Island of Misfits: What would you do?

Within the past three weeks, I have gone from zero snakes to four. The first snake I purchased was a male Mojave. At the time, I wasn’t really thinking of prospective breeding or the future; I just wanted a non-normal Ball Python that wouldn’t be too expensive, and I happened to stumble across a Mojave that I thought was beautiful. Since that day three long weeks ago, I have come into the possession of one normal female that is currently going through scale rot treatment [a rescue - given to me as a Granite, but I doubt it’s genetic], one Lesser female [because I personally LOVE anything mixed with Leser], and a Bumble Bee female [that was purchased mainly due to my much younger sister (12.5 year difference) wanted me to get one that could be "hers" when she gets bigger]. I honestly have no idea what direction I’m going in or what I want to do with this mix. They’re all fairly basic. I feel like I kicked myself in the butt with the Mojo male though and am limiting myself from more appealing morphs. I do have the option of selling him for more than what I paid (including shipping), but I’m not sure I can emotionally detach myself from him.

I don’t want to go overboard and get too many too quickly (at least to begin with). Therefore, my question is would you:

Option 1) Go ahead and sell the male Mojo and purchase a two-gene male (one of the genes being Mojave),

Option 2) Sell the male Mojo and purchase a two-gene male (neither gene being Mojo),

Option 3) Keep him, breed him, and hold back a double gene male from him and some females, or

Option 4) Keep him and purchase a second male (two-gene).

If you did chose to keep him and had the option of purchasing one more female, what would buy with a limit of $600 max?

I’d genuinely love to hear what your opinions are, what you personally would do, and whether or not my mix of snakes is a wreck. I know it’s about personal preference, but I’d love to hear YOUR personal plan if you had this mix of snakes. Thanks!

Why not get a female Mojave for your male?
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/08/ugy2yza3.jpg

Sell the mojo and buy an enchi combo. ;)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rob

Why not get a female Mojave for your male?

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Are you saying for the purpose of making BELs? If so, couldn't that be achieved with my Lesser female, or are you saying that for the purpose of having a "super" gene snake for later breeding?

Dr. DooLittle: I do love those enchi morphs, but most of them are quite pricey :tears:! Just looking at Pastel Enchi males, I'd be looking at around $800. I don't know if I am able/willing to dish out that much for a snake just yet. I also don't really know what to look for in a quality Enchi. Is this a nice one (not my photo)?

http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/w...psd738f230.jpg

Welcome to the wonderful world of Ball Python Addiction. There is no cure. :D

For now, I'd slow down a bit, and see where the ones you have take you. { In theory anyway, who am I to talk, I went from 2 to 20 in about 8 months. }

So, one Mojave male, a Lesser female and a Bumblebee female. Well, as it stands now, you can make mojaves, lessers, pastels, spiders, bumblebees, pastaves, spider mojaves, pastave bees, and BEL's as well as normals. So, that's a lot of potential babies. Of course, the bumblebee female will be the one to produce most of those, breeding to your lesser limits your options a bit more, but then again you get BEL's and those are always in demand.

If you are already attached to the mojave [ nothing wrong with that either, that's why I still have my ugly adult pastel male I'll never breed ], then look at getting another single or double gene male to compliment your lesser girl, and expand your horizons. Lesser/Fire combos are pretty hot right now, and boy are they amazing to look at. Enchi makes everything better, and Lesser Cinnamons are pretty sweet as well. The combos are pretty much limitless, so pick what appeals to you. Like me, I got into ball pythons to make my own pied. Now that I've accomplished that, I am moving on to see how many pied combos I can make.

Gale

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Originally Posted by Missvan

Are you saying for the purpose of making BELs? If so, couldn't that be achieved with my Lesser female, or are you saying that for the purpose of having a "super" gene snake for later breeding?

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Correct ;)

I love the way the head looks on the super mojos

Patten looks great. I would almost prefer a bit brighter color, but still nice. Pm Freakie_Frog, he is the man for enchi's. Here is my boy, and I think he's a great example-


http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/08/a3arynyr.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/08/ytuqe8u4.jpg

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angllady2: Thank you for the recommendations. It's hard to chose when everything appeals to me! I do agree that I should take it slow and not overwhelm myself by jumping in too quickly. I think I will start looking into Enchi or Fire morphs, as I've heard they are both "brightening" genes. Hopefully I can find a two-gene male that isn't out of the price range I'm hoping to stay in.

DrDooLittle: Your Enchi is gorgeous! Thank you for the heads up on Freakie_Frog. Does he breed them, or does he just know a ton about the morph? I'm not going to lie; I am completely jealous of all of your snakes I've seen you post. It's just not even fair :O. How about you just send me their babies, so that I don't have to worry about the quality of the snake I'm getting! HOT status would be guaranteed!

Aww, thank you! Freakie_Frog knows tons, as well as breeds. That's where my guy came from.

Lol, I will be breeding this year! Good luck on your decision! :)

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If I were in your shoes, here is what I would do:

Sell the Mojave male and purchase a pastave male. I've seen them for $500-$600. You can make BELS/pastaves with your lesser, mojaves/pastels/pastaves with your normal, and killer bees/mojave spiders/killer bee mojaves.

Once you save up some money, buy an enchi female! (that's what I plan on doing!)

DrDooLittle: I meant to ask you, what weight is your Enchi at in that photo? And honestly, if the babies look anything like the parents, I am going to HAVE to purchase one from you - if even only to say I have a DrDooLittle original.

BHReptiles: Thank you for the advice. I think I have a list of a few males now that I'm going to scour the internet for!

angllady2: Yeah, I know I said I'm going to slow down, BUT I may have found a Cinnamon male looking for a new home. That Cinny/Lesser mix you recommended just may happen :D depending on the quality of the Cinnamon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Welcome to the wonderful world of Ball Python Addiction. There is no cure


Gale

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Correct ball pythons are a gateway herp which leads to bigger badder addictions like BOAS!

I like the trio you have. I'd stay with that for now and see where it goes. Maybe keep a couple 2 gene or 3 gene combos females from them if the odds god favors you and save up to buy whatever male is the next big thing once those girls are about to be ready to breed. That seems like the logical thing but then again logic plays a very small part in this addiction. Lol

I would have to double check when I get home, but somewhere between 300-400 grams. And, you're so sweet, thanks. :)

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It would probably be best to stay where you are for a bit and grow on the ones that you have and work out where you really want to go. If you really want to get more just now then I would suggest a firefly male to give you a chance at nuclears with the butter as well as throwing fire and the possibility of killers into the mix with the bee. I am not sure about US prices but they are not so expensive here and would maybe leave enough change to get another inexpensive female, like a cinny, if you look around.

A bit biased here as I LOVE LOVE LOVE mojaves, but you've got a solid trio to start with, and there's nothing wrong with having a snake that doesn't end up "fitting" into your plans (The more I look at my pastel female the less I feel like I'll breed her, but I'll never sell her either).

If you can handle your current snakes ok for a month or more, and feel like you can add more mouths to feed, then go ahead and get another male! There aren't any rules for breeding, so have fun. Enchis are pretty, as are fires. For me personally I'd save up for a recessive pair (male and female visuals) so that you can breed the male to one of your morph females, and if you get a morph het you'll have a female visual to breed him to by the time he's big enough. Axanthics and clowns are my favorites, and pieds are also pretty popular. Hypos make everything pretty

Black pastel mojaves are also super hot!