Breeding For Something Other Than Color?

So we all know that there's no limit in sight to the color and pattern morphs that BP's can produce, but what about going in a different direction... Has any ever heard of, or tried themselves, to breed for size? Think about it, how epic would a 10ft Coral Glow be?

Anyone else think that idea has potential?

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Some people breed for size and like larger Ball Pythons. I personally don't because I like the current average size as is. Not too large, not too small.
Plus, it is their smaller size that is keeping them off Government restriction lists and the Lacey Act. Or at least for now.... Although, I do admit that a 10ft Coral Glow would be an impressive sight.


There is also a locale of Ball Python that gets uber huge. Volta region in Ghana seem to spit out snakes that can get 5000-8000g.

Personally, BPs size is one of their attractive features (at least in my opinion). I think most people who own Balls are happy their snakes aren't 12 feet long. Just a thought..

If you want to get into bigger snakes then I'd suggest Boas or Burmese.

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Yeah, I'll admit I went for a BP because they tend to grow to a smaller size. I wanted a snake but I wanted a manageable snake when it reached adulthood and corn snakes etc didn't interest me. When I saw and handled a BP I just knew it was the snake for me!

I do think a 10ft coral glow would be amazing though! Not sure I would be able to handle it but it would be something amazing to see!

i think for a different size, it makes much sense to just pick a different species.

but there are other interesting aspects people could breed for. like selecting for a nice docile character or for a good feeding response or for health and longevity or for large clutch sizes and good fertility. if people factor these things into their decisions to a degree, BPs may be even better pets in a few decades, like in 30 years or 50 years.

i suspect if its not about color/optics and morph combinations, what people mostly select for is good feeding response and fertility and large healthy clutches.

Breed for size -> 10 foot BP gets out of cage -> BP get banned forever

GG

If I bred for size, it'd be the other way around, for dwarfism. I think a mini ball would be adorable. :3 But it would take quite some time to establish a miniature population with selective breeding (instead of a dwarfism gene).

Like others are saying, I wouldn't breed for larger. While some like larger snakes, the popularity (and legality) of the ball is often based on its manageable size. I do want a larger snake, but for that, I'm looking forward to getting a boid. :3

I agree with the current sentiment on breeding for smaller size. Being the only adult in my home comfortable with snakes(and in an area that I believe has a large snake and venomous prohibition) means that Retic's, Burm's and big Green Anacondas are not likely to ever be in my collection.
Now a Super Dwarf Retic, or a Tiger Python is entirely manageable, I just have to check on the local laws to see if they are acknowledged as separate animals.

What would be interesting though is a selective behaviour breeding program. Selectively breeding the least snappy juveniles. If you get a chance you should check out the Russian experiment on breeding foxes, one group for docile natures another for defensiveness. You could easily mistake the docile foxes for a common dog.

Edit: If you would like a larger BP I would seriously look at Angolans. There are only a few morphs atm so, you would be in on the ground floor and those bead-like scales are just so cool.

Do you have a link to some photos, Raven? I wasn't aware Angolans had any morphs, yet.

I like their size. I remember when I first started researching BPs I thought 4-5 feet was big. Anything bigger and I probably wouldn't of went ahead with getting one. Good size for a starter snake and also a good size for having large collections of them. Now that I have had my male for nearing a year, I don't feel like the size is that big at all. I'm looking to get a RTB here soon if I see something I have I have at the LA expo.

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Originally Posted by Productmur

If I bred for size, it'd be the other way around, for dwarfism. I think a mini ball would be adorable. :3 But it would take quite some time to establish a miniature population with selective breeding (instead of a dwarfism gene).

:3

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With you all the way. BPs are adorable in their own right. But little teeny "mini-balls"??? O.MG. i would looove that! I think tiny balls would be soooo darn cute!
*(wonders if anyone on the forum has some very tiny healthy, but undersized balls?)

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Well, we are pretty sure that size is a polygenetic trait and doesnt function like normal mendelians we are familiar with in the BP world. So the subsaharan or Voltas will take many years to increase morphs sizes. For instance we imported a gravid sub saharan girl which had 11 eggs. Those hatchlings when bred to captive stock (coral glow) should produce animals that are considered 50% subsaharan/volta. You would then have to re-breed back these animals with the orginal normal girl to end up with 75% Voltas that have a morph such as coral glow. This is how retics work and we don't have any evidence that the large trait in BPs works in basic mendelian fashion.

So basically it would all be selective breeding. Problem with this is that there isnt a huge demand for larger BPs and there is a huge demand for the hottest new morph. Now yeah people would like a 8ft Super GHI or something because it produces more eggs but more then likely by the time you get a Super GHI 75% Volta the GHI gene will be relatively cheap.

The dwarfs and superdwarf for retics took off readily because there is a huge demand for smaller retics but they still faced all the non-belief that dwarfs even existed in the first place as many people are still skeptical of Voltas. Once the dwarf retics were established many people now prefer them and only breed SDs. For instance I never plan to own a mainland animal at all, I just plan on working morphs into the Dwarfs and SDs.