A New Breeders Budget?

I am really interested in breeding my Ball Pythons. I have a few questions before I do so.

First, I plan to get the Reptibator egg incubator on Amazon.com for $110. Thoughts on this incubator? I can only afford something in that price range.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...5L._SS500_.jpg
Second, I was planning to get the Hatchrite substrate on Amazon.com for $9. Is this a preferred substrate? Should i try the egg crate way?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4L._SS400_.jpg
Third, I am snake hunting for a male. I was thinking about a Pinstripe or Spider. I have a normal and a pastel female. Which one?

thank you in advance for your consideration and helpfulness.

I would use vermiculite since ive heard hatchrite can dry out easily. Personally i like pins better than spiders but go with whatever you like.

Thanks and just vermiculite no perilite in the mixture? thank you for the input

I used the reptibator along with just vermiculite no perlite . And hatched out my first clutch no problems.

Just cover the 4 little holes on the reptibator and keep a digital thermometer in the container with the eggs and you'll be golden.

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Originally Posted by sookieball

I used the reptibator along with just vermiculite no perlite . And hatched out my first clutch no problems.

Just cover the 4 little holes on the reptibator and keep a digital thermometer in the container with the eggs and you'll be golden.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

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What kind of water mixture do you use with the Vermiculite? is it 2:1 or 1:1?

I use the hatchrite/perlite for all my eggs, in the store and at home, with no problems. I actually like it better, as I check the eggs every week anyway and add water at that point. The vermiculite, in my experience, absorbs a TON (often too much) of water, and for the beginner it can be difficult to gauge how much water to add.

I have used vermiculite as well with success, I just like the hatchrite better these days. :)

LOVE the Reptibator, all the best parts of the less expensive hovabator, but more space inside and it already comes with a thermostat. Super easy to set up and use, great incubator.

-Jen

Can't offer much advice on the Reptibator or vermiculite since I've never done any breeding of my own, but in terms of which male to purchase, it should be whichever you want. If you think that a pastel pin looks cooler than a bumblebee, then get the pin. If you think bees are cooler, get the spider. Check as many breeders' available snakes as you can, and you're likely going to find a pin or spider that really stands out to you.

1, I don't trust anything zoomed when it comes to heating. I had a thermostat from them that melted and I almost lost my first few snakes. For that price you can make your own with a nice thermostat, make sure you get a proportional stat, you don't want an on/off stat for an incubator. There are plenty of homemade bator threads in the DIY section to look at.

2 I use hatchrite in my substrateless tubs right now since I still have some left over. I would go substrateless if I were you, it's one less thing for you to screw up.

3 As far as which male to go with, you need to think about what you want to make in the long run. That's something you should always consider when buying or breeding.

The reptibator worked fairly well for me, except it was too small for anything over a single clutch. Like someone else mentioned close the little holes in it and make sure you get a good thermometer/hygrometer like accurite because the placment of the reptibators temp/hyg probe is up high and close to the heat source, makes it so you will have to set the thermostat higher to good heat on the eggs. I believe mine was like a 5-6 degree difference so it had to be set at 94-95 to put eggs at 89. Good luck to you!

I would not go with pinstripe OR spider. I would go with a pinstripe AND spider in one and get a Spinner.

You could get spinner blasts, spinners, bees, blasts, spiders, pastels, pinstripes & normals.

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Originally Posted by JayCee

I would not go with pinstripe OR spider. I would go with a pinstripe AND spider in one and get a Spinner.

You could get spinner blasts, spinners, bees, blasts, spiders, pastels, pinstripes & normals.

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Are you refering to those with just a Spider and Pinstripe? If so, he would only get Spinners, Spiders, Pinstripes, and Normals

To OP, I would save up and get a Bumblebee and LemonBlast. So many combos come out of that. Killerblast, Spinnerblast, Superblast, Killerbee, Lemonblast, Bumblebee, Spinner, Spider, Pinstripe, Super Pastel, Pastel, Normals.

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Originally Posted by MidSouthMorphs

Are you refering to those with just a Spider and Pinstripe? If so, he would only get Spinners, Spiders, Pinstripes, and Normals

To OP, I would save up and get a Bumblebee and LemonBlast. So many combos come out of that. Killerblast, Spinnerblast, Superblast, Killerbee, Lemonblast, Bumblebee, Spinner, Spider, Pinstripe, Super Pastel, Pastel, Normals.

