Potential Breeder Needs Help

Hey everyone,

I am obviously new to BPs, but I am super interested in breeding. I would like to breed for awesome morphs, and potentially maybe discover something (One can dream haha). What are the basics I need to know for breeding, what supplies do I need and where should I start? I currently have a pastel male. I want to do this very humanely so don't give me advice that is "snake-mill" material. A link to a good site is fine too :)

thanks!

There are a few things to consider before diving into breeding:

1. Can you house all of the hatchlings
2. Can you afford to feed all of the hatchlings
3. How are you going to sell the hatchlings
4. What are you going to do if you cannot sell the hatchlings (you aren't guaranteed to sell any of them)
5. Potential vet costs
6. Time, Breeding takes a lot of time


If you can make it past those questions then you are ready to start researching. Breeding BP's can be as simple as sticking a pair together and hoping for the best or as complex as using ultrasound machines to track females follicular development. A happy medium is what I would recommend.

Here is a basic guide, it isn't all encompassing but it is a good start. From there you can ask some more specific questions:

http://ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding/

I agree with the post above :) and there are even more breeding threads on this forum in the Ball Python Breeding section so read through those they have some great info! And I will be breeding next season so this year I compiled a list of everything I would need and am almost finished with it. I can post my list if you would like :) it might take me a little bit to get the links too. My list is 11 items.


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Please post your list. I am also someone who has loved ball pythons for years and im thinking of breeding hopefully by next season or the season after. I have a few buddies by me that this will be their first season breeding and im trying to gather as much as possible. I read alot of things online and I get confused because one persons breeding techniques are different from others that I read and I dont know which I should go by and what not. I think I have it all down but there are still a bunch of things I need to learn and ask. I think something like you are doing (Lists) would help out future breeders and give current breeders new ideas. I think it would be great. Could you let me know if you post it?

I'll post it right here for you :) now I've separated my list into two sections. One section for everything you will need for the incubator/incubating the eggs, and the other section for everything you will need for the babies once they come out of the eggs. Now I'm going to post this list here so anyone can tell me and you if there are any faults with it or anyway you can simplify it. First I'll put the simple list and afterward I'll give you explanations for each item and why they are important.

For the Incubator/Eggs:
1. Thermostat: http://www.reptilebasics.com/ve-200 - $114.99

2. A broken Wine cooler from craigslist. - $50-75

3. Incubator Fan: http://www.reptilebasics.com/incubat...incubator-fan/ - $29.99

4. Hatchrite: http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Reptil...HatchRite.aspx - $10.99 on sale for $8.79 at the moment.

5. Heat tape: www.reptilebasics.com - price depends on what size and length of tape you get.

6. Aluminum Foil Tape: Walmart - about $7

7. 6q Sterilite Plastic Tubs/Egg Tubs: Walmart - 97cents.

For the Babies once they come out of the egg:
1. 9 Tub Mini Rack/Hatchling rack: http://www.cserpents.com/C_Serpents/Hatchling.html - $170

2. Hides: http://www.reptilebasics.com/small-hide-box - $3.89

3. Water Bowls: http://www.reptilebasics.com/small-water-bowl - $2.49

4. Substrate: use any substrate you like in the bottom of hatchling rack tubs :)





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Here are the explanations for the items I've put on the list and their importance :)

1. Thermostat: You'll need a reliable thermostat to regulate the temps in your incubator. You would want them at a steady 89 degrees so you don't want a thermostat that fluctuates. Once you incubate the eggs and they have come out of the eggs and shed you will be able to put them in your hatchling rack. Just unplug this same thermostat you were using for the incubator and start using it to regulate your temps on the hatchling rack. But if you would like as a just in case you could buy a cheaper thermostat for the hatchling rack if you would like.

2. Incubator: I recommend using a wine cooler as a first incubator because they are already empty on the inside so you really don't have to gut anything on the inside. And if you really want to make it lighter you can take off all the cooling stuff and the motor and everything that makes it heavy. But since mine is going to be sitting in one place for a long time I didn't bother to do all that.

