100%Het pied proven breeder female

I have an adult male that I found a couple of months ago, that has the marker (tail stripes) for being het pied. I have had a few reputable knowledgable breeders look at him. And they have all said the same thing, that he is showing the markers but with out paperwork there are no guarantees. He has great qualities, mainly being a great feeder ( F/T rats ) and easy to handle. I am looking at a 100% het pied female proven breeder that can be bred next year for 800$ is that a fair price? The way I am looking at it is this, if my male proves out great, if he doesn't I can buy a male pied next year(hopefully prices will be a little lower) and by the time he is mature she will be ready again to breed. Thoughts, opinions, yada yada! LOL. Or do I just say screw it, place him as a pet, buy a female pied to eventually put with my really smokin' mojave boy, and just be done with it.
Mike

My honest opinion is you can get a Het pied male for so cheap that you know is a for sure thing. Why waste a year on trying to prove out a male that may simply be a normal with het markers?

Heck you can get a PIED male for $800. I wouldn't get the het female for that price. I agree with the above poster, get a het male if you're going to get a het. If you have to spend the money get a 100% het female that isn't up to breed weight yet. She should be A LOT less expensive.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Isis

Heck you can get a PIED male for $800. I wouldn't get the het female for that price. I agree with the above poster, get a het male if you're going to get a het. If you have to spend the money get a 100% het female that isn't up to breed weight yet. She should be A LOT less expensive.

---

Depends on what he wants to do. I think $800 for a breedable female het pied is plenty fair. You can get a het male for $100. Then breed them and produce your own this year.

A hatchling will be cheaper, but you still have to raise her up, and she won't be breeding until '12, three years away. So by the time he's producing pieds with a hatchling he bought now, he could have already produced several clutches with pieds in them.

So again, just depends on what he wants and what his goals are and how soon he wants to realize them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Isis

Heck you can get a PIED male for $800. I wouldn't get the het female for that price. I agree with the above poster, get a het male if you're going to get a het. If you have to spend the money get a 100% het female that isn't up to breed weight yet. She should be A LOT less expensive.

---

The hell with waiting!!! If you have the money then pick one up that is ready to go. I'm sure that is a path we would all choose if we had the money! I'm picking up a Het Clown pair(hatchlings)...If I had the money I would buy a breedable pair. Why waste years if you don't have to?

Uhhh...Id buy the female. Im on the opposite end of the spectrum. I found a papered 100% het pied male(1000gm) and a Poss Het Pied female (with markers, 1500gm) and Im gonna take that plunge this year. Wont tell anyone what I paid for the pair until the clutch pops out though =P

The thing everyone keeps forgetting is that he doesn't have a het pied, he has a normal with pied markers. He has something with no background genetics to prove it's even POSSIBLY a het pied. If he spends the $800 on the het female he'll be making all poss hets if the male is a normal. I'd rather spend the $800 on an actual male pied, or spend $200 more for an actual female pied. $800 for a het female just doesn't sound worth it to me, not if you can get a female pied for $200 more.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Isis

The thing everyone keeps forgetting is that he doesn't have a het pied, he has a normal with pied markers. He has something with no background genetics to prove it's even POSSIBLY a het pied. If he spends the $800 on the het female he'll be making all poss hets if the male is a normal. I'd rather spend the $800 on an actual male pied, or spend $200 more for an actual female pied. $800 for a het female just doesn't sound worth it to me, not if you can get a female pied for $200 more.

---

He obviously wants to try and prove this male out. There is nothing wrong with that at all. People are doing it with dinkers every year. It is not a losing situation to buy a breedable het pied female for $800 if he has the money. Either he proves this male out this year or buys a pied male next year and makes pieds next year. I don't think you are understanding that any hatchling female he buys he has to wait three years to breed. This way he can do it sooner.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Isis

The thing everyone keeps forgetting is that he doesn't have a het pied, he has a normal with pied markers. He has something with no background genetics to prove it's even POSSIBLY a het pied. If he spends the $800 on the het female he'll be making all poss hets if the male is a normal. I'd rather spend the $800 on an actual male pied, or spend $200 more for an actual female pied. $800 for a het female just doesn't sound worth it to me, not if you can get a female pied for $200 more.