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The OP has a pastel female also, so JayCee was right about the possible outcomes. Of course, a Bumblebee gives a lot of combos, too. :)

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Originally Posted by JayCee

I would not go with pinstripe OR spider. I would go with a pinstripe AND spider in one and get a Spinner.

You could get spinner blasts, spinners, bees, blasts, spiders, pastels, pinstripes & normals.

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thank you, and good point.

I JUST RECEIVED AN OFFER FOR A 400G LESSER MALE FOR $200. Should i go for it?

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Originally Posted by masonhall

thank you, and good point.

I JUST RECEIVED AN OFFER FOR A 400G LESSER MALE FOR $200. Should i go for it?

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Thats a good price for a healthy animal. I say go for it if you wanna produce more lessers and pastel lessers!

What happens when you have an on/off t stat in an incubator?


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Originally Posted by masonhall

What happens when you have an on/off t stat in an incubator?


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An on/off tstat will allow temps to fluctuate too much. You want constant stable heat in the Gatorade, a proportional tstat is the way to go. You don't want to cut corners on your incubator...

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snakes first, the rest can come after the animals reach breeding age. a new male may only come around 200g unless you find a 500+ gram male so get that first. both pins and spiders are about the same price, go with the one you find pretty

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Originally Posted by masonhall

thank you, and good point.

I JUST RECEIVED AN OFFER FOR A 400G LESSER MALE FOR $200. Should i go for it?

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Depends, the price is irrelevant if you are breeding. $200 is a great price for a pet lesser. If you plan on breeding, price should be far behind quality in your set of priorities for choosing a breeder. What characteristics are you looking for in a lesser?

I dont know what your overall budget is but I would go as thrifty as possible on things like the incubator and racks etc. Plenty of diy stuff on youtube that works just as well as the expensive name brand items and at this point your sweat is free vs paying someone else when you could spend the money on a quality male. my incubator is a free broken refridgerator off of craigslist, some old oven racks i found on the curb trash day for extra shelves, 5 feet of flexwatt $25 put together by reptilebasics, and a hydrostat from amazon $30. So roughly $60 ive got a bator that holds 15+ cluthes and works just fine. as for racks i get them from a guy localy 41qt sterlite 5 tier for $125 and i put the heat in for about $35. just keep talking to breeders and find the male that you truely like the looks of and want to make with what you have. Remember its the animals that are going to make the experience not how pretty your reptile room is. hope some of this is helpful. good luck and happy herping.

Build your own incubator, trust me. The cheaper ones are never big enough or work they way you want them to. You can build a large cooler style incubator that will hold up to 8 clutches for under $200 that will work better that anything you buy online unless your willing to drop some big bucks. Also I would save up a little bit and get a double gene male, or next thing you know youll have 20 single gene males hanging around your place saying "feed me Seymour". Cant go wrong with a bumble bee as far as price and potential. Just my opinion, either way good luck to you.

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Originally Posted by Domepiece

Build your own incubator, trust me. The cheaper ones are never big enough or work they way you want them to. You can build a large cooler style incubator that will hold up to 8 clutches for under $200 that will work better that anything you buy online unless your willing to drop some big bucks.

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x2
I converted my incubator from a broken Red Bull bar fridge (small glass door fridges pop up on craigslist every now and then).

You can see details of the conversion here: Red Bull incubator!

Total price was $190. $60 to convert the fridge and $130 for a quality proportional thermostat.

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Originally Posted by H.o.F.R

my incubator is a free broken refridgerator off of craigslist, some old oven racks i found on the curb trash day for extra shelves, 5 feet of flexwatt $25 put together by reptilebasics, and a hydrostat from amazon $30. So roughly $60 ive got a bator that holds 15+ cluthes and works just fine. as for racks i get them from a guy localy 41qt sterlite 5 tier for $125 and i put the heat in for about $35.

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Is that a proportional T stat? If so, which one?

Since I am relatively young, my parent still control what I buy with my one money. They say the dont want me jumping into a project with a 400+ budget because I'm so inexperienced. I try to tell them I go on the forums everyday, but they say the cost is to high for something risky. They don't understand that I love snakes and I will just try again next year.

I just bought a hydro farm on/ off T star for a snake. Now do I have to buy another t stat? I will skim Craigslist. Total price of everything for incubator cannot exceed 150$ :(




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