Expensive Females!

Why are female ball pythons so more expensive than males. Should I purchase a female normal first to save money in the long run when I start to breed since buying a het male will be cheaper.

always buy the females first, they need to be bigger to lay eggs. you can usually get a male breeding in the first year while females take 2-3 years.


vaughn

So since I plan to breed in the future I should get a Female Normal? This is also going to be my First BP. Also size is not a problem

a normal girl would be a good choice. if by chance you get out of bp's or something happens you can always sell her. and if breeding is your goal, you got to have the big girls first to get eggs!


vaughn

the thing is I don't plan to breed as soon as the BP is mature. I plan to breed like 4-5 years from now.

males only take a year to be able to breed, the females may take 2-3 years.
either way should be fine, but i like bigger females so they come first.


vaughn

Also what about pricing. Will buying a Norm Female and a Het albino Male be cheaper than a Norm Male and Het Female?

yes normally het males are cheaper than females. if your goal is to get albinos i'd save up for a 100% het pair. or you can buy 50%possible het girls and a 100% het male. if you buy poss. hets (or any hets) make sure they come from a good breeder and buy 3 or 4 of them to better your chances. you can find 100% het prs. now from 600 and up, in a couple of years they may be a little less.


vaughn

To answer the question.. females are more expensive because there is more need for them. You only need one male for several females, hence more demand for females.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HelicopterPilot

Also what about pricing. Will buying a Norm Female and a Het albino Male be cheaper than a Norm Male and Het Female?

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I'm going through the same problems/questions right now, here's what I've found.

If you buy a normal female, you would have to have a Co-Dom or Dom trait male to mate with her as het recessives bred with normals will only produce normals. Albino is a recessive trait, so you would need two hets to produce albinos. Doms are exactly the opposite, pricewise, from recessives. The males are usually more in demand because you can have 1 het or homo male and breed him to multiple normal females in a season and get about 50% morphs and the other 50% will be 100% hets.

You're right, the genetics is REALLY confusing... and I'm not even sure I just explained it properly. (Adam, Others, back me up on this please :) )