BP Collection Ideas?

Depends on what you like and if you want to breed and what/how you want to breed.

I won't tell you what to do, but I'll tell you what I'm doing. My animals are first of all pets. I may or may not breed, depends on how the next couple of years go (my animals are all babies right now), so I want to acquire what *I* will enjoy. If I do decide to breed, it is not going to be for a major source of income or a business, but will be a hobby for my enjoyment, thus again I want to produce animals *I* will enjoy. While knowing what the market is doing is important in terms of selling, it is less important to *me* than the enjoyment of my animals.

So having decided and said that, I've picked out a few morphs that I really like, and that's what I've worked to acquire. The first two animals I bought were a mojave male and pastave female. My husband really likes blue-eyed whites, and with these two snakes we'll be able to make one, if we so desire to do so later on (super mojave BEL wouldn't be the nicest of the BEL's out there, but we aren't concerned with that, we are ok with a white snake who has some light gray coloration). I like butters/lessers too, so later on we might buy one of those and then be able to make an even nicer BEL. Either way, these snakes are from August and September 2012, so we have time to decide. The next two snakes I bought were a cinnamon ph pied female, and a normal het pied male. I like the pattern of pied, so I have a possible way of making pied if I so choose to in the future. The cinnamon is also pretty (especially now that I can see it in person) and can be used to make some other morphs my husband and I like. Last but not least, I wanted a pair of axanthic. Axanthic doesn't seem to be the most popular morph out there, but *I* personally LOVE them. I love the way they look, and I love what they do to other morphs. SO I kept watching the ads to find just the right ones, found my pair, and now I have my axanthics.

For now I'm happy with my collection. I have 3 males and 3 females. This is more males than what is often recommended, but you know what? That's ok with me. Like I said, I'm not doing this for a business, it is mostly for my and my husband's enjoyment. If you are concerned first and foremost with your enjoyment of your snakes, take and approach like I did. If you are more concerned about the possible business and marketing aspect of the snakes, then take a more business-like approach. Keep in mind the market can and does change, and what is popular now may not be popular in a couple years, and what is currently unpopular may gain popularity in coming years (or may become even more unpopular!). You never know.

I love your explanation xD and yes I plan to take the same approach, this would be just a hobby for me, and yep pets first. I like the point you made about you being interested in the snakes first and even if people were to start a business with this sorta thing if your not interested you may slack for lack of interests, but this is coming from a 17y/o's perspective xD no matter my intentions with these animals wether it be a hobby or business (in the future, probably not though) they are my pets first :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Inasailorsgrave

I love your explanation xD and yes I plan to take the same approach, this would be just a hobby for me, and yep pets first. I like the point you made about you being interested in the snakes first and even if people were to start a business with this sorta thing if your not interested you may slack for lack of interests, but this is coming from a 17y/o's perspective xD no matter my intentions with these animals wether it be a hobby or business (in the future, probably not though) they are my pets first :)

---

Check out worldofballpythons.com/morphs/ and see what really speaks to you. The list is OVERWHELMING, so start out with some of the basic morphs, and then branch out to multi-gene morphs. As a very *general* rule, single genes cost less than multiple genes, HOWEVER the newer or more uncommon a morph is, the more expensive it will be regardless of number of genes, and in general recessive genes seem to cost more than dominant or co-dominant genes. If you aren't already familiar with different morphs, here's a few bases you can start out looking at to get some ideas (keeping in mind some either look the same or are almost the same thing):
mojave
pastel (different lines)
cinnamon
black pastel
butter
lesser
pied
albino
axanthic
enchi
fire
vanilla
hypo/ghost (different lines)
yellowbelly
pinstripe
spider
het red axanthic

A few double-gene morphs to look at (some of these might have names I can't remember):
blue-eyed lucy (super mojave, super butter/lesser, mojave+lesser/butter)
pewter (pastel+cinnamon)
black pewter (black pastel+cinnamon)
yellowbelly+pastel
pastave (pastel+mojave)
savannah mojave (cinnamon+mojave)
bumble bee (pastel+spider)
cinnabee (cinnamon+spider)
spinner (pinstripe+spider)
lemon blast (pastel+pinstripe)

Keep in mind there are a LOT more varieties out there, this is a very very small list to start with. :)

Wow $4300 to start? You got quite a few options :gj:. First, do you have the proper caging? this can cost you anywhere between $150 - $1500 depending on the kind of rack system you look into. I only assume you're getting a rack system because I can't imagine having a bunch of snakes in aquariums lol. It can be done, but racks are just economical and efficient :gj:.

I have several racks, and the most expensive one cost me $175 :gj:. It's able to hold 5 28 qt tubs, and 10 16 or 6 qt tubs :gj:. Thermostats will be needed to regulate the heat source, and those are around $90 for one.

