Anyone want to help me decide what morphs to buy this summer?

First of all, I'm Canadian, so some of the breeding nuances (like what's expensive and what's available) is a little different for me than it is for American forum goers!

I started collecting balls at the start of last summer. I've put together a pretty decent sized collection at this point and I'm looking forward to breeding morphs this coming season as a way of helping to pay for the collection itself (and supplement my income given my poor student status). Here's what I have so far:

--> 0.3 Normal Breeders (all >1600g, 1 laid this year, 1 did wouldn't)
--> 0.1 Normal '07 (900g, very picky eater- takes live mice on occasion)
--> 0.1 Normal '08 (632g, eats like a pig, might have gene(s) for ringer)
--> 0.1 Spider '08 (621g, pig, managed to gain 131g in last month)
--> 0.1 Pastel '09 (98g, bred by me)
--> 0.1 Het Orange Ghost '08 (655g, pig)
--> 0.1 Granite Het Orange Ghost '08 (631g, pig)
--> 1.0 Granite Het Orange Ghost '08 (550g, pig)
--> 1.0 Het High Contrast Albino '04 (1600g, monster, origin- RDR)
--> 1.0 Pastel '07 (779g, bred for me this past season)
--> 1.0 Cinnamon '08 (610g, bred this past season, female didn't take)
--> 3.0 Pastel '09 (my only clutch from last season)
--> 0.2 Normal '09 (part of the 09 clutch)
--> 0.1 Salmontine Het Annery, Pos. Het Albino Boa (picked up in a trade this season only to find out latter she's half Argentine! Open to trading her)

Tomorrow I'm putting a down payment on a smokin' lesser male and a lesser female ('09, both siblings). The male in question comes from a father who breed at 600g, so I'm hoping he'll go for me this season. The female is more of a long term investment, although the lesser prices have really dropped quickly and I'm a bit scared she's not the best choice. I'm pretty sure I could switch her for a spotnose female before my snakes are shipped.

I'm paying for the female using a few GIC's that are getting garbage interest and I figure a female morph is a better investment than GIC's in today's market.

My big question here is what do you think the best additions to my group of breeders is? This is a collection I really enjoy, but I'd like to get enough hatchlings each season to pay for the snakes I buy that year or even to pay for the snakes already bought. Ultimately I'd like to know I paid for my snakes with my own clutches. Plus it's really fun to breed the snakes and wait out the eggs. Seeing my first clutch was awesome this year and it didn't hurt that I got 4 pastels and only 2 normals.

Here are the snakes I'd really like to acquire:
0.1 Het Red Axanthic
0.1 Yellow Belly
0.1 Pin
0.1 Albino
0.1 Tiger (het Diesel type Connie makes at Pythonica)
0.1 Tiger (Banana type from Connie at Pythonica)
1.0 Sugar
1.0 Lesser (already covered this season!)
0.1 BEL (Lesser super)
0.1 BlackBall (Cinny super)

But those are based solely on looks.

What do you think is the smartest purchases I can make this summer based on breeding potential and value? Should I stick with the 1.1 Lesser purchase this season or switch the female for something else?

Thanks for reading and sorry for the length of the post!

albino there prices are still pretty good they havent really dropped alot like the spider

I would buy also a Clown or a 1.1 Pastel Het Clown to make some pastel clowns and Super Pastel Clowns aka Killer Clowns. They are very rare and are in demand.

Well it depends on the projects you have in mind and what you are the most excited to work with.

At first glance looking at your collection I would say Pinstripe.

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Originally Posted by kris62901

albino there prices are still pretty good they havent really dropped alot like the spider

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Thank for the reply! I plan on trying to get an 09 albino female this Christmas using the combined powers of my girlfriend and parents (I guess the benefit of being 25 at Christmas is your parents don't mind giving you money to put towards a snake).

hahahaha thats what i did lol im 24 this christmas im aiming for a male albino

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Originally Posted by minguela

I would buy also a Clown or a 1.1 Pastel Het Clown to make some pastel clowns and Super Pastel Clowns aka Killer Clowns. They are very rare and are in demand.

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I agree that the Clowns are very good investment snakes. Here in Canada the prices are very steady on Clowns- somewhere around $2300/$2800. That's outside my spending range right now, but I'd pick up some females if I could.

I have a friend breeds balls here in Canada and she's excellent at spotting het clowns. So far she's proved out her possible het hold backs 4 out of 4 times. She offered me a possible het pair that she thinks are real hets for only $300... what do you think about that deal? It'd be a steal if it works out, but I'm still iffy on the possible part (although I fully trust her, it's still not a sure thing).

