-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...ana/Hera-1.jpg

Juno is what I would consider a "good" grade spider. She is a light gold-tan (not as bright gold as Hera) with a more "standard" reduced pattern and no spotting. She has low-medium white sides.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...ana/Juno-1.jpg

Both girls love to eat and have minimal neurologic signs -- also very important in my book.

By my standards, a "poor" grade spider would have a lot of black patterning with heavy spots, low white sides and a dark brown base-color. I'm not going to post pictures of what I would consider "poor" grade because everyone's opinion is different and I don't want to offend anyone by posting a link to someone's animal as "poor" ..! Ultimately, it's about what catches YOUR eye -- I think there is a fairly wide range of opinion on spiders.

Pastels seem a bit more straightforward, IMO -- though some (like me) like them reduced or banded pattern, with lots of blushing, and others like a bold, busy pattern, I think everyone can agree that brighter is better. We'd all rather see a yellow/gold pastel than a brown/tan one, regardless of pattern. :gj:

A good pastel that has kept it's colors up to adult hood:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/...52031bb9c3.jpg
ball-python by Mitsumike, on Flickr

Spiders range from golden in color to brown, reduced pattern to busy and high white to low white.

I like my decently reduced golden spider:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/...7ba2a9739a.jpg
spider_april_2010 by Mitsumike, on Flickr

They get more reduced than this (up to spinner looking)

To me a Nice looking spider is one that has a good mix of white and color while having distinct yet minimal pattern

http://wildmorphs.com/available/10SP...10spidm202.jpg

and as for Pastel's blushing and color are my thing..I like my pastels Yellow not orange if I can help it
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...g/DSC_0025.jpg

Thanks for all the good pictures everybody. Would you guys say pastels or spiders (or other suggestions) would be better for a first time breeder?

I started with a spider male. He was my first morph. Then got two female black backs that I have yet to prove genetic. Just recently I got a pastel male, too. So yes, those seem like good first time morphs (:

Here is my spider. I love how high his white goes. But some people may not like that as much. I also love his dark color. He's about 500 grams in this picture.
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...1021130214.jpg

Here is my new pastel baby. A friend of mine told me he should keep his color well into adulthood because he's so orange. Blushing is my thing on pastels too but he doesn't have that as much.
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...1205113800.jpg

Sorry for the horrible cell phone pictures. A Nikon SLR is next on my list (;

One thing to keep in mind is that pastels do color up after a few sheds. I got my female pastel thinking she was pretty decent, but after two sheds with me (probably her 4th/5th total) I'm really happy with her! With that said, you still don't want to get a cruddy pastel. They should still be pretty bold and have a lot of yellow on them. Don't waste your time on a dull/dark pastel baby, pastels brown/dull with age just like any other so you need some wiggle room!

As for spiders, I like them really clean and bright. I was lucky and have a friend near by who has a bright/high gold spiders and picked up a fantastic one from him. He's trying to talk me into picking up a female spider from him this week :colbert: But I probably will especially if she's like his other spiders!!!

My pastel, he's a decent lemon '08
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...is/006-6-3.jpg

My spider, I'm in love with '09
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t.../004-2-2-1.jpg

My pastel girl, she's a '10 Graziani
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ed/029-4-1.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ed/026-5-1.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MitsuMike

A good pastel that has kept it's colors up to adult hood:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/...52031bb9c3.jpg
ball-python by Mitsumike, on Flickr

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Now THAT is a nice pastel! (By my pastel standards :D ) Is she yours?