Pastel Ball Python Yes, No, Somewhat?

Hey all,

First time ball python owner and poster! Been lurking the site hard the last few weeks but I had a question and would love if a experienced breeder would help me out. ;)

So this is my BP Creamer.... is he a pastel, normal, or something else? Any insight is greatly appreciated might breed him at some point so I want to know exactly what im dealing with to help control what I get from the offspring.

-Age = 2-3 years
-Shed = 1 week before pics were taken
-Sold to me as a pastel
- eyes, belly, and pattern look good to me but he seems dark?

http://imgur.com/adTsrtK
http://imgur.com/qvMWXj4
http://imgur.com/s0yULTO
http://imgur.com/jrYJQ3e
http://imgur.com/MJQTlwY

THANKS

Pastel. :gj:

Thats a Pastel. Just a dark one...


Http://www.BCBallPythons.com
Http://www.facebook.com/bcballpythons

Yep dark pastel...

thanks for the quick answers. Now let me ask you this, do you think its worth it to breed him with a high end killer bee? I love what they produce but will the darkness of creamer make the offspring dark? some all?

Male pastels are cheap i would find a nicer one to breed with.

Thanks for the advise. Why are the males cheaper? Do the offspring's traits more depend on what the female is? Like would it be better to go for a high end male killer and a nice pastel female?

I will most likely be breeding creamer (for a few reasons). Don't need them to be stellar but want them to be nice so I can sell...

Unfortunately, since everybody and their grandmother breeds pastels, they are fairly cheap. Finding a high quality one will take a great deal of time and effort, and you will pay more for a top notch animal than a so-so one.

I looked for my ideal pastel for three years before finding a mostly suitable female that I am willing to hold on to until such time as I can find a nicer one.

Both parents contribute to the offspring, so by buying the best of both you can find, you can make babies to be proud of. Far too many people just pair whatever to whatever to make morphs as quickly as possible to make money. People who take the time to find and buy the best examples of any particular snake and then breed to make the offspring even better are harder to find, but well worth the effort to locate and learn from. There will always be a market for cheap yes, but there will also always be a market for quality.

Gale

This would be a cool longer term project if you like the idea of recessive

http://www.worldofballpythons.com/mo...pastel-spider/

you'd still get some nice hets in your first breeding.

That's a interesting morph! Still not sure what I want to pair him with yet. I don't really see a problem breeding with him? He eats well has a good temperament and I know hes dark but hes also got a few years. They will usually brown out with age right? Not sure if their is something else wrong with him? Im looking at a very small setup I can only support 2 adults and 8-10 sub adults and because I don't want to get rid of him I will be using him unless your telling me he will produce poor offspring?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mello_newf

Thanks for the advise. Why are the males cheaper? Do the offspring's traits more depend on what the female is? Like would it be better to go for a high end male killer and a nice pastel female?

I will most likely be breeding creamer (for a few reasons). Don't need them to be stellar but want them to be nice so I can sell...

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no genetic reasons, its just that when breeding, you can breed one male to 2 or 3 females. So the females limit how much offspring you get. so breeders are more likely to sell males and to keep females. also it makes sense to get really good males, they are cheaper and when bred to 2 or 3 females the effectivity of the investment is multiplied. its economic / practical reasons, single-gene females and two-gene males are a good way to start with morph breeding, and more females than males. that is just most effective, you get nice offspring, and you can look for really good examples of the morphs while staying within relatively low budget. genetically both parents contribute the same.

EDIT: and in the end, no matter what people say, you can still breed what you want as long as the animals are healthy and good pets.