Breeding, Feeding, and Babies

[skydnay]

Hi, guys!

I'm new to this site and new to breeding, but wanted to breed a couple of my snakes next year, just on the hobby side. I don't plan to create a business out of it, but thought it would be a fun way to have more snakes (!!!) that will probably look really cool! I had a couple of questions related to a variety of topics, so I'm hoping this is the right sub-forum to post in.

The parents will be a spider enchi ghost and a super pastel lesser, so I'm hoping for some really cool bee babies! Speaking of morphs, my first question is this: As I understand it, since the mother has super pastel, all the babies should have at least pastel in them. Do recessive morphs work the same way? Since the father has visible ghost, will all the babies be het for ghost? I did one of those genetics calculators, and it added the "100% Het Ghost" tag to each of the outcomes. Everything else makes sense in that it'll be a combination of the parents' morphs, but the workings of co-dominant and recessive morphs throw me off a bit.

Second, I've seen a lot of advice on what size of prey to feed babies, but I've heard little about the live versus frozen aspect. Is it understood that babies start on live and transition to f/t or pre-killed? Has anyone had any luck starting babies on f/t or what have you?

I'm doing a lot of prepping in advance to make sure I go into the next breeding season as informed as possible. Thanks in advance!

BTW, here's some pics of my babies (not great ones, but what I had on hand):


This is Whiskey!



This is Tango!

P.S. One of the babies will 100% be named Foxtrot. I find myself to be very clever.

[Lord Sorril]

Speaking of morphs, my first question is this: As I understand it, since the mother has super pastel, all the babies should have at least pastel in them. Do recessive morphs work the same way?

Yes, basic Mendelian genetics apply to the majority of ball python traits: One gene from the mother, one from the father. Recessive traits normally require two copies of the same gene to be visible, Dominant traits only require one copy to have a visible effect.

Has anyone had any luck starting babies on f/t or what have you?

There can be a great deal of variation in feeding response. Some will eat f/t after first shed, some will only eat live and can be transitioned later to f/t, some may need to be assist/force fed the first few meals or will die of starvation. The majority of mine start on live, and the ones that I'm sending to market get transitioned to over to f/t, saves me some time and aggravation as opposed to starting with offering f/t and getting denied.

I'm doing a lot of prepping in advance to make sure I go into the next breeding season as informed as possible.

Advice: Don't go cheap on your incubator thermostat-you might use it only a few months a year-but, you will need it.

Funny names btw.

[skydnay]

Yes, basic Mendelian genetics apply to the majority of ball python traits: One gene from the mother, one from the father. Recessive traits normally require two copies of the same gene to be visible, Dominant traits only require one copy to have a visible effect.

The question I had about the genetics I don't think I worded correctly. I get the difference in them being visible vs. carried, but my question was more in the percentage of chance, I guess. Essentially, since the father has visible ghost, is that why all the babies will be 100% het for ghost and not a lower percent change of being het? Same for pastel. Since the mother is super pastel, is this why all the babies in the very least will be pastel rather than not showing pastel at all?

There can be a great deal of variation in feeding response. Some will eat f/t after first shed, some will only eat live and can be transitioned later to f/t, some may need to be assist/force fed the first few meals or will die of starvation. The majority of mine start on live, and the ones that I'm sending to market get transitioned to over to f/t, saves me some time and aggravation as opposed to starting with offering f/t and getting denied.

This makes sense, and seems to be what I see most people doing. I was just curious if it would easier to just start on f/t. I guess that answers that!

Advice: Don't go cheap on your incubator thermostat-you might use it only a few months a year-but, you will need it.

Funny names btw.

Good to know and reinforces some things I'd seen lately. I came across the deformed baby thread, and found it very informative that a lot of bad things can happen when the temperature is not exactly right.

And lastly, thank you! I've always liked the idea of using the phonetic alphabet as a naming scheme and thought I'd have some fun with it.

[StillBP]

Yea all babies would be 100% het ghost.
As for feeding the hatchlings I always offer a live Hopper mouse. Like candy to them. 99% eat it first try for me. Then I can worry about switching to f/t. I'd rather they eat live than refuse

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