what to get?

So for awhile now I've been extremely interested in buying a ball python I've had a passion for them since i was a kid but never was able to have my own until a few weeks ago when i was at petsmart and spotted a ball there that sparked my interest in them enough to purchase one. I'm not much interested in a normal ole ball. im more interested in a morph or something that is 100% het. can anyone give me any ideas? im kinda on a budget.

Thank you for reading my post
Vence

What is the price range of your budget?

well I'm a college student and i have a ton of bills such as truck payment, insurance and phone bill so money is kinda tight. id like something under 150. the reason why i don't want a normal is because i may want to breed in the future

I would say buy a female. In your price range that will probably limit you to a pastel. You might get lucky and snag a female spider this time of year.

would the gender make a difference?

Females typically get bigger. At the same time, if you think you might want to breed eventually females take longer to mature. Those are the reasons you'd want a female. Males tend to stay smaller, mature quicker, and are cheaper.

oh i see. thank you for clarifying that for me. i need all the help i can get.

But at the same time, if you want something that will stay smaller for say...a college student sized apartment...I might suggest going with a male. They're housing can be smaller than an adult female's. ;) Also cheaper in that regard. Plus, you have more options on morphs if you get a male as males are cheaper.

You should also consider whether you want to buy local or ship from a reputable breeder. If you ship, you need to be prepared to pay roughly $50 in shipping on top of the cost of the snake.

I'd go for a pastel or a spider. Pretty much all your looking at for that price range. I wouldn't play with hets unless your looking at getting a pair for breeding. Anything het will run you in excess of that for anything cool. Besides they are visually normals..

Cheers,

Chris.

I've been thinking about getting something from royalconstrictordesigns im not really picky on gender id rather have a male do to the sizing and possibly getting a female in the future when my space isn't so limited. im just torn on what kind of male i want

Personally I think your best off with a nice looking pastel. Nice snake to look at, and affordable. Really good for a pet -

And you can breed it into anything in the future. Being co-dominate You'll end up with visual offspring regardless of the pairing.

And in your price range you can probably pick up a female (which I would do if you have future plans for breeding).

Yes males have smaller caging requirements but males can breed within a year, where as you need 2-3 years for a female to be sexual mature.

Good Luck!

Cheers,
Chris.

thank you for your input I'm defiantly leaning towards a pastel. can you recommend any breeders?

They have Female Pastels at BHB for $125+ $50 shipping if needed. Most female pastels online go for around $175. What area are you from? I would recommend a reptile show, that way you can meet the breeder and snake before purchase! And you can maybe haggle out a price! And also save money on shipping! I just got a female pastel for $180 shipped to my house!

I'd go with what everyone else has pretty much said. Go with a female morph especially since you said you might try your hand at breeding eventually. It'll be more worth your while to raise a pastel female to breeding size sooner than later.

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well i was born and raised in cali but moved to arkansas recently. there may be some shows coming around my area. thank you for the idea ill defiantly look into that

I'd highly recommend Garrick DeMeyer at Royal Constrictor Designs. I just bought my Mojo there and was very pleased with the experience overall. Customer service was phenomenal, his prices are more than fair, and the animals are top notch. :gj: I'm not sure if he has pastels or not, but I'd look around his website for sure. ;)