Breeders Top Five Must Haves

If you had too choose five things that ever BP breeder needs wether it be a educational resource, a certain morph or a piece of equipment etc. what would your top five things be that a breeder MUST have.

(Leave out obvious must haves.)

a thermostat.

1. A rack to contain the snakes, makes life so much easier when caring for multiple snakes.
2. A good thermostat so you can keep accurate temperatures.
3. A temperature gun so you know what your temperatures are in the tubs.
4. A good source of feeders, doesn't do any good to have snakes without a regular food supply.
5. quality stock IE: The best example snakes you can find.

1: bps
2: racks
3: thermostats
4: incubators
5: more bps

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Originally Posted by ChrisS

1: bps
2: racks
3: thermostats
4: incubators
5: more bps

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X2 but I would add deep pockets to that

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I'd make that 2 thermostats: I have one for the rack, and an identical one for my DIY incubator. It's the most expensive part of the incubator.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

1. A rack to contain the snakes, makes life so much easier when caring for multiple snakes.
2. A good thermostat so you can keep accurate temperatures.
3. A temperature gun so you know what your temperatures are in the tubs.
4. A good source of feeders, doesn't do any good to have snakes without a regular food supply.
5. quality stock IE: The best example snakes you can find.

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2x

XD I hope everyone's not gunna say all the same things ;p ha oh and MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! :)

1. The Internet
2. Ability to Research
3. Thermostat
4. Temperature Gun
5. Digital Scale

Passion for the animal
A male
A female
Steady income
Food source

:)

I'm surprised only one person has said digital scale so far ;p

1. great customer service
2. an understanding of the market
3. patience
4. new morphs to stay ahead of the curve and keep things interesting
5. a supportive spouse/partner

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Originally Posted by Dave Green

1. great customer service
2. an understanding of the market
3. patience
4. new morphs to stay ahead of the curve and keep things interesting
5. a supportive spouse/partner

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not having met you personally I can only vouch for numbers 1-4, but I can say with certainty that I appreciate breeders like you who live by the good advice they give.

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Originally Posted by wwmjkd

not having met you personally I can only vouch for numbers 1-4, but I can say with certainty that I appreciate breeders like you who live by the good advice they give.

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Agreed, great advice is always highly appreciated!

I was hoping this thread might not be aimed at obvious must haves and more aimed at stuff such as neat gadgets, good BP books/DVD stuff of that sort.

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Originally Posted by Adin

I was hoping this thread might not be aimed at obvious must haves and more aimed at stuff such as neat gadgets, good BP books/DVD stuff of that sort.

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an ultrasound. the information is priceless. not all female's breeding cycles fall between oct and march.

Learn to palpate
Good feeders
Tstat
Customer service and passion ( the most important)
Willingness to learn and spend money

A wife that says sure buy another bp!

Willingness to shut up and listen to people who know more than you and who've been in the hobby for awhile. In other words, willingness to learn!

A good setup that works for you (racks, tstat, temp gun, water bowls) and know how to use everything properly.

Quality breeding stock. Dont buy snakes just bc theyre cheap.

If you become a breeder then customer service is really important imo.

Unlimited funds. Not necessarily feasible, but itd be REALLY helpful! :D :p

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Originally Posted by Dave Green

1. great customer service
2. an understanding of the market
3. patience
4. new morphs to stay ahead of the curve and keep things interesting
5. a supportive spouse/partner

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I will vouch for #5.

A couple of weeks ago one of my babies escaped and CLIMBED THE STAIRS. She was chilling out watching TV with my husband in his man-cave. And then while I was in the middle of tearing up the downstairs looking for her, I heard him yelling: "I FOUND YOUR SNAKE."

I'd love to have an ultrasound, but I think for a small operation it's simply not feasible. In the meantime, I've gotten pretty good at palpating---I've been right about the number of eggs every time so far, and I haven't actually had any slugs yet.

I couldn't imagine what a ultrasound would cost ha. Not sure I want to know ha

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Originally Posted by Adin

I couldn't imagine what a ultrasound would cost ha. Not sure I want to know ha

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they vary in price. but for snakes, it doesn't need to be a top end one. mine was around 3000 and works good. I don't have a large collection, only about 100 snakes and I'm glad that I purchase one.

I bought Doc Sewards Ball python breeding DVD anyone know if it's gunna be good or not?

Whose doc seward...?

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Whose doc seward...?

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I'm not sure I just found his DVD and thought it might be worth having ill have to do research on him real quick and get back to you.

#1 the ability and passion to learn
#2 the patience and perseverence to work toward a goal, because it won't happen "now now now now now"
#3 the ability to sacrafice, because like every addiction this ones going to take over a large part of your life (btw. this forum will not help you in that regard)
#4 a good partner (wife/girlfriend, husband/boyfriend) who is not going to get choked because you bought her an enchi and a hypo for christmas instead of oh lets say a new ring or something she was hinting at for a few months.
#5 a well equiped reptile room, fridge t.v. pull out bed etc. because #4 isn't always going to work out the way you pictured it in your head.

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Originally Posted by Adin

I'm not sure I just found his DVD and thought it might be worth having ill have to do research on him real quick and get back to you.

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Here I found his page about himself if you're really interested.

http://www.docseward.com/about.html

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Originally Posted by Adin

Here I found his page about himself if you're really interested.

http://www.docseward.com/about.html

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Huh ive never heard of him

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Huh ive never heard of him

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I'm hoping his BP breeding DVD will be really educational for me

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Originally Posted by Adin

I'm hoping his BP breeding DVD will be really educational for me

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he did the video with Colette ans Dan Sutherland from the snake keeper. it's been out for awhile my copy is on vhs.

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Originally Posted by don15681

he did the video with Colette ans Dan Sutherland from the snake keeper. it's been out for awhile my copy is on vhs.

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Think it's worth the $30?

The snake keeper made a good movie.

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Originally Posted by Adin

Think it's worth the $30?

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I thought the video was good for first time breeders. Saw it a few years ago. If it helps you with one successful clutch, it's worth it. The info is out there in other forms on the Internet but still worth watching

Is it captioned or subtitled? I'm deaf. Or does anyone recommend a good book? I would like to breed my ball python in January and I'm kind of nervous. :)

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Originally Posted by digizure

Is it captioned or subtitled? I'm deaf. Or does anyone recommend a good book? I would like to breed my ball python in January and I'm kind of nervous. :)

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I don't think it is. I have the one on vhs and it wasn't. the one on dvd is most likely the same video just on a different format. a good book is by V.P.I. Pythons of the World vol 2 V.P.I. is David and Tracy Barker. I'm sure you seen some of their lines in ball pythons like the V.P.I. Axanthic. best info book on ball pythons I found so far. good luck don

Now this thread is rampin up :)

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Originally Posted by jhaven

I thought the video was good for first time breeders. Saw it a few years ago. If it helps you with one successful clutch, it's worth it. The info is out there in other forms on the Internet but still worth watching

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Just got home to today and it was in the mail. It comes with the Dvd and on the Dvd there is PDF files named: "Ball Python Breeding Book", "Ball Python Female Reproductive Cycle", "Seasonal Changes in Togo, Africa." I went to see if there was captions and unfortunately there is not captions or subtitled on the dvd nor the option to put them there. and on the main main there is a option that is unelectable and its name "trailer" so i'm not to worried about that ha. this was my quick little over view of it before I have watched the dvd.

I'm not surprised. A lot of DVDs with that type of budget are not captioned. This sucks. I guess I'll pick up a book. Thanks.

I watched it and it seems useful mostly for people like me who are just getting started out. I didn't see any real information that would be useful to more advanced breeders.