To breed or not to breed

well this could be my first year of breeding but I'm not sure if I'm rushing or I should wait a while?
I have a CB12 850g male yellow belly (my first) and a CB07 2600g normal female that I purchased about a month ago, she has been bred twice before by her previous owners.
I am just not sure because I have only had her for such a short while I don't want to rush if she's not ready

If you're prepared to care for a bunch of babies (for possibly a long time) and it's something you want to do, why not?

oh yeah I am definitely in this for the long haul I was hoping to have another female yellow belly ready but she is still underweight that's the reason for getting a female breeder, I have a few other morphs in the pipeline but they are all too young at the moment.

yellowbelly to normal is not an attractive breeding. you would only get yellowbellys and normals. and thats exactly the kind of stuff the market is over-saturated with. prices for single-gene basic morphs that do not look impressive on their own have tanked and are getting closer and closer to the price of normals, and yellowbelly is one of these genes that shines in combos (ivory, superstripe, highway, puma) but on its own its not impressive at all.

that being said, of course you could try. age and weight for both are totally fine for breeding. chances that it works out are good. you just need an incubator and a hatchling rack, and the baby BPs you hatch wont be of much help to recoup that investment.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by weston1

oh yeah I am definitely in this for the long haul I was hoping to have another female yellow belly ready but she is still underweight that's the reason for getting a female breeder, I have a few other morphs in the pipeline but they are all too young at the moment.

---

breed ivory to yellowbelly :) that would make sense. or something like a triple gene male to your normal and yellowbelly females.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

yellowbelly to normal is not an attractive breeding. you would only get yellowbellys and normals. and thats exactly the kind of stuff the market is over-saturated with. prices for single-gene basic morphs that do not look impressive on their own have tanked and are getting closer and closer to the price of normals, and yellowbelly is one of these genes that shines in combos (ivory, superstripe, highway, puma) but on its own its not impressive at all.

that being said, of course you could try. age and weight for both are totally fine for breeding. chances that it works out are good. you just need an incubator and a hatchling rack, and the baby BPs you hatch wont be of much help to recoup that investment.

---

Like most morphs, it all depends on the individual...I've seen some killer looking plain 'ol yellowbellys...

well I have a male king pin and female pewter that I'm growing up for next year but as this is my first time breeding I would like to get some first hand experience and if any mistakes are made I don't loose higher value genes in the process.
I wasn't sure though if it was the right time for me to start the breeding process after only having the normal for a month?

Never breed an animal unless you are capable and prepared to care for all of the animals you may produce. That being said, it can be beneficial to breed something a bit `low impact" to begin with to get a feel for the whole thing. I bred a Pastel het OG to a 66% het OG my first time out, we got 9 healthy ones 5 normals and 4 Pastels(she didn't prove out) and was able to re-home all but the one we decided to keep. It was an amazing opportunity to get some experience before I went out and invested in some "higher impact" stock. Just watch the market and don't make anything you can't care for believing that you will be able to sell it. My first thoughts when breeding this year were of preparing for the potential long term additions to my collection. Once that is taken care of, have at it and have fun.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sho220

Like most morphs, it all depends on the individual...I've seen some killer looking plain 'ol yellowbellys...

---

I've seen some killer looking plain 'ol normals that make most yellowbellys look quite shabby ;)

for me, yellowbellys are het for awesome. they really dont do much on their own. on its own, fire is sooooo much better. even most pastels do not do anything for me on their own.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by weston1

well I have a male king pin and female pewter that I'm growing up for next year but as this is my first time breeding I would like to get some first hand experience and if any mistakes are made I don't loose higher value genes in the process.
I wasn't sure though if it was the right time for me to start the breeding process after only having the normal for a month?

---

Please quarantine all new additions before attempting to breed or even introduce new additions to your existing collection.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

I've seen some killer looking plain 'ol normals that make most yellowbellys look quite shabby ;)

for me, yellowbellys are het for awesome. they really dont do much on their own. on its own, fire is sooooo much better. even most pastels do not do anything for me on their own.

---

Different strokes for different folks...nothing wrong with hatching out some of these...:)


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps0ba01c65.jpg

Of course quarantine is a must even though the female has come from a good friend of mine.
I was caught out when I went to a reptile show and came back with a corn snake that had mites I had to treat my whole collection as a preventative measure. (Lesson learned)
I wouldn't want anything serious to happen to my collection just because I got impatient

I'm sure there are people who will disagree with what I'm about to write, and that's totally fine and reasonable.

I would be less worried about strict qt measures if this animal came from a trusted friend who's husbandry you have witnessed first hand. Frankly if you've been around this guy's collection regularly and then gone home, any pathogens present at his place likely traveled home on your clothes and shoes and your animals have already been exposed. And unless you've been qt'ing the female in a separate building and changing your clothing and showering every time you've handled her, anything she's carrying has probably made it's way to your collection. I'm not saying she has something, or that your snakes are all going to get sick, just that the risk in this case (assuming your friend has high standards) is likely low.

There is a sliding scale IMO as to what constitutes the appropriate procedure with a new animal, and it largely depends on the previous owner. I'm going to be a LOT more cautious with an animal I get online or at a show, than from a local friend who's collection (and how he maintains it) I've seen personally and who rarely brings in new animals themselves.