If you have all of that out of the way, then I would start with a few powerful females to raise up for you to enjoy while you're learning about other morphs :gj:. I won't recommend any particular combos or snakes to look for, but I can recommend some genes :P. I would recommend mystic/phantom or mojave. Fire is also important no matter what you're looking for. A popular recessive project such as clown or pied will also be good to have in your collection. Some of the staple morphs that I would recommend getting combo'd, since you can buy them in combos for cheap would be spider, pastel, ENCHI, pinstripe, lesser/butter, and yellowbelly :gj:. These genes are pretty typical nowadays.

The higher end stuff such as GHI, Orange Dream, and Hidden Gene Woma will drain your budget real quick, and I would really only recommend jumping into those if you have some powerful females to pair them with. You could get into some of the higher end recessives relatively cheap. Candy, Ultramel, Desert Ghost are 3 higher end recessive projects :gj:. Hope this wasn't too long to read :oops:... Sorry for the thumbsup spam. I like that emote a lot lololol.

Thank you for this, hooblah! :) it gave me some good insight as well, since I'm also trying to build a nice starting point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nimblykimbly

Thank you for this, hooblah! :) it gave me some good insight as well, since I'm also trying to build a nice starting point.

---

Np Kimbly :D.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sorraia

Check out worldofballpythons.com/morphs/ and see what really speaks to you. The list is OVERWHELMING, so start out with some of the basic morphs, and then branch out to multi-gene morphs.

---

I look at that site quite frequently to use the genetic calculator xD. I'm really liking the sort of greyscale animals. A few of my favs are in the Axanthic, Black Pastel, Genetic Stripe, Spider/Bee, Pied and BEL groups. I'm sort of thinking I'm deffianantly gonna get a lesser and a Mojave, and if I breed I could make dirty bels (mojavexmojave) and bels (lesserxlesser), maybe I'd even get into butters too, but other than that my real goal if considering breeding is a Black Platinum (LesserxBlack Pastel).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by h00blah

Wow $4300 to start? You got quite a few options . First, do you have the proper caging? this can cost you anywhere between $150 - $1500 depending on the kind of rack system you look into. I only assume you're getting a rack system because I can't imagine having a bunch of snakes in aquariums lol. It can be done, but racks are just economical and efficient .

---

yeah I know it's quite a bit of money, it's a collection of money from birthdays me personally saving and my dad. The actual amount being saved is closer to $5000 CAD but I took out the $700 for caging and other necessities. :) thank god my dad can build and has a majored in electricity. (Do no what specifically but he's seen then blue print of the rack and says its quite easy)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Inasailorsgrave

I look at that site quite frequently to use the genetic calculator xD. I'm really liking the sort of greyscale animals. A few of my favs are in the Axanthic, Black Pastel, Genetic Stripe, Spider/Bee, Pied and BEL groups. I'm sort of thinking I'm deffianantly gonna get a lesser and a Mojave, and if I breed I could make dirty bels (mojavexmojave) and bels (lesserxlesser), maybe I'd even get into butters too, but other than that my real goal if considering breeding is a Black Platinum (LesserxBlack Pastel).



yeah I know it's quite a bit of money, it's a collection of money from birthdays me personally saving and my dad. The actual amount being saved is closer to $5000 CAD but I took out the $700 for caging and other necessities. :) thank god my dad can build and has a majored in electricity. (Do no what specifically but he's seen then blue print of the rack and says its quite easy)

---

Very cool! If you like the darker morphs, ghost an axanthic are perfect recessive projects for you :gj:. You should spend time looking at the classifieds and seeing what's out there and how much they're going for. Don't just settle for single genes. Since you have a good financial start, getting your females together and spending more time looking at different examples of other morphs will give you a lot of ideas :gj:. Then you can get a GHI male to go with your mojo/lesser/axanthic/hypo projects :P! haha

And you're a good money-saver! you may just do well in the business side haha :P.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by h00blah

Very cool! If you like the darker morphs, ghost an axanthic are perfect recessive projects for you :gj:. You should spend time looking at the classifieds and seeing what's out there and how much they're going for. Don't just settle for single genes. Since you have a good financial start, getting your females together and spending more time looking at different examples of other morphs will give you a lot of ideas :gj:. Then you can get a GHI male to go with your mojo/lesser/axanthic/hypo projects :P! haha

And you're a good money-saver! you may just do well in the business side haha :P.

---

Aha thanks I do work hard for my wants and needs. Actually I'm hoping to go to a reptile show in Mississauga in September (pretty sure that's when it is) and then I can see and converse with the breeders, and maybe pick up other herps too :). As for looking at classifieds not may people around where I live own ball pythons, mainly corn snakes xD