New Breeder- Lots of questions :)

Hello, I am planning to breed ball pythons next year and I am new to breeding but not the hobby. I've had everything from worm snakes and corn snakes to anacondas and retics. so some of my questions are:

- Should i build a incubator or buy one?
- what should i breed together. (i have a male champagne, a male spinner blast, a female normal and a female spinner) or what else should i get? i don't want to start off to big, id like some experience first.
-what is your yearly calendar like? (like when do you lower temps, when do you raise, when do you pair, etc.)
- are there any other tips, what else do i need but the tools of standard ball python keeping?

-build
-spinner blast to spinner and champ to normal (spider x champ is lethal)
-no need to change temps, breed when their old/big enough 3 days on 3 days off(male) once per month(female) I get eggs all year long.
- hatchling racks and people to buy the babies (also would highly suggest breeding your own rats to get the pink volume you will need to start the babies (the alternative is mice but they stink and are too small for an adult thus the rat suggestion)

OK sounds great. My thoughts on the pairing was the same as yours because I read that the spider x champagne morph is lethal.
as far as breeding, would it be better to breed my own rats or buy from a offline source? as far as a hatch-ling rack, I have a 16QT 8 tub rack heat tape heated with a VE 200 thermostat. Do i need another rack or can some babies be housed together? (I've never housed any of my snakes together is is safe for balls?)
you also mentioned that there was no need to lower temps? how is that? I thought that they needed the lowering of the temps to build follicles. do they build them by the time of the year or can you breed year round? how do you know when to breed if you do not lower the temps?

1# Build something you can grow into

2 # Get something else spinner blast to spinner is not really gonna accomplish anything except more of the same and champagne x spinner would be out of the question for me since it a lethal combination (the Spider x Champagne part is). You need more females :gj:

3# You will likely get many different answers as there are many ways to do it, you just need to find what works for your animals and yourself.

I breed year round when my animals are ready not based on season, I do not drop temps and therefore I do not warm back up. As far as tip pay attention to the weather and pair during low pressure (storm, rain, snow etc).

4# Breeding your own rat when breeding snakes is definitely a big plus unless you can find a local supplier, while some have success starting their animals on F/T it is much easier to do so on line.

5# Hatchlings can be kept together until their first shed (around 10 to 14 days after hatching) after that you want to house them individually in something small (6 quarts tubs)

Hatchlings need shoebox tubs (6 qt) and they need to be alone. You will need a large collection of these unless you plan to cull some eggs if there are big clutches. For 2 new moms I would plan on having 12-14 minimum tub hatchling rack. 5-8 eggs is pretty common for ball pythons although some lay smaller clutches and some much larger. You need to breed your own or know someone who does because most babies will not take frozen as their first meal. I start mine on live rat pinks (they only stay small enough for a few days). You will need at least 4 females that are bred to birth a different week of the month to have food available that is small enough for the babies after they hatch. I feed my babies every 4 days until they have had at least 5 meals then I back off to 5-7 days depending on my supply of feeders. I have 24 ball pythons and 24 breeding rats. I have lots of extras that I freeze and sell on Craigslist because I euthanize them once they get to be 100 grams and have been refused up until then. In the summer when the rats breed better, I freeze all sizes just in case I run out of live in the winter months then sell the extras. Also keep in mind that it is very hard to sell ball pythons just now, the market has literally crashed. I have been sitting on 5 very nice babies for 5 months and super low prices and I cant budge them. Don't plan to sell them right out of the egg, plan on possibly having them for a good long time.

OK, so based on the answers i have received i think my new plan is to:

- Build a good incubator rather than buy one.
- Get a Enchi female ball python likely (spinner to spinner blast) (normal to champ) (spinner blast to enchi) or (better pairing?any suggestions?)
- Begin preparations to breed my own rats ( one rat for each snake? )
- Setup my calendar to incorporate my rat project, breed each snake to hatch the eggs 1-2 weeks apart.
- Either get a new rack, find different sized tubs, or find a way to separate the tubs into two separate sides.
- Begin trying to find potential buyers now.
It will not bother me to keep them a long time, they will make great gifts to my other herp. friends.

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