---

I said he should get the het female, but also pick up a het male because they are dirt cheap. :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Isis

I$800 for a het female just doesn't sound worth it to me, not if you can get a female pied for $200 more.

---

It just depends on what his goals are. If its just for a pet, then yeah, I'd probably go ahead and buy the pied rather than a het. If he wants to produce, IMO a breedable het pied female is worth more than a hatchling pied.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Turbo Serpent

I said he should get the het female, but also pick up a het male because they are dirt cheap. :gj:

---

I agree, I wouldn't even mess with a "maybe" het pied male, not when 100% hets are so cheap. It would suck to pair a 100% het pied female w/a poss het pied male only to prove the male isn't het. Then that female wasted a year when she could have made a pied or two with a definite het male.

Let's say you spend the $800 on a 100% Het Pied female. If you breed them and produce 4 live eggs, even if your male is 100% pied, you only have a 25% chance of producing a pied offspring to prove out your male. So even IF your male is Het Pied, it is entirely possible that you would not produce any Pied babies.

You have no way of knowing (other than looking at unreliable markers) whether your batch of normals is Het Pied or just normals. At best they are 66% Hets (if your male is in fact Het Pied) or 50% Hets (if he is not).

So it might be 2 years in a row of producing normal looking babies before you finally decide that your male is not Het. That's 2 years worth of breeding for female that could produce 50% Pieds if bred to a male Pied.


If your goal is to produce Pieds, proving out a possible Het male is not the best way to do it IMO.

I don't see why so many people think that an almost breedable het pied for $800 is overpriced...O.o;; I mean, honestly, I think it's a steal. Most breedable or near breedable high-end het females go for $1000-1500, last time I checked, and I haven't seen any near-breedable 100% het pied females for under $1000. I guess my definition of "near breedable" might be a bit different from theirs; I consider "near-breedable" to be 1100-1300g, but some people actually breed at that size.

Regardless, I do think that it's a long shot to prove a "normal" snake with possible het markers out to be het by buying an adult, near-breedable het piebald female is a bit...well, silly. If you're going to spend $800, why not just go ahead and spend the extra $150 to buy a proven male het pied, and for sure get piebald babies..?

Of course, in the end it's your decision, but in regards to whether or not a near breedable 100% het pied female is worth $800? Yeah. And I'd be willing to spend more, in fact. Just my $0.02! Good luck, whatever you decide!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mfkelly

I have an adult male that I found a couple of months ago, that has the marker (tail stripes) for being het pied. I have had a few reputable knowledgable breeders look at him. And they have all said the same thing, that he is showing the markers but with out paperwork there are no guarantees. He has great qualities, mainly being a great feeder ( F/T rats ) and easy to handle. I am looking at a 100% het pied female proven breeder that can be bred next year for 800$ is that a fair price? The way I am looking at it is this, if my male proves out great, if he doesn't I can buy a male pied next year(hopefully prices will be a little lower) and by the time he is mature she will be ready again to breed. Thoughts, opinions, yada yada! LOL. Or do I just say screw it, place him as a pet, buy a female pied to eventually put with my really smokin' mojave boy, and just be done with it.
Mike

---

With what your saying. If your male now doesnt prove out to be 100% het, then you wont get any pieds for the next 3 years. Since your female isnt ready yet. Really it would be better to spend a few hundred on a het pied male. They are rock bottom price right now. Go to a show and you can find one for even less. My pastel male has pied markers, but he was sold to me as a pastel. Therefore im not wasting my time putting him to my het pied female this year only to get nothing but normals and pastels if he's not het pied. Im going the 100% het to het route this year and hoping for that 25% odds of hitting a couple pieds.