What morphs should I start with the first time I breed

I am going to be breeding within the next few years but I want to know what morphs would produce very beautiful hatchlings

Welcome to the site!

Well it depends on what you like and how much you are willing to spend.

Here is a link to a list of most of the morphs/combos with pictures:

http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/

And here is a link to a genetics calculator so you can see what the potential outcome of a pairing would be:

http://www.worldofballpythons.com/wizard/

Morphs that I want to work with include:

Pastel
Spider
Mojave
Lesser
Yellowbelly
Fire
Black Pastel
Enchi
Clown
Pied
Hypo

Any combination of these morphs is pretty much guaranteed to have some good looking offspring.

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

I am going to be breeding within the next few years but I want to know what morphs would produce very beautiful hatchlings

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In all honesty, you have to decide what you like. What I mean by this is if you're not totally happy with what you're breeding then you may not enjoy it as much. You have to figure what morphs you like and what kind of snakes you want to produce then go from there. Also another thing to consider is that what you want and what other people want may differ.

For instance I don't really like pieds or albinos, so I won't breed them. Unfortunately for me, that's what sells. I'm breeding because I want some morphs that I don't have thousands to fork out and it'll be a neat experience. In the meantime I'll sell the babies I don't hold back to cover hobby costs and possibly even profit a bit.

You have to go for what you want though my friend. They have awesome morphs and genes and it all varies depending on what you're looking to spend.
Pastel, Spider, Pinstripe, Black Pastel, Cinnamon, Mojave, Lesser, Butter, Fire, Calico, Enchi and the list goes on.

Go with your favorite morphs and then work from there, play around with the genetic wizard to see what you need to make other morphs that you like. Hope this helps.

Ok and I've owned a ball for 2 years now and I know a lot about how the breeding works and overall care but I'm not sure if I have enough experience to breed, I'm just not sure about this I'm not in this for the money at all

All the more reason to just work with what you like. Are there any particular combos you like? We can help suggest pairings etc. That would be the most successful to achieve the combo.

This site has tons or really experienced BP breeders that will be more than willing to answer any questions you have on the whole breeding process. Everybody has to start somewhere.

Well I really love how spider x pastel looks but my friends call me stupid because I want to get into breeding with only 2 years experience with balls and I've never heard of any successful breeders who started breeding with that little experience and I wanted to know if you have had any experience selling on king snake.com

kingsnake.com is a good place to sell reptiles. This site has a for sale/trade section as well that you might find useful.

There are plenty of people that get into breeding early and are successful. As long as you put the time and effort into making sure you know what you are doing you should be fine.

There are a few things that are the baseline for being able to breed:

1. Having a male/female pair big enough/old enough to breed
2. Have proper caging for potential offspring
3. Be financially be able to feed/take care of the offspring until they can be sold or kept. (Remember that you aren't guaranteed to sell any of them)
4. Be familiar with the breeding cycle as well as general BP husbandry

If you meet those criteria then you can probably learn/prepare enough in the next few months to breed this season.

Pastel x Spider is a great first pairing. The genetics are simple and the odds are pretty good that you will hit a bumblebee. Do you already have a pastel and spider BP pair old enough to breed?

I currently do not have a pair I currently own a normal ball but I am looking for baby spider and pastel and I am going to raise them up for two years until the male is 700-800g and the femal is up to 1500g and I think with feeding every week that should be accomplished in about 2 years

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

I currently do not have a pair I currently own a normal ball but I am looking for baby spider and pastel and I am going to raise them up for two years until the male is 700-800g and the femal is up to 1500g and I think with feeding every week that should be accomplished in about 2 years

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2-3 years is pretty normal to get a female up to breeding weight. By that time I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be ready to breed.

Well I know this is way in the future but when I get into breeding would it be better to have a store where people can come in and pick their first pet or just have a online store and ship to people and yes I know this is way in the future and also I'm going to use tubs but how do you keep humidity in them while using aspen and just having a water bowl in there

Most BP sales these days go through the internet. There is a company called ship your reptiles that specializes in shipping reptiles. They take the hardest part of selling online out of the equation.

http://www.shipyourreptiles.com

Tubs hold humidity in very well, in most cases humidity is actually too high and holes need to be drilled in the tubs to let some out.

Tubs on the other had are harder to heat than glass tanks or professionally made reptile cages.

Here is a thread on setting up a tub:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...e-Basics-*DUW*

The air temperature inside a tub as well as the cool side of a tub is determined by the temperature of the room that the tub is in. This means that the room needs to be heat to 75+ F (80 F would be best) year round.

How are the tubs harder to heat and why is the humidity usually to high doesn't aspen absorb water so wouldn't that take humidity away from the air

And I really love the tubs better than glass because they are cheaper and it gives the balls more privacy which doesn't make them insecure and plus more space for all the baby's the balls will have even though average is 6 eggs

Aspen is pretty humidity neutral, it doesn't really effect humidity at all. The reason why glass tanks are so hard to maintain humidity in is because of their screen tops (high airflow) and heat lamps that burn off the moisture.

