Decision to sell?

When I first got Moko he weighed 212 grams , now 6 weeks later he's 246, he's almost 11months old and looking great! I'm considering with a heavy heart to sell him. When I first got him I knew nothing about ball pythons and thought they'd make a great pet, being docile and such. This has proven to be true, they're amazing!! Unfortunately, I'm looking towards the future with plans of two different snakes maybe for breeding. I don't have the housing for three snakes, so it's either sell Moko and raise the female now until she's two, then get the male, or keep my first snake(Moko) and see what happens in the future.
This is a hard decision but a necessary one, three kids, so money and other future plans need to be thought of now. I know this should have been considered earlier, but like many others, the beauty of the bps kinda snuck up on me. He was sold as a male normal but he has some different patterns that point to a possible different line. I just recently had this brought to my attention. Oh, breeding arrangements have been made with a partner for housing the hatchings and splitting the clutch , in case anyone was wondering. Overall, a very hard decision and something for any new bp owner out there thinking about how amazing their brand new bp is, to consider.

To be quite honest, you're going to have a hard time breeding if you can't keep more than 2 snakes - or at least going far with the breeding. I'm not saying you have to keep him -not a dog, here- and being a normal obviously using him as your male is going to be less than wonderful and you're going to spend money feeding him. But I don't see how you're going to be overly successful breeding if you only have room for two snakes, either.

Even with the babies being housed elsewhere, you're going to spend a lot of time either holding back a baby and selling one parent (or two) then raising to breeding size. A LOT of time. Unless you just plan on producing one specific thing indefinitely.

SMH :sigh2:

Well the hatchings I'd have are sold to another breeder, I'd only ever have the one female with differe

Sorry, with different males from different people, like I said , hard decision for me , and I'd have three enclosures not two, one is done, one almost finished and another on the way. Thanks for the input:) I'm sure to think long and hard about it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GregsMoko

Here's my boy! 10 months, 22" 202g He's gorgeous! Never balled, never bit, don't think he knows how to hiss lol

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GregsMoko

Super glad that I chose a ball for a pet.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GregsMoko

I love the coloring on normals. I find the blue hue on them is gorgeous.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GregsMoko

wish I had bought a nice morph female instead but I'll still keep my male ,he's part of our family.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GregsMoko

He's a part of our family and we want him healthy.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GregsMoko

I tend to worry a bit but he is my baby

---

Seems like it didn't take long for the shine to come off that apple...

Hey slim noticed you like talking alot, so here's some advice, when something is a family decision that means a whole family makes it!!! So when this was discussed, my kids and wifes imput may mean more than just how I feel! So go blather your crap to someone else if you don't mind!!! Oh in case you don't quite understand "FAMILY" , it usually means not being narrow minded like you. Twit:mad:

Before this escalates out of hand...my first bp is a normal male, and I plan to keep him with me his entire life. That being said I also have breeding plans with limited space. You say enclosures, like tanks? They tend to take up a lot of room. Solution, invest in a rack system or make one yourself. They are great! And if you like being able to see your snakes pick your fave and keep one enclosure! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slim

Seems like it didn't take long for the shine to come off that apple...

---

my thought exactly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slim

Seems like it didn't take long for the shine to come off that apple...

---

This. Right here. Sadly, it's not the first time I've seen it happen. =/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GregsMoko

Hey slim noticed you like talking alot, so here's some advice, when something is a family decision that means a whole family makes it!!! So when this was discussed, my kids and wifes imput may mean more than just how I feel! So go blather your crap to someone else if you don't mind!!! Oh in case you don't quite understand "FAMILY" , it usually means not being narrow minded like you. Twit:mad:

---

Must have hit a nerve. Exactly where I was aiming. These are not throw away toys. Calling it a heart wrenching decision, does not change that fact. Reach down, sack up and live up to the responsibility you took on when you brought this animal home.

Or, sell it and move on...that's a great lesson to teach your FAMILY.

And, this should go without saying, but if you bring this issue to a public forum, especially after your previous glowing comments about this animal, did you really expect not to get some negative feed back? What was that sound? Was that a bubble bursting?

