New to snakes, new-ish to the board. I've got questions! :)

Okay, that's good to know. The hets would still be a little cheaper than the actual morph, right? I'll probably just look for a normal, but if I get a good deal on a het or an actual morph, i'll swoop that up. :)
Yeah, that's what I noticed with corns as well. There's a LOT of morphs, and it's hard to keep track of them.
Ok, i'll keep that in mind. :) Females do get a little larger than a male, right? (i've read 3 - 5 feet for a female - is that about right?)
LOL - as for the pastels - it was the only morph I could think of at the time - I really don't have much of a clue about morphs and genetics, etc. I just threw it out there. I should really start reading about morphs and genetics on this board. But for now, i'm just going to worry about husbandry and everything that is associated with that. Some day, i'll dive in and figure it out. :)

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Originally Posted by kc261

BP morphs are still expensive enough that even the hets and often possible hets will still cost more than a normal.

Corn snakes on the other hand, have had so many morphs for so long that some breeders don't bother to keep track of which snakes might be het for the more common morphs. So you might buy a "normal" that is actually het for something, but then you have the problem you don't know if it is het, or het for what.

Getting back to BPs, if you think it is likely you will want to breed in the future, I'd recommend starting out with a female, as they take longer to reach an appropriate breeding size. If you can afford a female het for something you like, go ahead. Otherwise, you can still get morph offspring in your first breeding by going with one of the dom or co-dom morphs.

Which brings me to another point... there is no such thing as "het for pastel" because pastel is a co-dom morph. That means if the snake carries the genetics for it, you can see a visible expression of the gene. If a snake carries 1 pastel gene, you get a regular pastel. If it carries 2, you get a super pastel, which is even brighter than a regular pastel.

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Oh, and if you do end up going with live, don't stun it. Just learn how to feed live properly and your snake will be fine. Stunning the mouse/rat is much more cruel. You can end up not hitting hard enough to stun it.... OUCH poor mouse. Or you can end up stunning it, but not enough that it stays stunned until the snake eats it. Then you end up with a hurt and therefore far more dangerous mouse in with your snake. Or you can end up hitting it too hard and killing it, and if your snake is truly a "live food only" type that won't even take a fresh kill, then you've wasted that life, unless you have something else to do with a dead mouse.

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Originally Posted by Suzy

That's really good to know. :) So in some of those normals, would they be hets for anything (i.e. if mom was a pastel, and dad was a different morph, and some of the babies came out normal, would they be het for pastel & the other morph if there was one?) should I want to breed later on? I wouldn't mind getting a normal that's het for something, because by the time i'm ready to breed, they would be a good candidate, and i'd just have to get something else to breed with them. (of course after the quarrantining period.)
I'll be sure to check out those websites. :) i've seen and heard of 8 Ball Pythons - I've sent him a message on ReptileGeeks, but havne't heard back yet. I think i'll try and e-mail him to see what info I can get about his snakes.
I've been looking around at KS, but they didn't really have any normals that I could see. (I just did a search for normal ball python.) I'll keep an eye out, though. Thank you so much for your help. :)

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this is the easiest way to explain hets and what comes of what when breeding with out getting to scientific although this does explain things incredibly well and its easy on the eyes and brain.

Building your own caging wouldn't be cost effective. If you had a huge 10ft burm it would be, but when you can buy a whole enclosure for almost the price of one sheet of Melamine.

For ventalation I use a soldering iron. Goes through like butter. I do two hole one on top of each other about an inch apart( looks like this : : : : :) The iron cost me a whole $6 at Ace. If you do this I suggest doing it in a WELL ventalated area. Burning plastic is very gross.


Please don't stun prey. It is viewed as cruel, but imo puts your BP at more risk, unless you know how hard you have to hit it. If you don't hit it hard enough it can wake up and will be very agressive. Many bites happen this way. Also a flopping around mouse bleeding out of its mouth, imo is more upsetting than a mouse being constricted and killed almost instantly.

If you can get a morph I would suggest it or even a female normal. Just incase you have future breeding plans.