As far as your breeding question goes, as long as you are prepared to incubate, house, and feed hatchlings, and you do all the research you can into potential problems there's no reason not to try it. No it's not the most amazing pairing in a genetic sense, but there is a market for normals and yb's. Not everyone is looking for a 5 gene uber morph, and normals happen to be equally as good at sitting in a tank and being someone's pet as anything else.

As long as you have everything prepared and you have done all your research then go for it. As far as a yellowbelly to a normal as a first pairing, I think that makes sense. You have to start somewhere and your more likely to loss your first clutch than a clutch later on after you have more experience. My first year the only female I had ready was the normal. I wanted to get some experience before the morph girls were ready, but I didn't want to buy a "powerful" male a year early, so I picked up a proven breeder pastel. What I learned that year has helped me with more desirable pairings in later years.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

yellowbelly to normal is not an attractive breeding. you would only get yellowbellys and normals. and thats exactly the kind of stuff the market is over-saturated with. prices for single-gene basic morphs that do not look impressive on their own have tanked and are getting closer and closer to the price of normals, and yellowbelly is one of these genes that shines in combos (ivory, superstripe, highway, puma) but on its own its not impressive at all.

that being said, of course you could try. age and weight for both are totally fine for breeding. chances that it works out are good. you just need an incubator and a hatchling rack, and the baby BPs you hatch wont be of much help to recoup that investment.

---

I disagree, I and others have some amazing YB's, mine are Bling like high orange that on their own are super cool, we should never lose sight of how amazing these single gene animals are because of value.

To the OP go ahead with your breeding make some female YB's for yourself, then down the road you produce an Ivory which by the way is an outstanding Bp.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by emilio

i disagree, i and others have some amazing yb's, mine are bling like high orange that on their own are super cool, we should never lose sight of how amazing these single gene animals are because of value.

To the op go ahead with your breeding make some female yb's for yourself, then down the road you produce an ivory which by the way is an outstanding bp.

---

x2

First of all, the pair you are thinking about is fine.
What I disagree with is the idea that you might lose some eggs so do a less valuable pairing.
You set everything up and make sure you are ready, temperature is right, racks are set for babies
and breeders up to size and mature enough. then breed your power male whatever that is.
Anything can happen no matter how many clutches you've hatched.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sho220

Different strokes for different folks...nothing wrong with hatching out some of these...:)


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps0ba01c65.jpg

---

That plain old yb can sit in my racks anytime! Smokin!

Just to add to the conversation about single gene morphs. I have seen some pretty washed out looking multi-gene combos over the 2 yrs I have been keeping BP's. IMO there aren't that many 3-4 r even 5 gene morphs that are more attractive than the 1-2 gene stuff. I have a Cinnamon male in my racks that I pull out and show friends more than any multi-gene I own. It is a shame that the less genetically complex stuff is so undervalued.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/20/my7e8aha.jpg we'll I've put my male yellow belly to my normal female and as you can see they seem to be getting on fine.
I think this will give me confidence with future breedings and the experience I feel I need to enjoy this hobby even more than I do already( which I didn't think was possible!).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/20/t...l/my7e8aha.jpg we'll I've put my male yellow belly to my normal female and as you can see they seem to be getting on fine.
I think this will give me confidence with future breedings and the experience I feel I need to enjoy this hobby even more than I do already( which I didn't think was possible!).

---

congratulations, looks good :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by theNotoriousDUD

Just to add to the conversation about single gene morphs. I have seen some pretty washed out looking multi-gene combos over the 2 yrs I have been keeping BP's. IMO there aren't that many 3-4 r even 5 gene morphs that are more attractive than the 1-2 gene stuff. I have a Cinnamon male in my racks that I pull out and show friends more than any multi-gene I own. It is a shame that the less genetically complex stuff is so undervalued.

---

its a matter of taste.

i just dont want morphs to look too much like normals. thats my taste. when a person that doesnt know much about ball pythons is totally blown away by the optics, mission accomplished. and the absolutely worst thing that can happen to a morph is to be mistaken for a normal. so for me, many of the basic morphs are just "het for awesome". for me, morphs are supposed to be magnificent. not more, not less, just, you know.... magnificent.

Everything looks good! Gotta start with something. I know some people put down the single gene to normal breeding but for a first pairing there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You have to learn how to do it right somehow, and a loss of a low end clutch is much less devastating than a loss of a triple genes to a quad gene :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by weston1

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/20/my7e8aha.jpg we'll I've put my male yellow belly to my normal female and as you can see they seem to be getting on fine.
I think this will give me confidence with future breedings and the experience I feel I need to enjoy this hobby even more than I do already( which I didn't think was possible!).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

---

Looking Good!

God I can imagine having my Pewter Clown x Blade het Clown clutch go south on me. I am glad that I did the low impact pairing first so I could work out the bugs. My first I had high incubation temps the 1st week (92-93degrees) I spent the next 43 days on eggshells(sic) til they pipped. All came out well but they were a few days ahead of schedule. To the OP good luck and enjoy the miracle, there is nothing that compares to finding your girl wrapped around that first clutch. (except for seeing the first little head sticking out to say hello.)

Well just a quick update , she finally laid a beautiful clutch of 7 fertile eggs weighing 611grams and no slugs, now to play the waiting game to see them hatch. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/22/abu7arag.jpg


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk