To buy or not to buy?

I'm new to breeding ball pythons but I have owned them for 8 years. Right now I am trying to get together all of my baby females so that they will be ready to make babies in a couple years. I was going to buy a 2012 Lesser girl from RDR but it looks like someone snagged her up. Now I have an extra $500!

I wanted to spend it on a really nice female or maybe two. But then I ran into this guy. He sounds cool, looks cool but is $500 (which includes shipping).

He is a Lesser Yellowbelly FADER. I don't know if I should call that 2 or 3 genes... don't think Fader is actually genetic...What do you think? Is this little guy worth $500? Is Fader and Yellowbelly fun to work with? If I were to get him he would hopefully make babies with my Bumble Bee :)

Any thoughts would be helpful. Thank you!


http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c9...ps36c7162c.jpg

He is a good looking snake, but get females! They take easily 3x as long to reach maturity. Males are much cheaper and easy to find, get them last

That's what I've been thinking, getting the girls first. But I'm not sure if I want to pass this guy up. It would be killer to possibly make a YB Queenbee fader :) My main question is... is he WORTH having around? I want to know if Fader is a proven morph or is it a fancy term for the super blushing? I know some traits need to be "unlocked" with certain morphs. I hear Fader most with Pastels. When I see a Pastel Fader I can REALLY see the extreme blushing. But this little guy...I'm unsure. I want but I don't want because I need girls...I need to be talked out of it by people who know what they're talking about! :P

EDIT: Or talked into it!!!

Neat little lesser. Interesting pattern.
And YB is a must have. It can be subtle alone, but does great amazing things in combos.

I don't think fader is an actual gene personally. I think its just selective breeding of blushed out animals.

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I'd hold off & invest in females instead. He's a nice looking animal but buy girls instead. A nice two-gene hatchling female or a few excellent quality single-gene girls. Otherwise you're forking over money up front, rack space & the cost to feed him for 2+ years before your girls are up to size. He's a nice example of those genes in combo but that isn't an extremely rare combination where you wouldn't be able to find another male in a few years if you elect to hold off. As far as the fader gene, I go back and forth on whether it's an actual gene or not. I know Outback Reptiles works with it quite a bit as do a few other breeders...juries still out on that one for me as to whether it's a stand-alone gene or like Satomi said, just extreme examples of line- or in-breeding to produce super-blushed out animals.

I just creeped your profile and you have the single normal female that would be of age (and size?) to breed to him if you decide to buy him. You could sell off those babies, keep back a few females and wait on your bumblebee to get up to size while pairing him to that normal female for the next year or two if you go that route. Just a thought; your money, after all, lol!

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Originally Posted by youbeyouibei

I just creeped your profile and you have the single normal female that would be of age (and size?) to breed to him if you decide to buy him. You could sell off those babies, keep back a few females and wait on your bumblebee to get up to size while pairing him to that normal female for the next year or two if you go that route. Just a thought; your money, after all, lol!

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She is 2,000g and ready to go when I get a male for her! And she is a light, beautiful, blushing normal (where Boros is incredibly dark in comparison with NO blush). I think it would be a good mix... I am just so excited to have $500 put away for a new addition! I KNOW I should be getting my girls together, but I'm really eager to try and get a first clutch and work out the kinks of everything...

The baby I'm looking at is from NERD. I've heard mixed reviews about them. Does that make a difference in deciding?

EDIT: Boros is also a girl. Was told she was a he. Lucky for me she is a she! She should be ready in a year.