Do you put a lot of effort into finding males?

[ringorock]

I have a small breeding operation, and by small, I mean real small (3 girls). But the 3 girls that I do have, I put a lot of time and effort into finding traits and visuals that I really like and want to see produced. I don't spend that much time in males however, particularly the visual aspects. I just look for traits that I want to be bred with one of my girls and go from there. Should I be putting more effort into males? I guess, logically, it would make sense to, right? I'm no pro or semi-prop breeder. I do it for mine and kids' own pleasure, so please be gentle.

[janeothejungle]

Ok, I'll bite. If you're putting the time in to find the best traits in your females (who are contributing 1/2 the genetic load to future offspring), why would you not do the same for your males (whose genes will be making up the other half of the genetic load of the future offspring)? Just trying to understand the rationale.

Personally, I'm looking for the best examples of the traits I'm trying to breed from both my males and my females. For a simplified example, if I were trying to breed hatchlings with really nice clean patterns and no spotting. I can have the sweetest, cleanest female on the planet - but she's still only contributing half of the genetics. If I breed her to a crazy patterned, spotted hot mess of a male, I'm reducing my chances of meeting my ultimate goal (reduced pattern offspring) as opposed to if I find her a nice, clean reduced pattern male.

Yes, this is grossly over simplified, but you get the idea. Selective breeding should be just that - selective, IMO.

[Hannahshissyfix]

Well it depends. Some morphs are easier to find many examples of so it's not as much "effort" to find one with the traits of that morph that you like. I'm definitely not a fan of just buying the cheapest of whatever morph you can find first if it isn't a good example of the pattern and color. It does vary depending on the project sometimes. I recently purchased 1 of only 2 of a newer morph that was for sale in the last year so while I only had 1 to pick from he was still a beautiful example of what I wanted to be ahead of the game in working towards a morph that's world first hasn't been hit yet.

[Lizardlicks]

If you want quality, it's important to put effort into EVERY aspect of your snakes, from selection to care and keeping, right up to the process of breeding itself. For number of genes, it's usually desirable for a male to have at least a couple, as one male can breed with several different females, and produce many genetic combinations. You should think about the end goal offspring that you want. Look at pics of other people's babies, and figure out how to get to that, then pic a really nice male or two that carries the genes you need to get you there.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Two words SELECTIVE BREEDING

Of course I put as much effort in finding quality males than I do females, I don't just put two snakes together because they have the genes I want. When I look for a mutation I want the BEST example of that mutation I don't want to just buy an animal because it has the genes I am looking for or because it is cheap I want the best I can afford.

In the end it all pays off in the quality of the animals you are putting out there.

[Alexiel03]

Yes I also put as much effort in finding males too, quality over quantity. It took me about 3 years to find my first male morph, my butter pastel. There were plenty of butter/lesser pastels out there that I could afford but either I wasn't happy with its color or pattern but after a lot of patience I found the one that I had to have and I was lucky he wasn't very expensive too.
It really does pay off to get the best for both males and females.
Keep searching and I'm sure you'll be lucky enough to find the perfect one.

Sent from my LGL39C using Tapatalk

[Oxylepy]

I'm going to disagree to a degree on the above posts. Quality is important, personally I consider the quality of a male more important than that of a female, because 1 male can breed with numerous females in a season, so that single male will be putting its genetics into a much larger number of offspring than any of those females will per season.

However, a reduced quality of the original snakes can be mitigated with time through selection of future males. A number of morphs have offspring that will swing one way or another, perhaps a higher quality snake makes higher quality offspring on average, however there remains a potential of lower quality popping up in offspring. The reverse is also true, a cheap multi-morph male can swing those traits toward a higher quality later. Retire the original male for the higher quality male offspring, repeat.

There are serious problems with this method. Time, money, and extra snakes being the primary problems.

So, while a lower quality cheaper male can be made to work, in the long run it will most likely cost you more.

However, I do have to disgree that quality is a must, there are ways around things. But if you want fast results that save you money, invest in quality snakes from the beginning

[ringorock]

Thanks for the response, everyone. I think the majority would agree that putting effort into a male is important. I just needed some fuel to go to the wife and give her reason.

[Oxylepy]

Just remember, the expense in the long run for choosing an inferior male will likely end up higher than the cost of a superior male. Not to mention the quality of the offspring will allow for a higher price, thus the income from a higher quality male will also make up for the initial expense.