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Well it depends on the projects you have in mind and what you are the most excited to work with.

At first glance looking at your collection I would say Pinstripe.

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A male or female Pin? Are you thinking maybe I should try and switch the lesser female for a female pin?

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Originally Posted by Drake_Marcus

A male or female Pin? Are you thinking maybe I should try and switch the lesser female for a female pin?

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Given what you already have I would say male Pin and female lesser

This way you could pair your pin to your lesser, pastel and spider which all produce some great combos for you.

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Originally Posted by kris62901

hahahaha thats what i did lol im 24 this christmas im aiming for a male albino

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I'm 25. Heh. Great minds think alike. :D

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Given what you already have I would say male Pin and female lesser

This way you could pair your pin to your lesser, pastel and spider which all produce some great combos for you.

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I'd definitely do that, but the male lesser I reserved is so freaking amazing! Now you've got me doubting it. :weirdface: I wish I could add an attachment here- he's so amazingly blushed... and he was the pick of the litter. Can I PM you attachments?

The one thing I'd love about having a pair of lessers is the shot at making a BEL. Sure the pair is going to cost me $1000 Canadian, but daammmmmnnnn those BEL's look amazing. I guess I could do a Lesser x Mojo BEL to save money, but they're not as clean, are they? I know the super mojo BEL's are pretty dirty (although that's a cool look too- that's my favourite part about the superYB)

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Originally Posted by Drake_Marcus

She offered me a possible het pair that she thinks are real hets for only $300... what do you think about that deal? It'd be a steal if it works out, but I'm still iffy on the possible part (although I fully trust her, it's still not a sure thing).

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I definively go for it. I don't know if it is a pastel het clown that is she offering you, but if you hit the odds, you are going to be cooking some Pastel Clowns or Killer Clowns. Or in the other hand, you are going to end with a pastel for $300 that is not that bad either.

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Originally Posted by minguela

I definively go for it. I don't know if it is a pastel het clown that is she offering you, but if you hit the odds, you are going to be cooking some Pastel Clowns or Killer Clowns. Or in the other hand, you are going to end with a pastel for $300 that is not that bad either.

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I wish it was pastel hets for that price! Nah, it's just normals possible het for clown. They did come from a weird African mother that passed her looks on to the female, though.

Just a quick update. I've been speaking with the breeder who's selling me the lesser and he thinks I should go with a female spotnose and male lesser instead of the pair of lessers. The thing is that he'd be making less on that deal, so it's obvious he's not saying it just to sell more... He wants $100 less for the female spot so I'm sure we could work it into the deal with the male lesser for a good price.

Just looking at what I could make with those co-doms...

Males: cinnamon, pastel, lesser
Females: spider('08), pastel('09), spotnose ('09)

I'd be shooting for a lesser spider for sure and I'd try to run the cinnamon to both the spotnose and the pastel to make twilights and pewters, respectively.

In this coming season I have a remote shot at breeding the spider since she's been pounding back mice and gaining weight like crazy (130 grams is great for a month of eating). Same goes for making orange ghosts, since my OG hets are all gaining weight as fast as the spider. If I can get the lesser to breed this coming season I'd likey get me female lesser anyway, she'd just take a year longer to get going...

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Originally Posted by kris62901

albino there prices are still pretty good they havent really dropped alot like the spider

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You sure about that? Two years ago they were still going for around $1500 or so. Now they're being sold off for $500 and less.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

You sure about that? Two years ago they were still going for around $1500 or so. Now they're being sold off for $500 and less.

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Yikes! Looks like Canada's a bit more stable than that. They were in the $700/$850 range last year and look like they're staying around there this year. Of course when I say "last year" I mean around October/November of last year, so the beginning of the season prices that summer may have been higher.

I breed all of my own rodents, so my best bet is trying to find a ball that will only take live and get it at a slight discount. :P

Ok guys and girls. Today I paid off the half the cost of my newest acquisitions:

--> 1.0 Lesser Platinum (pick of the litter, comes from a new African line)
--> 0.1 Spotnose (nice looking girl, head pattern is different than normal, but she's already at 275g, so she should pack on lots of weight quickly!)

Now what else do I add? I'm thinking of adding some of the following to my collection this summer:

--> Het Clown pair or trio
--> 0.1 Yellow Belly
--> 0.1 Het Red Axanthic
--> 0.1 Banana Tiger (a type of banded)
--> 0.1 Het Diesel Tiger (a type of banded)

:D