New snakes. Should we wait?

[KSballer]

I know u probably will not take my advice but I wouldn’t even think about breeding for the first few years. The longer u own these the more u learn. And then u see the market is flooded with ball pythons. So why are u breeding? That’s the question. If u say your passionate about snakes I’m going to disagree because the fact that ur ready to breed and u don’t have a clue about what ur doing. If u did know u wouldn’t ask this question and u would know that it’s best to be an experienced keeper before u think about doing the tons of research before thinking about breeding. Do u have a thousand dollars set aside for mishaps, illness, equipment failure? Do u have a vet that really knows snakes? Do u have an incubator or are u thinking that a guy put them in a styrofoam cooler one time and it worked so I’ll do that?

If u can answer all those and be truly prepared then yeah go for it. But playing god with animals when u haven’t even owned one for more than a month is crazy to me

We do have money set aside. We don’t have a vet but we’re one Facebook message away from a recommendation. We don’t have an incubator but we have an old refrigerator we intend to convert. All I’ve been doing since the mention of the word “snake” has been research. I asked a question I haven’t found an answer for.

I have to agree with the above. I don't think you should even be considering breeding yet. You JUST started keeping snakes and want to jump straight into breeding? Why do you NEED to pair them so soon? What are you pairing? What are you hoping to get out of this? Because it sure is coming off, to me, that you're in this for the wrong reason and you just want to pump out babies as fast as you can.

Let the snakes settle down, Pair them next year if you can't wait any longer. Learn more about keeping snakes, about breeding, feel out the market, decide if you would REALLY be contributing something positive to the BP market.

We most likely will wait for the sake of us and the animals. I don’t want to jump into anything too soon and end up with more than we can handle. I don’t want to stress the snakes out and put them at risk. I don’t want to have to build everything I need tomorrow. My wife originally fell in love with ball pythons when she saw an 8 Ball. We just happened to find a Black Pastel Arroyo and a Cinnamon Mojave that are both up to size and ready to go. I don’t know if you’re asking to see if I’m aware of lethal morphs but I’ve looked into those and we’re trying to stay away from those base morphs. We do have a Banana Spider but we may not end up breeding him. This isn’t a money grab. Admittedly, the quick return on investment is attractive but it’s not worth the risk to the animals. The original plan was to find and grow out hatchlings and start producing in a few years so we could learn as we go. Finding these bigger snakes was just a right time right place kind of deal.

[DandD]

I think you may have seen prices of snakes and immediately thought your average joe would pay that price for your snakes. Even if you can produce high end morphs, people are not going to buy them from a no name breeder. Just hop on Craigslist and see how many thousand hobby breeders trying to make a quick buck there are. Do yourself a favor, save yourself the time and the money and enjoy your snakes.

[KSballer]

I think you may have seen prices of snakes and immediately thought your average joe would pay that price for your snakes. Even if you can produce high end morphs, people are not going to buy them from a no name breeder. Just hop on Craigslist and see how many thousand hobby breeders trying to make a quick buck there are. Do yourself a favor, save yourself the time and the money and enjoy your snakes.

Guess I’d better make a good name then. There seems to be an awful lot of beginner info here to be telling hobby breeders to go away just because they aren’t VPI or NERD. Solid advice though. I’ll definitely consider your opinion.

[Craiga 01453]

All I’ve been doing since the mention of the word “snake” has been research. I asked a question I haven’t found an answer for.

Research is a start, but breeding shouldn't even be on your radar for at least a few years.
You have basically zero experience KEEPING these animals. You certainly shouldn't be breeding them.

Right place right time isn't a good reason to get into breeding years before you're ready.

Please, these are living creatures and not toys. For the sake of the animals please put breeding on the back burner....for a few years, at least....and learn about these animals. And I don't mean what you read or watch on YouTube, I mean years to learn by working with the animals. So please, don't jump into something you're nowhere near experienced enough to do. Not with living creatures.

[KSballer]

Research is a start, but breeding shouldn't even be on your radar for at least a few years.
You have basically zero experience KEEPING these animals. You certainly shouldn't be breeding them.

Right place right time isn't a good reason to get into breeding years before you're ready.

Please, these are living creatures and not toys. For the sake of the animals please put breeding on the back burner....for a few years, at least....and learn about these animals. And I don't mean what you read or watch on YouTube, I mean years to learn by working with the animals. So please, don't jump into something you're nowhere near experienced enough to do. Not with living creatures.

I appreciate your input. This was kind of already in my mind to begin with so hearing it from other people is definitely helpful. We’ll hold off and keep learning before we dive into this.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

It all depends, do you want to jeoperdized your other snake or do you want to be responsible and quarentine for at least 3 to 6 months.

Yes it's been said but I will put the emphasize on it again you do not breed a female you just brought a few days ago.

Over the years I can tell you of 2 people that lost most of their collection and their entire collection because they were so in a hurry to breed and could not wait, even though they knew better.

For the rest some good poi t have been made too many people get into breeding and have done zero research and get into a panicky when eggs are there, hatchlings don't want to eat etc.

[Danger noodles]

It all depends, do you want to jeoperdized your other snake or do you want to be responsible and quarentine for at least 3 to 6 months.

Yes it's been said but I will put the emphasize on it again you do not breed a female you just brought a few days ago.

Over the years I can tell you of 2 people that lost most of their collection and their entire collection because they were so in a hurry to breed and could not wait, even though they knew better.

For the rest some good poi t have been made too many people get into breeding and have done zero research and get into a panicky when eggs are there, hatchlings don't want to eat etc.

Are u trying to say it’s best to know how to swim before u jump into the ocean?

[Craiga 01453]

I appreciate your input. This was kind of already in my mind to begin with so hearing it from other people is definitely helpful. We’ll hold off and keep learning before we dive into this.

I think you're making the responsible choice. Nothing can educate you better than time and hands-on experience. Obviously I'm comparing apples and oranges here but...
A doctor goes to school for something like 100 years...then they do a residency....before being ready to be a doctor. All the books in the world can't teach experience.
I cook for a living. You can't just read a few cookbooks and hop on a line and be a chef.
My points are, there are reasons that pretty much any job, career, even a 6 year old has to go to dance class for months before getting on stage for a recital.

Take your time and enjoy these amazing animals. They're great pets, enjoy them.

[dr del]

Since I edited a post I might as well add my input.

It's not like we are telling people to not breed it's just that, as others have mentioned, we have seen whole collections wiped out by taking short cuts in quarantine.

It is tempting to think "well both snakes are in quarantine anyway so what is the risk" it's pretty much losing everything. The fact both snakes are new and in quarantine doesn't mean you get to use the same tools, equipment and proceedures for both - if they come from different places you need to do the whole qt checklist before moving from one snake to the other. Just as much as you would before moving from a new animal to an established animal. It seems overprotective at first but the first story you read about someone losing up to hundreds of snakes pretty much sells the precautions for most people.

it's a hard lesson to learn and it's one best learnt by seeing past tragedies than creating a new one.


del

[DandD]

Guess I’d better make a good name then. There seems to be an awful lot of beginner info here to be telling hobby breeders to go away just because they aren’t VPI or NERD. Solid advice though. I’ll definitely consider your opinion.

I didn’t mean for that post to come off snarky. I just read through and saw you decided to wait. Good choice.