New Vet + future Breeding of Cookie

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Not an enchi even if the "experts" said so.

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Figured as much. I'd use that term even more loosely than that considering it's a Petsmart employee.

Anyway, do normals carry their markings over to offspring? Or are there non genetic marking "mutations"


Herp Derp

Normal patters can be passed along.
I have have a reduced pattern normal and every clutch has a couple reduced in it.

For what it's worth, here is a piece of advice you may not like to hear. Don't breed Cookie.
The reason is that the market is flooded with normals, because lots of morph pairings produce them too. The prices for them are very low, and as a result, lots of people buy them for cheap without putting much thought or effort into properly caring for them in the long term - and obviously, a normal needs just as much care for just as long as a fancy morph does.
Even if Cookie does have some other gene (Enchi, whatever), it's very hard to tell just visually in his case, and unless you breed him with a female that has some really obvious genetics, you'll have a hard time telling what the babies are. That means you can't in good conscience sell them as anything other than normals, either.
Don't get me wrong - there is nothing wrong with normals. They are wonderful, beautiful, animals and babies are adorable regardless of their morph. But there are already more unvalued normals out there than there are good homes for them; in my area, you can search Craigslist pretty much any time at all and come up with a bunch of young ball pythons in bad setups that people are getting rid of after owning them for relatively short periods of time.

Basically, it's the same reason shelters and vets and so forth encourage you to have your dogs and cats fixed - there are already so many puppies and kittens out there that need homes, you shouldn't add to the problem just because it would be fun to have a litter and babies are cute.

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Originally Posted by KingWheatley

Figured as much. I'd use that term even more loosely than that considering it's a Petsmart employee.

Anyway, do normals carry their markings over to offspring? Or are there non genetic marking "mutations"


Herp Derp

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Any pattern even if not genetic can influence the offsprings which is why some people are firm believer in selective breeding. For example if you were to breed an enchi to a normal you would select a normal with a very reduced pattern (well I would)

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Originally Posted by KingWheatley

Those colors, though, are so pretty c:


Herp Derp

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The head is a great way to differentiate a true Enchi. A telltale Enchi mark is at the end of the headstripes, towards the dorsal, the pattern pinches up towards the middle of the skull. As you can see there.

Your snake is definitely reduced pattern, especially within the alien heads, but I'd say it's just a normal.


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Wouldn't cookie be a good size to switch to rats since they are more nutritionally whole? I think the breeders of my girls started their hatchlings on rats.

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Originally Posted by Yzmasmom

Wouldn't cookie be a good size to switch to rats since they are more nutritionally whole? I think the breeders of my girls started their hatchlings on rats.

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I can't find any. I keep missing the reptile show where you can buy in bulk... and of course Petsmart only sells medium rats f/t... and those are WAY too big...


Herp Derp

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Originally Posted by Coluber42

For what it's worth, here is a piece of advice you may not like to hear. Don't breed Cookie.
The reason is that the market is flooded with normals, because lots of morph pairings produce them too. The prices for them are very low, and as a result, lots of people buy them for cheap without putting much thought or effort into properly caring for them in the long term - and obviously, a normal needs just as much care for just as long as a fancy morph does.
Even if Cookie does have some other gene (Enchi, whatever), it's very hard to tell just visually in his case, and unless you breed him with a female that has some really obvious genetics, you'll have a hard time telling what the babies are. That means you can't in good conscience sell them as anything other than normals, either.
Don't get me wrong - there is nothing wrong with normals. They are wonderful, beautiful, animals and babies are adorable regardless of their morph. But there are already more unvalued normals out there than there are good homes for them; in my area, you can search Craigslist pretty much any time at all and come up with a bunch of young ball pythons in bad setups that people are getting rid of after owning them for relatively short periods of time.

Basically, it's the same reason shelters and vets and so forth encourage you to have your dogs and cats fixed - there are already so many puppies and kittens out there that need homes, you shouldn't add to the problem just because it would be fun to have a litter and babies are cute.

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Oh. I was intending upon keeping the babies. But I just had a thought that I'd be overwhelmed if it ended up being a huge clutch. So yea, not a good idea.

Baby cookies running around sounded just too cute.


Herp Derp

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Originally Posted by KingWheatley

I can't find any. I keep missing the reptile show where you can buy in bulk... and of course Petsmart only sells medium rats f/t... and those are WAY too big...


Herp Derp

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Do you have a Petco nearby? You can also order online. Or check for local rat breeders on Craigslist.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by KingWheatley

I can't find any. I keep missing the reptile show where you can buy in bulk... and of course Petsmart only sells medium rats f/t... and those are WAY too big...


Herp Derp

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I buy all my rats online. Dunno of you have any good suppliers over in the states, but its great -and often cheap- way of getting rats without traveling far.