First Time Breeder

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Breeding season will soon come to a close and several people will likely be letting go of proven females.

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Since you're location isn't listed feel free to disregard what I'm about to type as it may not apply to you (especially if you're in the southern hemisphere). Breeding season (as much as there is one) is ramping up now, so this will be the most expensive time of year to buy an adult female (a lesson I learned the hard way first hand). If you wait until late spring/early summer you can usually find a good deal on a female who has just laid and just needs a few months of steady feeding (and qt!) to get back up to breeding size.

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Originally Posted by SKOOT3R

Hmmmm Well i definitely have to do more research on what to mix. I still have to buy my first rack system as well so if i go with an 8-10 tub rack then ill grab 2 males and really have some fun. I love the Mojave's & Axanthic lines, I'd love to play with that a little as well.

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I highly recommend perusing the big morph list and genetic wizard at worldofballpythons.com. Find something that "speaks" to you (was the axanthic bee/killerbee and axanthic super pastel for me) and then figure out what genetic options you have to get from A to B (and figure out your budget). When you keep going back to look at picks of the same morph on the list over and over, that may be "the one."

As far as your incubation question goes, it depends a lot on your local climate and personal preferences. I live in AZ so I just have no possible way to keep the eggs humid enough for maternal incubation. But I'm also kind of a control freak, so I would probably go for mechanical incubation anyway (plus you can get mom eating again much sooner). Hope this helps!

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Originally Posted by Naom9Anne

I have heard pro's and cons to both. Some people swear by natural whilst others swear by artificial. I think I would personally get my self an incubator and artificially incubate the eggs so that I had more control over the process I think. I need to do a lot more research into the breeding process etc but fortunately I have a few years before I have to worry about that; I still get to enjoy that most of my future breeders are babies which I really enjoy although I do look forward to producing my own in a few years :)


"C" is a nightmare! It was never intentional. My first one was called Isis until I got her home and I really disliked the name for her so she was renamed Calypso. Claus came next and I thought 'Oh, I'll switch the K with a C; that'll be great'. Of course I thought I was done for a long while! Within the last 3-4 weeks I have accumulated 6 more and I can't make myself sway from the theme! I am starting to run out of names I like!

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Yea I think i'll probably buy an incubator. I am also going to start with all young snakes so i can bring them up myself. get the whole experience. I just settled on the name Cloe for mine last night by the way. guess you were the inspiration for that one ha.

- Skoots

I have a female that currently weighs 1250-ish and has had a clutch of three already. I purchased her after she layed. Maturity and size are both important. Nature is awesome though. A younger/smaller girl is unlikely to have a 7+ egg clutch that will endanger her life. She won't be taxed too much. (Or so I'm reading)

I'll be starting the breeding process soon too as a beginner. I'll leave him unnamed, but I'll be taking the advice of a well known breeder: Gather up a pair of breed-ready normals and do a "test run" with them for a year or two before while your higher end morphs are growing. It would sure suck to make the rookie mistakes with your pieds, lavender albinos, blah blah. I get it, the normals are still animals, but mistakes will be made my first time or two--and beyond for that matter--but i will learn from those mistakes and it won't hurt as bad if I make mistakes with $40-$80 hatchlings vs. $500+. Learn the process of ovulation, pre-ov sheds, etc. with this "test" pair. Just a thought to consider. It's what I'll be doing.

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Originally Posted by Dr. Pete

I have a female that currently weighs 1250-ish and has had a clutch of three already. I purchased her after she layed. Maturity and size are both important. Nature is awesome though. A younger/smaller girl is unlikely to have a 7+ egg clutch that will endanger her life. She won't be taxed too much. (Or so I'm reading)

I'll be starting the breeding process soon too as a beginner. I'll leave him unnamed, but I'll be taking the advice of a well known breeder: Gather up a pair of breed-ready normals and do a "test run" with them for a year or two before while your higher end morphs are growing. It would sure suck to make the rookie mistakes with your pieds, lavender albinos, blah blah. I get it, the normals are still animals, but mistakes will be made my first time or two--and beyond for that matter--but i will learn from those mistakes and it won't hurt as bad if I make mistakes with $40-$80 hatchlings vs. $500+. Learn the process of ovulation, pre-ov sheds, etc. with this "test" pair. Just a thought to consider. It's what I'll be doing.

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Ofcorse that makes sense. I haven't decided on what to buy as of yet to breed, and again i won't be doing so for another year - year and a half at the absolute least. I'll be doing some heavy research on this in my free time in the mean time, but by all means fill me in on your experience as you go!

Will do! I'm picking up my adult male in two days. I'll be putting them together soon, let them listen to some Marvin Gaye and hopefully have some baby makin getting on.

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Originally Posted by Dr. Pete

Will do! I'm picking up my adult male in two days. I'll be putting them together soon, let them listen to some Marvin Gaye and hopefully have some baby makin getting on.

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Don't forget to play a little Barry :P

this article is quite amazing:


http://ballpythonbreeder.com/2012/02...thon-breeders/

lots of strategies on how to optimize things and to do it efficiently. the article really covers a lot of ground. it shouldnt be about the money primarily, BP breeding should be about the animals first, but who doesnt like it when a hobby at least partially pays for itself or even produces a few dollars on the side every now and then.

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

this article is quite amazing:


http://ballpythonbreeder.com/2012/02...thon-breeders/

lots of strategies on how to optimize things and to do it efficiently. the article really covers a lot of ground. it shouldnt be about the money primarily, BP breeding should be about the animals first, but who doesnt like it when a hobby at least partially pays for itself or even produces a few dollars on the side every now and then.

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Wow theres a lot of good info on here. Thanks for the heads up!

- Skoots