Morphs as first snakes

I'm currently doing research to choose my first snake (I've got a while before I can get one though), a ball python is definitely very high on my list. I think normal balls are gorgeous and I'll definitely get one sometime, but is there any special reason why you should get a normal first and then accumulate morphs, or is it just the most common pattern (people get a normal which is common and relatively cheap, and then, having discovered that ball pythons are fantastic, get more and more expensive morphs)?

In case it makes any difference, if I were to get a morph my favourite three are mojave, axanthic and butter.

A morph is just a normal with a fancy paint job, as people on this forum put it. You dont have to get a normal first. I got a normal first because he needed to be saved from his crappy previous owner, then I saw the various morphs available and got hooked.

Get what you personally want. Most people get normals first because of many reasons. They may not know there are hundreds of common color and pattern morphs available, they do not wish to spend the money on a first snake 'just in case', they prefer the look of normals, they are cheaper, etc etc.

I personally got a Pastel as my first BP because I knew I wanted to breed this season and a male Pastel is gold in my plans.

Well If you not willing to spend that much money go for a pastel! You can get them at shows for maybe 110-130 (Depends on where your located though) If you are willing to spend the big bucks I would go with the axanthic because well I don't know they just look cool!:rofl::rofl:

Daniel

Although I knew Albino balls existed, I hadn't really thought about it. I got my first ball of the classifieds in the paper before CL even existed. Later, when I met my husband, he had one pet ball python male- a normal. Somehow we realized while researching the idea of getting him a mate, that they have all these color variations. The rest is history. There's no reason not to just start with a morph :)

i say get which ever one you think you will like the most that's in your price range. try not to break the bank since acquiring it is only half the battle. once you have it you will need to house it, feed it, and take care of it. you never know what can happen. if it gets hurt you might have to take it to the vet. that can get pricey. maybe you might have to treat it for mights. not so pricey but still an expense.
if its your first ball and you get the hang of taking care of it( which i'm sure you will ) then beware you might get addicted. before you know it you'll be getting another. so if your price range doesn't allow you to get your favorite, go for the next best thing. this way you can see if they fit into your life style.
but that's just my opinion. what ever you get i hope you take proper care of it and enjoy it. a happy ball will keep you happy.

As long as youve done some research and get the setup right, it makes absolutely no difference wether you go for a normal or a morph.:)

Go for the one you like personally, then you cant go wrong.

It all depends on your budget. I started off with a pastel and I just bought another one; I don't have any normals yet :rolleyes:

I started off with a normal because I didn't really know about the morphs. I am glad I did though. It was like the gateway to my addiction. My normal is still my favorite snake :).

Same here, I bought a normal because I didn't know morphs existed. I bought one quickly because I saw it on sale for $30.

I got my first two balls at the same time from an ad of a breeder on CL. I didnt know anything about morphs other then albinos and knew those were way expensive (400-600 is expensive to me). And I got them for 40 bucks for the two. Since then I have sunk lots of money into unexpected things. And had no clue what it took to house and keep a bp healthy when i got into the hobby. I figured a mouse, a tree branch some turf and a warm light was all they needed. Boy was that a mistake. my small investment went in to the 800+ range in a matter of weeks.

I want to breed morphs one day....Oh, the freedom of the dream :oops:

Seriously, is breeding something that you can make considerable money off of? Like, maybe enough to eventually pay off the expenses of proper husbandry? I think it would be fun to try my hand at, regardless, especially if there were some cool morphs to wait and look for :gj:

Most people get the normal morphs because they are the least expensive and easier to find than the other morphs. My first BP was a normal, but I didn't know of any morphs they could come in besides the albino. After I got involved in BPs I found out TONS of BP morphs that were amazing. If you were looking for a cheap morph, and aren't looking to buy a very expensive one, I'd say go for a Pastel, Spider, or a Cinnamon. Those are some great morphs that I soon hope to acquire:)

I paid $1000 for my first ball python! :O :D Go with what you want...what you can afford...and what you feel comfortable risking on the off chance something goes bad somewhere along the way.

I want a blue-eyed Lucy :cool:

Normals usually get picked up at a pet store and start the addiction... Then next thing you know you have a room in your house just for the snakes

I say get what you want all the way. I had 300 bucks saved up for a nice pastel or spider ball python, but then decided not to get a ball python and went and spent all but 45 bucks, then I decided to buy a ball python and a normal was all I can afford. But I knew of different morphs before I got a ball python and my favorite was the bumblebee but I got a ball python a year later because my mom and dad wouldn't allow me. My family was at the store with me and some guy convinced my mom and dad to let me have one, and it was under 5 minutes and he told the exact things I had said to them!It took me one year to try and it didn't work!Undoubtedly I was pissed! But you should get a pastel or a spider ball, maybe even a cinnamon pastel if you dig the dark ball pythons.

buy a honeybee or a pied or a normal :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dc1

buy a honeybee or a pied or a normal :D

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Thats funny dude, I am pretty sure not even half of these people can afford a honeybee or a pied.Silly person :)

Thanks a bunch everyone, this has been really helpful. Based on your advice, I'm thinking that getting a morph first might be a good idea, since as far as I know the only extra cost for a morph is the price of the snake itself, and if I know I can afford the running costs of a BP (which I promise I will check very carefully, I don't want a pet if I can't do a good job with it) I'm perfectly happy to save up for a while to get the snake I really want.

The other benefit is that I'd definitely feel most comfortable getting a first snake from a breeder, especially since I have very limited practical experience with pets so it would be good to know that a) the snake I get is in the best shape possible and b) I have a source of really good information about it. If I want to get normals later, I can then get them from a shelter or rescue. Because I do agree with the idea that you should, if possible, get a pet from a rescue, but finding a morph in a shelter is going to be much more difficult than finding a pretty normal (as most normals are very pretty).

u are one lucky pre-bp-owner lol. wish i had known about this forum before i had any reptilious pets =D. check out this sites BP Pictures, or BP Breeding threads to get ideas of different kinds of morphs that ppl are getting into. if i were to start over, i would have gotten 1 pastel, and been happy. but 1 snake normally leads to more snakes =]. choose wisely! normals are cheap, not hard to find, and are just like any other BP =]. docile and adorable :D. GL :gj: