Should I raise her or sell her? Plus question about pastels

I am not sure if I want to keep her to breed. To be honest I am not sure how good of a pastel she is, she seems a little dull compared to my male pastel, which I absolutely love, and it is tempting to raise her for making super pastels in the future. But I would also like to have the extra cash to buy a spider and mojave. I was thinking with pastels dropping in price quite quickly if I would be better off selling her now and if I really want to make super pastels I could either buy one or buy a much large normal pastel by the time she would have been ready to breed.

If I am underestimating her let me know. If you see potential all the better. I guess I just don't want to be "one of those" that breeds sup-par pastels (or any morphs for that matter).

Also, what difference is there between all the pastels? Like lemon, jungle, granzai? I haven't been able to figure it out.


Here is a comparison of the two. The top is the female, bottom is male.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...parison001.jpg

She's a pastel and supers are super. It's up to you though.

Is she a lemon? How old is she, and how many sheds has she had so far? If the answer is lemon - I'd re-assess after at least 5 sheds. Lemons go through an ugly duckling stage and begin to really shine after their 5th shed.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Is she a lemon? How old is she, and how many sheds has she had so far? If the answer is lemon - I'd re-assess after at least 5 sheds. Lemons go through an ugly duckling stage and begin to really shine after their 5th shed.

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Thats the thing, I don't really know the difference between a lemon or a normal pastel or a jungle one.

And I don't know how many sheds, she is 109g. I've had her about a month, and she has shed once for me.

She des not have to be a beautiful pastel to have beautiful off spring.it is up tp you what you want to do.
Mike.

I had a buddy who had one of the ugliest boas that anyone has seen, and he sired some of nicest looking offspring. I wouldn't worry about how she looks really. It's all about her having the gene that counts. The super pastel is vital in some great looking combos. How many people do you know that have a killer clown? If you plan on buying a big female pastel later....Let's be honest here, there are some shady people in this industry and you have to ask yourself why they are selling a breeding size pastel? Would she not breed for them? If you raise your own females you don't neccesarily have to worry about that.

so is this a pet or ONLY something you purchased to breed?

Pastels really aren't going to drop that much more in price, they're about as bottomed out as they're going to get. As eggs start hatching of course you're going to see some ridiculously low prices from people who just want to get rid of them, but the prices should go back up again in the fall when all the cheap ones are gone. Pastels of all types will go through a lot of changes in the first year or so of life.

That's a real nice looking male that you have. If you're really serious about producing better then average looking pastels, start with very clean looking normal females and breed your male to several of them. Then keep ALL of the females that you produce. In a year, make a decision on which ones you think are good enough to work with and sell the rest as yearlings.

Since you've only got that one female. I guess if it were me, I'd keep it.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

so is this a pet or ONLY something you purchased to breed?

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I got them both pastels at the same time. I was there to get a male pastel, and during the negotiation he offered to throw in the baby female for like 50 bucks more. So I got her because it was a good deal. l. All my snakes are pets first, but I am looking in to breeding some of the morphs that I truly love, and she doesn't really fit in to my immediate plans (though at some point super pastels will probably figure in to it). So I would be willing to sell her to get a different morph and further my breeding some of the morphs that I really love.

So in a nut shell I do consider her a pet, but not one that I was preparing to fit in my hobby. I am not in this because I expect to make any money, but there are obviously some morphs that I like more than others. But to be honest I am leaning towards keeping her. I just wanted a bit of feedback.

I guess also I'd like to know what she would go for? She is 109g.

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Originally Posted by euphuistical

I got them both pastels at the same time. I was there to get a male pastel, and during the negotiation he offered to throw in the baby female for like 50 bucks more. So I got her because it was a good deal. l. All my snakes are pets first, but I am looking in to breeding some of the morphs that I truly love, and she doesn't really fit in to my immediate plans (though at some point super pastels will probably figure in to it). So I would be willing to sell her to get a different morph and further my breeding some of the morphs that I really love.

So in a nut shell I do consider her a pet, but not one that I was preparing to fit in my hobby. I am not in this because I expect to make any money, but there are obviously some morphs that I like more than others. But to be honest I am leaning towards keeping her. I just wanted a bit of feedback.

I guess also I'd like to know what she would go for? She is 109g.

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she will go for what you think she is worth!

When in doubt, raise them up. There's really nothing to lose by doing so, except time & rodents. If she blossoms in the next few months, then you'll likely be thrilled. And if she doesn't, you have a bigger, more established snake with more background info (i.e. how she's been in your care), which is always a plus when selling animals.

$.02...

K~

I would keep her. I have a little male who was very dull when I got him and he brightened up quite a bit with a little age.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...r/SNC10746.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...r/SNC10745.jpg
please excuse the dirty hands I'm pretty sure I had just gotten home from work when I took that.

This ones a freebie boy that I got last year with some females. \
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...r/SNC10779.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...r/SNC10776.jpg

I would keep her. You don't have to breed her to your pastel male .You said you want to get a spider and/or a mojo breed her to one of them. :rolleye2:
Marty

Great advice. I'm keeping her!