Anyone in here in texas?:D

Looking for a breeder somewhat close to stephenville/ granbury that I could learn from,

Have you looked in our "Regional Forums" section yet? It's at the very bottom of the forum page. You can always PM people you find in there. I think most people are pretty good about posting in there at least once. Even if you don't find a breeder close to you someone else in the area might know of one.

I'm from the Houston area and I know several from the San Antonio area. I'm not sure I know of many from the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Hmmm well DFW is roughly 100 miles from where I am, I found a corn snake breeder here in stephenville but no pythons :/

Is there something specific you wanted to learn? Most of us here on the forums can help with a lot of things! We just aren't close! But then again, that's the joy of forums.

Well I have two right now, both male. One 6 months one year and 6 months. I'm really looking for a breeder so I can kind of get some hands on experience before I dive head first into breeding. Learn all the ins and outs.. Really the more knowledge the better!

I'm not sure if you'll be able to locate a breeder that's close to you that really has the time to teach you one-on-one like an apprentice. Most of us small-time breeders have school, work, and other commitments. Most of us just learned by doing lots of research - this forum is a great resource! Use it!

Take a look at the following links to start off. Hopefully these will spur on some questions. Feel free to post on here and use the "search" function to find threads about your questions you might have.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Breeding-FAQs
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...gs-to-consider
http://www.worldofballpythons.com/ (use this to learn about morphs, genetics, etc.)
http://www.ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding.html
http://www.jkobylkareptiles.com/pdfs...hedule_Doc.pdf
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ndom/Chart.jpg

I agree with BH. I've been reading all kinds of forum posts(questions) as well as a couple how-to pages by breeders. Also YouTube videos are full of information. Just from research I feel I'm ready to build my rack, raise my snakes, and breed them. It's all about controlling all the variables that you can. Other than that it's all up to the snakes themselves.

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Originally Posted by Tannerrrtx

Well I have two right now, both male. One 6 months one year and 6 months. I'm really looking for a breeder so I can kind of get some hands on experience before I dive head first into breeding. Learn all the ins and outs.. Really the more knowledge the better!

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Though I completely understand wanting to learn and get some hands on experience with the animals and breeding, I doubt you will find someone willing. Nothing against you or anyone else and hopefully this doesn't come across as me being a jerk, but many hobbyists/collectors and breeders have $10's if not $100's of thousands of dollars invested in their collections let alone the time and sacrifices that we all have put in. So before trying to get a "mentor" I would recommend getting to know other breeders for a period of time and becoming friends with them, then they may be nice enough to show you their collection and help teach you in the way you are looking for.

Unfortunately there is a risk when someone opens the doors to their home/collection to a random person, and there have been more than a few cases of people having animals stolen from them.

Since it seems like you are really just getting started the best way to start learning is online thru forums like this, there are a ton of great videos on youtube you can watch and talking to breeders at shows.

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Originally Posted by C&H Exotic Morphs

Though I completely understand wanting to learn and get some hands on experience with the animals and breeding, I doubt you will find someone willing. Nothing against you or anyone else and hopefully this doesn't come across as me being a jerk, but many hobbyists/collectors and breeders have $10's if not $100's of thousands of dollars invested in their collections let alone the time and sacrifices that we all have put in. So before trying to get a "mentor" I would recommend getting to know other breeders for a period of time and becoming friends with them, then they may be nice enough to show you their collection and help teach you in the way you are looking for.

Unfortunately there is a risk when someone opens the doors to their home/collection to a random person, and there have been more than a few cases of people having animals stolen from them.

Since it seems like you are really just getting started the best way to start learning is online thru forums like this, there are a ton of great videos on youtube you can watch and talking to breeders at shows.

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This is great advice. Most breeders operate out of their homes, so you aren't just asking them to let you visit a retail-type location. I have let most of my friends see/handle my collection, and I have been granted access to some amazing animals in turn, but that was after a personal relationship was developed. There is soooo much you can learn through reading, posting, PMing, and talking to people at shows, and all of these things together will help you sort through what works best for you, not just what one individual's recipe is.

That's pretty much what I'm lookin for, simply a breeder who would like to go to the bar and have a couple beers. And yes the site is wonderful, y'all actually have saved one of my pythons lives. And it is very useful in searches. But it lacks a personal kinda feel I guess? I'm not sure how to put it

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Originally Posted by Tannerrrtx

That's pretty much what I'm lookin for, simply a breeder who would like to go to the bar and have a couple beers. And yes the site is wonderful, y'all actually have saved one of my pythons lives. And it is very useful in searches. But it lacks a personal kinda feel I guess? I'm not sure how to put it

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Totally understand. Just keep haunting the shows and see which breeders you get along with best. Invite said folks out for a beer after the show. :)

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Originally Posted by Tannerrrtx

That's pretty much what I'm lookin for, simply a breeder who would like to go to the bar and have a couple beers. And yes the site is wonderful, y'all actually have saved one of my pythons lives. And it is very useful in searches. But it lacks a personal kinda feel I guess? I'm not sure how to put it

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I'll be at the NARBC Arlington in August. I know it's a bit far for you, but I'm coming from Houston ;) (four hour drive for me). You should hit me up and maybe we can walk the show together? I'll be looking to buy a couple of animals (if something catches my eye) and I can walk you through the process I take.

sounds good man, give me a warning when it gets close

There's also the Lone Star Reptile Expos, also in Arlington. The next one is July 13-14. Those are smaller shows, which would give you an opportunity to really talk to the breeders. Most of those folks are local to the dfw area and they are all so friendly! Well, the ones I have chatted with, at least!

ill be in alabama that week. damn.

Bummer! The next one of those is in October, but if you're going to wait until then you might as well go to Repticon in Ennis. That's also in Oct.

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Originally Posted by kameo37

Bummer! The next one of those is in October, but if you're going to wait until then you might as well go to Repticon in Ennis. That's also in Oct.

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I like repticon Ennis. They have hots there and I love to look at all the hots.

Ennis is a cute little town, too. You can go to the little cafe in the downtown area...anything fried you could ever want! They also have the Galaxy Drive-In Movie place! It's cool!

I am in the same boat as the OP. I am wanting to see a rack setup in person to decide what to build myself. It is a big investment to breed BPs so I want to make sure I am doing everything I can the right way because mistakes or simply missing something can be costly. I can completely agree with previous statements about opening your door to complete strangers is a great way to lose a collection. So I do not blame breeders for not being able to show noobs how they operate first hand.