Does everyone just breed bp's and not have them as pets??

Seems like bp's have become a way to make money rather than actual pets

All of my reptiles are pets. I have been tossing around the idea of breeding BPs but only for the fun of breeding rare/expensive morphs I would want to keep for myself. Not looking to make money and still might not breed and just save up and buy the morphs I want. I think a lot of people still keep them as pets.

Pets, strictly pets. Some more expensive than others.;)

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Originally Posted by Vincentleo

Seems like bp's have become a way to make money rather than actual pets

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You don't simply "Just breed ball pythons to make money" .... There is no money in it until you put your time and learning in .. most people don't just buy a quality animal worth $100 up to $10,000 off of just anyone, it requires learning and understanding almost everything about them in order to be reputable and get enough business to be able to make money doing it. Almost everything and sometimes a little more than what you make from them, goes right back into them ... It's not a cheap hobby ... Using the word pet can be looked at in many different ways, but one thing I can assure is that most of the people here ... Genuinely care about our animals, if you don't there is too much money, time, and learning that would all be for nothing

My snakes are my pets, but I also plan on breeding them, and certainly not for the sole purpose of "making money". I want to do so with eventual goals of A) producing morphs that I wouldn't be able to afford out of pocket for myself and B) fund buying the other morphs I want out of pocket. Seriously, ask how many people on this forum that both own and breed ball pythons are rolling in the dough. :rolleyes:

Just wrote a whole thing on this subject in the Average Price List thread... There's definitely a lot of people here who want to breed right off the bat of owning a Ball Python. It's a bit ridiculous, but that's just my humble opinion.

I don't breed BPs but I do plan to breed some of my other species starting this year. I think it holds true for pretty much any species of exotic that you don't make money breeding until you've really put your time in and know what you're doing. You've got to really love the animals to get to that point.
Talking about respectable breeders here, not random people who churn out a bunch of low-quality animals as cheap as they can.

I currently own one "normal" ball python, I do consider him as a pet. However, at one point I will grow to love him and ball pythons so much that I'll want another snake, probably a female, so I can breed them together and see what snakes I can produce for myself. I'd have no interest selling them, just keeping them as pets and getting new pets.

I have one ball python whom I bought as a pet. I do not plan to breed or buy anymore ball pythons(but you never know:p) He's my best buddy, we watch tv together a lot.


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For an example, I will use the gentleman from whom I bought my BP, as I am but a new owner. His name is John, he and his partner own Tails and Scales. There are some 8 ish people working in this shop. All of them own reptiles personally. One is in veterinary school. There are some kids who help out there. The owners own a beautiful 10 yr old 14 ft reticulated python who just chills in her enclosure in the store. She is not for sale, and I am sure she could be sold for a pretty penny. Neither is the 6ft lavender albino retic. They have had snakes for a really long time, and love their animals. They've taken some back when the owners could not care for them. They had a Blue Eyed Lucy stolen a couple months ago, and they promised if it was returned, that they would not press charges. It came back, and they didn't press charges. They've offered to take mine in when she wouldn't eat to see if they could get her to.

They might be making money off the BELs and the Pieds, but I assure you that anyone who puts that much time, money, and effort into such a thing for such a long time must love those animals alot...

I've just bought a female normal ball python and I didn't buy her to breed, i bought her because ball pythons are amazing beautiful animals and i love them. I have been thinking of maybe breeding her in a few years but not for the money, for my own benefit. Yes i may sell a few, but only because i can't afford to feed lots of snakes.

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I've just bought a female normal ball python and I didn't buy her to breed, i bought her because ball pythons are amazing beautiful animals and i love them. I have been thinking of maybe breeding her in a few years but not for the money, for my own benefit. Yes i may sell a few, but only because i can't afford to feed lots of snakes.

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Originally Posted by LivingwithBalls

I have one ball python whom I bought as a pet. I do not plan to breed or buy anymore ball pythons(but you never know:p) He's my best buddy, we watch tv together a lot.

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Same here - 1 BP pet is enough, we hang out together on the couch a few times each week.

I have some pets for breeding projects and I have some pets for strictly pets. Regardless if I plan on breeding them or not, they are still my pets...all 17 of them. I find joy in taking care of my animals, and I find joy in teaching others about my animals. This is my first year with breeding. My plans are to make enough money to break even, eventually.

I've owned ball pythons for almost ten years...and owned this site for even longer....and I have never bred a single one.

EDIT to add some more thoughts: I do see a disturbing number of people that want to jump into breeding as soon as they start learning about the joys of keeping snakes as pets. But I don't think that desire to breed them is necessarily tied to money. In fact, I think it's a minority of people who want to breed just for the money. For the average person, it's about seeing so many others talking about how wonderful and exciting it can be, and they want to be a part of that. It's about seeing amazing morph combos and wanting to create such living art. Just because someone wants to breed doesn't mean all they're thinking about is money.

All that being said, I DO wish more people would slow down and appreciate the journey of learning about these wonderful animals before jumping right into breeding projects.

My two female ball pythons are pets first. I would like to eventually breed my girls but I know I have years of research ahead of me. I love and care about my ball pythons and I will always put their health and wellbeing first before I even think about breeding them. Most breeders start out with just pets and then they fall in love with the morphs and create some amazing combos. My snakes are also a great tool in helping me cope with stress and my bipolar disorder. As I said, my snakes are pets first.

I have 1 bp as a pet, I have no interest in breeding. I may get one more, but I think my second will actually be a corn. That will be it.

All of mine are pets. About a third of those are breeders.

I have two BPs that are my pets. I did make sure to purchase two fairly decent quality morphs in case I decided that I ever wanted to breed them. That way I wouldn't be adding to the abundance of Normals that are looking for homes.

First and foremost they are my pets though. As tempting as it is for me to want to purchase countless other snakes to one day try to breed them, I will not do so until I have one clutch from the two that I currently own (if I ever actually decide to breed them). If its something that excites me as much as I believe it will then I'll look into adding some more. If it turns out that it's not really my thing then I'll still have my two babies to enjoy as pets who also make some pretty fantastic eye candy.

I do think that people jump in way too fast with this hobby. They get one snake and then before the newness wears off of that one they have purchased 10 more to start breeding before they even begin their research.

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Originally Posted by JLC

I do see a disturbing number of people that want to jump into breeding as soon as they start learning about the joys of keeping snakes as pets.

All that being said, I DO wish more people would slow down and appreciate the journey of learning about these wonderful animals before jumping right into breeding projects.

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100% agree [emoji216] [emoji216] [emoji216]

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Originally Posted by bcr229

All of mine are pets. About a third of those are breeders.

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:gj: This. Who am I to deny my pets a little adult time together every now and again? :P

I'm a strictly pet owner but the larger issue I see is lack of retention, whether they are out for a pet or to make a buck, most who get a snake will have dropped the hobby within a few years anyways. I'm fairly picky about new additions since I plan on them being here for a very long time.


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