I am indecisive

I have a problem and it is thus: I don’t care for either GHIs or Mojaves, but I like the combos they make with each other, and other snakes that I already have planned to eventually add to the collection. Lemme back this up a bit.

I want to get into breeding ball pythons, but I am not a person of great financial elasticity, so I’d rather focus on talking my time, picking a few, high quality snakes of basic morphs that I like and who’s combos I want to start with, and build my way up. Focus on good quality snakes over trying for the latest, greatest thing. Dropping a whole lot of money on a snake that’s only eeeh to me, even if it’s further down the line when I possibly have more money, doesn’t seem like the best option, but on the other hand, the babies that could come out might be worth it.

idk this is probably more a personal problem than one anyone can answer. I’m just gonna sit here, and wallow in my indecision, and make plaintive whining noises at the pretty scaly babies.

Save up and buy a GHI Mojave. :)

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Originally Posted by dr del

Save up and buy a GHI Mojave. :)

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ngl I'd like a GHI Pastave or a GHI Mojave Spider (or if I get a Pastave it'd be a bee instead I guess!)

But then there's stuff like the Fury or Inscpetion or Superfly GHI. Hot holy dangarang, I waaaaant!

I'm having the same problem with gravels too. The base gravel is meh but highways are oh my lord yes.

And then me being me I want to throw everything on pieds because that is my true addiction.

What do you have in you collection at the moment?

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Originally Posted by Bigfish1975

What do you have in you collection at the moment?

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I do not currently have any snakes, but that's not for lack of wanting haha. I am very much in the planning and research stage (I'm a research fiend, I don't stick my feet in until I've mined out all the relevant book-- or in this case internet-- knowledge there is available to me)! Going to get my first snakes next August; birthday present to myself! Plus the 2015 hatching season should be starting to get good around then and I will have a better selection and can afford to be pickier with my choices. What I would like to start with is one each of a female spider and pinstripe, and a male lavender albino. Next additions after that will probably be a female pied and a male pastel, then a calico and axanthic. Then more pieds because everything needs to be pied, lol.

After that I'm not sure the order, (probably based on availability, the genders of any hold backs I want to pair up, and price of specific morphs whenever finances allow for a new purchase) but the other morphs that I know for certain I want to work with some day are enchi, clown, orange dream, banana, and ultramel. Leopard, fire, and yellow belly are not out of the question either.

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

I do not currently have any snakes, but that's not for lack of wanting haha. I am very much in the planning and research stage (I'm a research fiend, I don't stick my feet in until I've mined out all the relevant book-- or in this case internet-- knowledge there is available to me)! Going to get my first snakes next August; birthday present to myself! Plus the 2015 hatching season should be starting to get good around then and I will have a better selection and can afford to be pickier with my choices. What I would like to start with is one each of a female spider and pinstripe, and a male lavender albino. Next additions after that will probably be a female pied and a male pastel, then a calico and axanthic. Then more pieds because everything needs to be pied, lol.

After that I'm not sure the order, (probably based on availability, the genders of any hold backs I want to pair up, and price of specific morphs whenever finances allow for a new purchase) but the other morphs that I know for certain I want to work with some day are enchi, clown, orange dream, banana, and ultramel. Leopard, fire, and yellow belly are not out of the question either.

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Sounds like a good plan. I got my first Pastel YB male in 2009. I wasn't planning on breeding but was just doing research on BP care. This led to another BP and of course breeding plans. After 2 years of research I started breeding in 2011. I think the list of animals that you're looking at are great and you're on the right track. Good luck, this is a great resource for information.

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

idk this is probably more a personal problem than one anyone can answer.

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Probably just genetic.

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Originally Posted by Bigfish1975

Sounds like a good plan. I got my first Pastel YB male in 2009. I wasn't planning on breeding but was just doing research on BP care. This led to another BP and of course breeding plans. After 2 years of research I started breeding in 2011. I think the list of animals that you're looking at are great and you're on the right track. Good luck, this is a great resource for information.

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Thank you! That's encouraging to hear. Originally I was going to start with just pets too, but SO MANY morphs caught my eye and I want all of them lol.

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

SO MANY morphs caught my eye and I want all of them lol.

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*sigh* I think we can all agree to that one :sweeet:

A GHI YB may be a good option.... possibly more versitale than a GHI Mojave. Just imagine putting him to a Pastel, Mojave, Fire and many other simple base morphs.

I personally picked up a GHI Mojave to put to a few YB girls, a Super Pastel and plan to use any males produced to up the ballgame down the road ;)

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Originally Posted by coreydelong

A GHI YB may be a good option.... possibly more versitale than a GHI Mojave. Just imagine putting him to a Pastel, Mojave, Fire and many other simple base morphs.