As I said they are hard to heat because the cools side/air temperature of the cage is dependent on the air temperature of the room they are in. Heating an entire room to 75-80 F can be difficult and costly.

The hot side of the cage is pretty easy. All you need is an UTH or heat tape and a good quality thermostat.

For more info on cage heating read through this thread:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

And I really love the tubs better than glass because they are cheaper and it gives the balls more privacy which doesn't make them insecure and plus more space for all the baby's the balls will have even though average is 6 eggs

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I not trying to turn you away from tubs. I don't like glass cages very much, but they do have their place in the hobby. All I'm trying to do is make sure you understand the +'s and -'s of tubs so you don't get yourself into trouble down the road.

Oh I thought you meant heating the hot side was hard sorry my misunderstanding

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

Oh I thought you meant heating the hot side was hard sorry my misunderstanding

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It's no problem at all, I should have mentioned that the hot side was easy in the previous post.

And I know I have a glass tank now and it's hard as hell to keep the humidity up so when I get my breeding baby's I'm switching to tubs, plus they are easier to clean and do you know how they sell aspen for $16 a bag well at my local Walmart they had a huge brick of aspen for $3 I know where I'm buying my bedding

Oh and it's ok I know you are not trying to turn me away from tubs I have actually been recommended tubs by many people but I never believed them but thank you for all your tips and pointers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

Oh and it's ok I know you are not trying to turn me away from tubs I have actually been recommended tubs by many people but I never believed them but thank you for all your tips and pointers

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It's no problem at all. There are so many possibilities these days.

There are the glass reptile cages my zoo-med and exoterra:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo

Professionally made reptile cages like the ones I use made by animal plastics:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...f.jpg~original

http://www.apcages.com

Fully enclosed racks like these:

Animal Plastics: http://www.apcages.com
reptile basics: http://www.reptilebasics.com/reptile-rack-systems
cserpents: http://www.cserpents.com/C_Serpents/HOME.html

Large Metal Frame Racks:

ARS: http://www.arscaging.com/reptilesys.html
Freedom Breeder: http://www.freedombreeder.com

Among many other choices. Finding what works best for you can be a big task.

Bumblebees are awesome and a good start. We hoped to hatch some this year but our pastel passed. Something to consider is the nicer base morphs you get the better babies you will hatch. If you buy a brown pastel you are more likely to get brown babies. Take some time to really look into the morphs you like and decided what you like in that morph. Then go for your ideal and don't settle for a cheaper example.

Also just to throw it out there, maybe look at a spider female and a super pastel male? Or vice versa. With one being a super pastel you would be looking at 50% pastels, 50% bees as opposed to a pastel and a spider hatching 25% normals, 25% pastels, 25% spiders and 25% bees. Just a thought!

My first long term project is to get 75% spider super mojave here's a link http://www.worldofballpythons.com/mo...-super-mojave/

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

My first long term project is to get 75% spider super mojave here's a link http://www.worldofballpythons.com/mo...-super-mojave/

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Its gonna take a few years

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

Ok and I've owned a ball for 2 years now and I know a lot about how the breeding works and overall care but I'm not sure if I have enough experience to breed, I'm just not sure about this I'm not in this for the money at all

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No one gets experience until they actually do it... I have not bred any snakes yet... but I bred German Shepherd Dogs, due to life circumstances I don't any longer, but I had a "mentor" when I first started..she was a well established breeder of AKC show dogs..
I imagine there are many reputable breeders of these fine snakes that would take newcomers under their wing.

The ones in it for the money worry about new competition... the ones who love the animals realize without the new breeders the breeding of quality animals would cease.

Just my thoughts

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dawson101409

My first long term project is to get 75% spider super mojave here's a link http://www.worldofballpythons.com/mo...-super-mojave/

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That's a very nice pick, and like others have stated bumblebee's are a great first double gene morph. I have a male and he's gorgeous.

Yes bumblebees are amazing but I just adore what the baby's look like when you breed two bumblebees and get a killer bee they are just amazing

HEy if you guys have any projects you want me to look at post them ill take anything.

The great thing about ball pythons in the variety. Go to world of ball pythons and see what you like the best. Then look at what genes it takes to produce it. Then if you can afford the snakes that have those genes you will know what to buy and breed.

Just so you know, that specific spider super mojave isn't what they always look like. I have a male super mojave that I didn't even know was a spider as well until he popped out a mojave spider baby last year. The snake looks just like a super mojave. No different head pattern in the grey head, nothing visible under black light. Just something to consider.

I agree with the others, breed the morphs you like. I'm going to be working with pastel, spider, and fire because they are affordable and I like all of their combos, especially wanting to produce a fire bee.

But albino, pied, enchi, and yellowbelly are also very popular base morphs that won't cost you thousands to obtain.

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Originally Posted by Toolarmy1

Just so you know, that specific spider super mojave isn't what they always look like. I have a male super mojave that I didn't even know was a spider as well until he popped out a mojave spider baby last year. The snake looks just like a super mojave. No different head pattern in the grey head, nothing visible under black light. Just something to consider.

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Yes I know it won't look exactly like that I'm not stupid