That's what I figured. If it's not marked as a het for something, then i'll just consider it a normal unless proven otherwise.
Oh, ok. Those are really reasonable prices on the hets. That's really good to know. :)
Yeah, i've decided against ever going to CL for a snake. Especially after the saga with the breeder from last night. I figured if I could wait for a year to get a snake, what's another month? I'll be patient and wait it out. :)

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

Unless you buy it as a het, there is no way to tell if or what it is het for. Pastels and several other morphs are co-dominant, so there are no hets for them. Co-doms are actually visual hets for a super form, so it's either a pastel or it's not. If you are thinking about possibly breeding at some point down the road, there are several morphs or hets you can get that are about what you are looking to spend. You can most likely find a male pastel or yellowbelly (het for ivory) for around $100 - $150, and male hets for albinos and ghosts for $75 or less, and even males het for clown and piebald are down to $150 - $200. I also would be very concerned about buying an animal off of CL, especially since you are new. I would definitely wait until the local show and spend that time looking into the vendors and the kind of ball python you want to get.

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Oh, ok. I never knew about any of that. Thank you for the info. If I do feed live, i'll just pay close attention to the snake, and if it's not interested, take the prey out of the cage after 20 - 30 minutes. I'm still not sure which method i'll be doing until I get the snake. If it's feeding fine on live, then i'll continue that method, and might start breeding my own feeders if I have enough snakes to supply that. If not, I can find someone locally that breeds them and go that route.
I do have cats that might consider it a snack, but i'd be more worried about the snake being able to eat first. :) Plus, I don't want to put the mouse/rat through any more pain than is necessary.

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Originally Posted by kc261

Oh, and if you do end up going with live, don't stun it. Just learn how to feed live properly and your snake will be fine. Stunning the mouse/rat is much more cruel. You can end up not hitting hard enough to stun it.... OUCH poor mouse. Or you can end up stunning it, but not enough that it stays stunned until the snake eats it. Then you end up with a hurt and therefore far more dangerous mouse in with your snake. Or you can end up hitting it too hard and killing it, and if your snake is truly a "live food only" type that won't even take a fresh kill, then you've wasted that life, unless you have something else to do with a dead mouse.

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That's good to know. :) I probably won't be getting into any larger snakes until I don't have cats anymore. I'd be too worried about the cats becoming food. (i'm so neurotic sometimes.)
Well, I think I might have a soldering iron around here somewhere. (My mom used to work for an aviation company that built the electronic boards, and she had several soldering irons from there.) If not, I'm pretty sure I could afford $6. And I know about the smell. lol - i've smelled burning plastic, and it was not very pleasant.
I never knew about the stunning thing, so I will be sure not to do so. :) I don't want to cause any more pain to the prey than is necessary. (i.e. let the snake do it's job instead of interfering.)
I will most definitely look for a female. :) Most likely she'll be a normal, but maybe i'll get a morph of something. If not this year, then next year, definitely.

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Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

Building your own caging wouldn't be cost effective. If you had a huge 10ft burm it would be, but when you can buy a whole enclosure for almost the price of one sheet of Melamine.

For ventalation I use a soldering iron. Goes through like butter. I do two hole one on top of each other about an inch apart( looks like this : : : : :) The iron cost me a whole $6 at Ace. If you do this I suggest doing it in a WELL ventalated area. Burning plastic is very gross.


Please don't stun prey. It is viewed as cruel, but imo puts your BP at more risk, unless you know how hard you have to hit it. If you don't hit it hard enough it can wake up and will be very agressive. Many bites happen this way. Also a flopping around mouse bleeding out of its mouth, imo is more upsetting than a mouse being constricted and killed almost instantly.

If you can get a morph I would suggest it or even a female normal. Just incase you have future breeding plans.

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I'm glad you are proactive, open to suggestions, and willing you learn. With that attitude people will constantly throw info at you. Try your best to absorb the most you can. :gj:

Experience will be your greatest friend. Don't be scared to ask stupid questions. We are here to help.

Well, the way I see it is if I was hard-headed about something I had no clue about, i'd never learn. My mind is a sponge, and i'm willing to absorb any info that anyone is willing to share with me. You guys have a lot more experience than I do, so it's kind of like the teacher and the student. :)
I question everything, so don't be surprised to see me on here a lot asking questions when I get my new BP. lol - I read a lot, and I ask a lot. That's me in a nutshell.

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Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

I'm glad you are proactive, open to suggestions, and willing you learn. With that attitude people will constantly throw info at you. Try your best to absorb the most you can. :gj:

Experience will be your greatest friend. Don't be scared to ask stupid questions. We are here to help.

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If you are interested in reading I strongly suggest "The Complete Ball Python" By Kevin McCurley. It is a bit pricey at $60, but the information inside is astounding. It has everything: Ton of morphs with pictures and histories, everything you need to know about breeding, feeding, husbandry. Pretty much all you need to know about a ball python besides anatomy type stuff.

http://newenglandreptile.com/book.html