Where are the snakes at?

So Patrick informed me I was getting a snake for my birthday in about two months (though it'll likely be early, so I can settle it in before he returns from.deployment). This is exciting: I need to build up my females. I have a $350-500 budget and a male bumblebee. I'm gunning for a double gene female. My goals? Pastave or pewter. However, there's a problem.
Pastaves have become rare unicorns- females especially.
Pewters? I've found about seven... all male!
Lithiums were a dream until I saw the price tags and how HARD they were to find.

All three of these are made from two COMMON genes... I can't believe my poor luck finding them. Search engines, classifieds, everything. And I don't want to get one Mojave and one cinny. I had my eyes set on a double gene; quality over quantity strikes me as better breeding and financial sense- though I'm years away from breeding or having so many snakes that my rodent bill hurts. Still, I'm trying to be diligent early on.

It just stinks because I want Mojave in my collection, and I like pewters and was excited at the possibility of one day making a Sterling

Suggestions on (available) morphs? I'm not looking for pinstripe at the moment and wary of having spider x spider (or is that 25% fatality wrong?)

Alternatively I did see a pretty Mojave het ghost, and I'm interested in Ghost projects in the future, but I'm not sure how she'd fit into my immediate situation.

On another note, two misc questions : I'm also planning on moving my two snakes into tubs with heat tape. As my male outgrows his, can.heat tape be moved?

My normal girl was a rescue originally and therefore I have no age for her.. at what age are females no longer fertile? The youngest she can possibly be is about 8-9, since she was a Hurricane Katrina rescue .

Patience...

Almost everyone is having a late season this year. In the next couple of months you will have no problem finding any of those morph combos.

If you want to be proactive, start asking around to breeders who plan to produce the morph and get on a waiting list. I have done this for a Brian Gundy Gold Blush Mojave female, and I am patiently waiting.

Passive shopping, by just waiting for animals to show up on KS or Fauna is not always the best way to shop. Unless those animals are true hold backs, often someone has already beat you to the best animals in that clutch, because they were proactive and communicated with the breeders.

Proactive shopping may not be the cheapest way to go, but IMO it is more likely to get you a quality animal that you want.

^ what they said.
Lots of people are running late so take your time shopping around. If you know a breeder that typically has the quality and morphs your looking for get in touch with them. It can't hurt.

Hey, I'm on Brian Gundy's waiting list too!

I would also suggest Emailing breeders who have animals you are interested in. I know most don't post everything they have on their site but they usually have something like an excel spread sheet ready to email or posted on their site with more up to date current availability. GL with your search.

Forget those snakes and get a pastel lesser. I love what comes out of that pairing!

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Have patience and keep looking. I picked up a 600g 0.1 pewter on Fauna about six weeks ago for $365 shipped. At the time there was also one advertised here for a little more.

Also join any FB groups for local (to your area) ball python and reptile groups so you can see what the hobbyists near you are producing. As was pointed out, many of them have waiting lists for certain animals. I have an order in with a local breeder for a 0.1 pied if he produces one from a clutch that should hatch in mid-July (fingers crossed).

I can second what everyone else has said. We are also having a very late season. Expecting over 30 clutches, but our first clutch of the season is still a little less than a month from hatching. I'm thinking that's why we are ending up with waiting lists this year...