My first is also a normal male. He was sold/adopted to me as a female, but turned out to be a male. I have thought about rehoming him (not selling, I don't think he's worth a whole lot), but I really do love his personality, and my husband really likes him (he's not all morph crazy like me, he just likes the snake). I think I will just keep him, I'd hate for him to end up in neglectful hands, and at least I know he's safe with me. I intend to build a reptile room in my unfinished basement at some point and build a larger rack (I have a teeny 3 bin "rack" now as well as a few tanks), so he'll just be one of my non-breeding pets. He's larger than yours (1000g), and doesn't eat very much anymore anyway.

^^^ This same exact thing happened to me as well. My first snake I bought ,while I was very inexperienced with snakes and morphs, was supposed to be a yellow belly female snake, turned out to be a normal male. It has totally devastated my breeding plans but I still love my sweet normal boy whose name will stay Eva forever. Now he's my educational animal that I use to introduce new people that have never seen or held a snake. He so sweet and calm he always gets people to think twice about how snakes are portrayed. Breeding won't go out of style anytime soon so you still have plenty of time to get the snake you need to get started. I'm just going to take my time and make everything right and perfect and things should fall into place :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

if you really want to breed, and recombine genes and work on projects, you will need quite a lot of BPs. and between all these BPs, it should be easy enough to just keep your first pet BP and your second pet BP. breeders of all sizes most often also have a few mascots, or some BPs they just keep as a pet, and they often keep other species as pets.

and if you are limited to two BPs, and have another breeder that will take all the hatchlings wholesale, well, its difficult to improve in these circumstances. so you might as well just keep the ones you have, and pair them for an occasional clutch of eggs. with two BPs, i dont see much need to rehome one and replace it with another one. i hope that doesnt sound rude, but with or without replacing/upgrading the two BPs you have, with just one female breeder you are not going to get far anyway.

the real problem seems to be that you are limited to two BPs maximum. you want to breed, with that constraint, and so you think replacing the male with a genetically more powerful one will do the trick. but the problem is not the male, the problem is that you are limited to a maximum of one clutch per season. from that perspective, replacing the BP you and your family know best and are most attached to, just to improve the genetics of that potential one clutch per year, seems futile.

of course its your decision. and dont care too much what other people here may say, dont let it get to you. but you cannot turn a small rowing boat into a yacht by attaching some sails. whats really in the way of your dream of being a BP breeder is not the BPs you currently have, its the limitation to two BPs.

i hope that helps.

I gotta say, I agree with Slim and Pythonfriend on this one.My first ball was a male that I purchased for my 16th birthday, 7 years later and I still have him. He may be just a normal but I will NEVER sell him because he is my boy, he was the one that started it all. I may not have any breeding projects with him, and he won’t be making me 1000’s of dollars with the babies he produces but I don’t care.

Coming from another person with aspirations to be a breeder, you should really invest in a rack system instead of having them each in tanks. Not only is it a huge space saver (which I’m very limited to), but it’s healthier for them too.

I have a normal I will never get rid of just because she's what got me back in BP's. Even if I decide to breed someday I will never breed her since she was a Craigslist rescue and I have no idea how old she is etc. If you're worried about space get or build a rack. Mine are all in tanks right now and I'm soon going to be switching to a rack system. I don't think rehoming your BP is the answer if the only considerations are space. There are better ways to go about conserving the space you have.

I have a pinstripe male who is my first ball python. I don't really plan on ever breeding him (I'll have that gene in a three combo male in the future). He'll spend the rest of his life round and happy with me though. He's the one that gave me that spark and passion. I may eventually do a breeding with a two/three gene female in the future just to keep a female from him to carry on his legacy in my heart I guess.

My orginal normal is 17 years old. Im confidant she will make it to at least 25 no problem. She has been with me most of my childhood and my whole adult life. This is the kind of comitment these animals are.

If you're seriously considering getting rid of your first snake then maybe you should. These are animals that deserve loving owners who are willing to commit decades to caring for them. But do us all a favor and dont get any more. These animals deserve better. We may talk about "collecting" them like their stamps or something, but the reality is that they are living creatures that deserve compassion and respect, not something you can toss aside when you get bored or something "cooler" comes along

Sent from my SM-G730V using Tapatalk 2