3. Incubator fan: This helps circulate the air inside the incubator so the air won't get stale.

4. Hatchrite: There are a couple of different incubation mediums you can use to incubate eggs in. There's perlite, vermiculite, Hatchrite, and a substrateless method that I know nothing about. With perlite and vermiculite you have to mix in water in a 1:1 ratio. Meaning 250g of perlite or vermiculite or both mix with with 250g of water. A 1:1 ratio by weight. If too much water is used the eggs will be too wet and they will die. If not enough water is mixed in the eggs will dry up and die. So I didn't really want to work with those and just got some Hatchrite which is already mixed with water, so all you have to do is pour it in your egg tub, put in the eggs, and put it in the incubator. But Hatchrite isn't perfect I've heard of some people using it that had to add water to the Hatchrite because their eggs were starting to dry up, but I've heard a lot of people that have used it that have had no problems with it, same as with the perlite and vermiculite. All are great mediums when used properly :) you just have to monitor your eggs and care for their needs.

5. Heat tape: you'll have to buy some heat tape for the back of the incubator so it will keep it warm. Once you find the right wine cooler you want, your going to measure the back of the cooler so you'll know how much heat tape you will need. :) I can help walk you through the process of assembling your incubator. It's very easy.

6. Aluminum Foil tape: this is what you will be using to tape the heat tape to the back of your wine cooler. The aluminum foil tape doesn't disrupt the flow of heat by the heat tape. It's just like wrapping a potato in aluminum foil. It warms up along with the potato or heat tape lol.

7. Egg Tubs: you'll need to put your eggs inside of something so that they will have the perfect conditions to incubate in. So you need an egg tub/ plastic Sterilite tub that you will be putting your incubation medium inside. This will help keep that eggs at the perfect temperature and help hold in that 100% humidity that the eggs need.

1. Hatchling Rack: after the babies come out of their egg breeders wait until they have had their first shed to put them in their new home. Since they have already had their first meal from the yolk sac they absorb it usually takes a week or maybe even a couple more days for them to shed. During this time most breeders keep all the babies together and on a moist paper towel so they will have enough humidity to shed. Once all of them shed or each on sheds they put them in their new homes where they will stay until they are sold. Unless they are hold backs of course.

2. Hide Boxes: these hide boxes will be going inside each of the tubs on the hatchling rack. Now some people don't have hides inside of their tubs because the tub itself is secure enough and basically the whole thing is like a hide. So if you want you don't have to buy any hides to put in the tubs, but for me I personally don't think a little extra security will hurt. So I put hide boxes in the back of the tubs which will be the hot spot. This is completely up to you so you can do whatever you think is best on this step :)

3. Water bowls: Even though the snakes get a lot of the water that they need from the rodents that we feed to them, it's always nice to have some water for them to drink whenever they feel like drinking. This is a luxury because in the wild they don't go to the water and drink they just stay home and wait for prey to come.

4. Substrate: Each tub will need to have some kind of substrate at the bottom. I use aspen because it's easy to spot clean and I just like it overall. But any substrate will work great, so whatever substrate you use for your animals put it in for the babies :) just don't use any kind of cedar bedding because it is toxic for the snakes.

That's the end of my list and explanations :) sorry it's very long but I just like to put in lots of info so you won't have to look in a bunch of different places. If you need any more help or any more questions about anything or about the list tell me! I'd love to help an upcoming breeder :) we all have to stick together.



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Here's the best advice you'll get here (no offense intended to any previous posts):

Keep the snake you have for a while, be active on these forums, and buy morph females first and only. Worry about the rest in a year if you still have questions. Lastly, move slowly and enjoy yourself and the ride.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HerpetualObscurity

What are the basics I need to know for breeding, what supplies do I need and where should I start? I currently have a pastel male. I want to do this very humanely so don't give me advice that is "snake-mill" material. A link to a good site is fine too :)

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Everything you need

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrLang

Everything you need

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Point taken and understood. :) I guess I'll have to find another thing to do for the 10k business plan scholarship.