normal-only breeders?

[Ginevive]

Are there many normal-only breeders out there, that breed strains which do not include any morph blood? I was wondering, because I have been thinking. Suppose BPs become extinct in their native lands, and the only ones left are in the hands of us keepers. If we were the ones responsible for keeping the species alive, would we still be able to continuously produce wild-type-only, non-morph BPs? I know that it sounds far fetched. But I would imagine that if BPs became extinct in Africa, the value of normals would skyrocket!
Hopefully, the big breeders keep a stash of pure normals around in case this happens. I know that it is far-fetched and borders on "conspiracy theory" thinking, but politics has proven to me that anything is possible!

[JamminJonah]

most breeders that started out doing normals have dropped them at least as far as I have found... I think breeding normals could be very good business if done right with snake well being in mind... I mean snakekeeper.com seems to be doing alright. I personally would like to see more normal breeding just because while I think the morphs and stuff they are doing now are beautiful, the look of a normal... that classic jungle looking pattern just really makes me smile plus since lots of pro breeders are shifting to more expensive/in demand snakes (morphs) it makes it harder to find a well raised CB normal - though you can't blame them for breeding the bigger ticket snakes the fact being that the herp business is a great one, but you won't be bling blingin' in most cases

Most people don't breed normal Balls because they can be imported at low prices and this does not require the time or effort breeding does. The money is in the morphs, so thats what most breed for. It sucks, but its the truth.

I will be breeding normal BPs...but also morphs. I'll never stop breeding normal BP's tho

[Ginevive]

I can't wait until my little female grows big enough to breed. I am pretty sure that Goblin would be a good breeder, as long as he loses a bit of weight by then.

[JLC]

"Normals" are an important part of any serious breeding endevour and always will be, I'm sure. The big breeders like NERD may not highlight their normals on their websites, but I'm sure if you called them and asked if they had some available, they probably do.

[Wizill]

i thought you bred monitors don.

[beaglegod]

I agree with David that it does suck that sooo much time /attention is given to color morphs, to the point where the animal itself character,temperment,habits becomes almost secondary. Ive noticed most big breeders sell normals NERD,Bob Clark, Ralph Davis, Joe Compell, The Snake Keeper,
and Alex Hue only sells, from what Ive seen last on his website, normals.
Hopefully they wont gradualy phase out normals but keep a good stock of both. Lord knows Ill never be able to plunk down a grand for a morph. :wink:

[tuffy110]

I was surfing through some old posts when I found this. Genivive that store that I gripe about on frog is where I got my bp and they have nothing but normals. Maybe a few morphs, but he had 16 bp's at the time, and he sells about 5 or 6 a day, unless he is out. When I bought mine he had 20 about to hatch in the next few days and 60 more eggs that would be hatching soon after that. I don't know what you'd qualify as big breeders, but that's alot of snakes not to mention what other snakes he breeds.
I talked to the owner, and he is actually pretty knowledgable about snakes and makes sure THEY have proper setups. I gathered that he is mostly a snake and aligator guy, with some lizard knowledge. But not to knowledgable about frogs. Apparently, they sell alot of frogs that come from local breeders, and are not their own stock and they are passing along what the breeders have told them. They do have a book on frogs, but it's confusing. However, he knows his snake stuff.

[Ginevive]

he sells about 5 or 6 a day, unless he is out

Wow, that is a LOT of BPs being sold!
I think that most bigger pet stores get the baby Balls as "captive hatched." This means that the eggs are collected in Africa by capturing the mothers and collecting the eggs, and the females are supposedly let go afterward. This results in Americans importing large numbers of hatchlings and selling them dirt cheap. It's risky for the buyer, because these hatchlings are often not proven feeders, and can carry parasites frrom being packed into tight quarters during the importaion process.
I wonder where all those BPs, sold by pet stores at this time of year, end up. Some people get them as a fad, or on impulse, and dump em off at the spca or a nature center later. I can only hope hat most people who buy at pet stores, are like you, and research their snake and keep it healthy.