I personally picked up a GHI Mojave to put to a few YB girls, a Super Pastel and plan to use any males produced to up the ballgame down the road ;)

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Oh dang, I just checked that combo out. YB makes those colors pop; I may have to consider this more thoroughly! :O

The yellowbelly is my personal favorite codom gene. Its very versatile and really does make the colors pop like you said. There are so many directions to go with that gene alone.

if i had to do it again i would pick up a couple females that i liked that were relatively inexpensive first. that way i would have a couple years to save and figure out what kind of multigene male i would want while i raise the females to breeding size.

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Originally Posted by knowzbleed

if i had to do it again i would pick up a couple females that i liked that were relatively inexpensive first. that way i would have a couple years to save and figure out what kind of multigene male i would want while i raise the females to breeding size.

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Oh yeah, gonna start with a female pinstripe and spider. Maybe a third girl depending on funds and if I find something I like. I just have a list of "Morphs I Want to Work With Someday Maybe" because I'm persnickety and like planning things out like that. My problem with the GHI's or Mojaves is that if I don't like the snake, do I really want to spend the money to add to my collection, even if I like the combos they can make with other morphs? I'm thinking though, that since I do like them in combos, when I'm ready to add them in I'll save up and drop the money on some already two gene animals; maybe a GHI YB as was previously mentioned, and a Pastave? That way I can still enjoy the snake, and I get awesome combos right off the bat with whoever I pair them up with.

It seems that the tone of this thread is focused on starting with less expensive single gene morphs. I would actually discourage this for two reasons: 1) 2 gene animals can be had for less than you may think. 2) if you start with a 2015 single gene female, you will have a three year wait before you can breed to get a two gene--thats likely a 6 year wait until you have two gene animals. Think of how much it will cost to feed and house the animals for that long. My strong suggestion is that you start with 2+ gene animals that will get you what you want to breed in your first cross. 6 years is a long time. actually, 3 years is a long time. If this is your first foray into breeding, i suggest you save up your cash and buy into the hobby you want rather than produce from base morphs yourself. in 6 years, your priorities in life will likely have changed and you may never make what you hope to make.

I wasn't planning on breeding then I got a pair of mojo's and decided I want BEL's and now I'm buying a gravid female and a male both pastel het vpi axanthic bred to each other. So.my breeding plans just took a high speed turn lol

i didnt mean to insinuate single gene females. when i said relatively inexpensive i meant in comparison to the multigene male as i consider a multigene to be really 3 or more. i went wrong in buying whichever snake i thought looked best regardles of sex and ended up with a yearling 1.0 butterbee, a yearling 0.1 kingpin, a hatchling 1.0 fire and a 3yr old 0.1 pastel hypo problem feeder :/ i love all of them but i bought one double and one single gene male so now ive got to play catch up with more expensive multigene females.

gotcha. As long as you're having fun, the hobby will be rewarding. The most important bit of advice that i hear on the forum is just to enjoy what youre breeding and breed morphs you like. I haven't hatched out any of my own yet, but I get the impression that the experience of playing the "what morphs did we get" when cutting eggs is incredibly...fun.

Yeah man, however it's fun for you is how you gotta do it. It's the passion that keeps you going. I think for myself, part of the reason I want to go with specific single gene morphs is that... I like them! Simple as that. I like and want bumblebees and lemon blasts, so my first pairings will probably be that spider and pinstripe with some sort of pastel or pastel combo. I want a Calibee too, so whoever I hold back from that spider/pastel clutch will probably end up with the calico as one of their first mates. I know I want to go for dreamsicles and lightning pieds eventually, so when I have enough time/space/money those I will definitely invest in some 2 gene hets for. I love what Pastel does to almost everything, so I will likely have a couple super pastels of both sexes and in combos with other morphs by the end.

That's the other reason I'm sticking to only single or double gene animals right now; I have some very specific goals I want to work toward, and if I grab a girl or boy that's het for everything but the kitchen sink, or has a morph list that takes a day to say, that could actually set me back, rather than push forward to the goal I want. It's all about the love.

OH! I remembered the third reason, and that's quality control. If I have an animal with 2, 3, or 4 genes, I might not be able to learn anything about the quality of parents or grand parents or the line itself because it's coming through like half a dozen different snake on down the line. If I have a single gene animal, that's the gene that it's got. I can ask the breeder for pics of the parent or parents. How bad is that spider's wobble? Did that pastel's mom or dad brown out? What does that snake's parents look and behave like, what can I expect my snake to pass on to its offspring?

It's like, yeah I COULD use that box mix and get some pretty okay cookies way faster... but I LIKE baking from scratch, picking out the ingredients, customizing my recipe, and getting an exceptional end product that everybody can't get enough of. ;)