Starting a breeding project. I would love opinions on morphs to acquire.

[h00blah]

$1000 will definitely MORE than cover the cost of housing for 6 total snakes. I have a rack that I paid $300 for that holds 5 levels of 28 qt tubs. I bought babies at an expo, so 28 qt tubs were too big, so I went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of 6 qt tubs with lids to house the babies. I also bought a bunch of 16 qt tubs for when they reach the 500/600 gram mark, and the rack came with 28 qt tubs. You could either purchase one of build one yourself. I would love to build one myself but I'm not confident that I would do a good job .. I'll leave it to the experienced haha.As far as what snakes you want to get, it really is up to you. There's different ways you can go about starting a breeding project.

What do you want to produce? Do you just want to start up a business producing base morphs sell? Do you want to produce some multi-gene morphs? Is there a particular morph you really want to produce a lot of? Not all adult females are 1k+. Adult proven breeder pastels can be $500 - $700. Adult proven breeder NORMALS go for around $100 - $250.

You can buy a backup male in case your mojo doesn't want to go. You could then start looking for a newish morph male to breed to your females. That would probably cost you some money, but I'm sure you'll have enough. Prices for that newish morph that you just bought will decrease, but you'll still probably be able to sell the offspring for a good price, make your money back, or maybe make a profit. It's all up to the odds gods and mother nature lol. Alternately, you can buy another morph male and sell the offspring from that. I would either get an enchi, calico, or a lesser/butter! Females are worth more than males, so I would be hoping for female morphs in those clutches lol. Great examples of each are going to cost more!

Another important factor to consider is the fact that you might not sell all your babies.. Be ready to care for all the babies that hatch out of the egg.. Ball pythons typically have ~6 egg clutches. 6 x 5 females is 30 babies that you would have to take care of.. Answer the questions mentioned above, and maybe we can give you some better feedback!


PS. It took me a long time to write this up because I'm at work.. You probably answered most of my questions already, but I'm posting this anyways .

[4Ballz]

If you're concerned about ROI, purchasing babies is the wrong way to go about it. You're talking about AT LEAST a 2 year ROI. You would also need to factor in every dollar you've spent during those 2 years into your ROI. The better option would be buying proven breeders and starting from there.

exactly. I am breeding my own rats and mice. food and housing cost for those, the materials and equipment to house your snakes. Sudden vet bills in case of emergency, lots to cover. Much like a reno, always double what you had originally planned. Best of luck (as I'm four snakes in atm, shooting for 12 breeders) with 23 rats and 6 mice.

[Slim]

Purchase double gene co-dom males. They are more bang for your buck in the long run. Since you've already purchased a Mojo male, you should look at picking up a Pastel Lesser or an Enchi Lesser for your second male. Both the Lesser gene and the Enchi gene do great things to clean and lighten the other morph genes when combined.

[ZBP]

I would say for sure get a lesser and a mystic female. I think the BEL's and Mystic potions are both pretty awesome looking and sell for quite a good chunk of change. Also most people suggest breeding your females at 1500g, but if you get them to the 1100-1200g range and they wont be up 300 grams in time for you to breed them go for it. A female won't lock up if she isn't ready and you can get a return on your money quicker and sometimes when you breed them earlier the babies may still sell for more. Best of luck, I'm just getting into this hobby as well and I can't wait.

[Slim]

A female won't lock up if she isn't ready

Where did you hear this?

[ZBP]

Where did you hear this?

A successful breeder.

[BFE Pets]

some breeders offer a pairing or breeding groups. royalconstrictordesigns.com has a few that im interested in. like a pinstripe albino male and 3 albino females for $2900. that would leave some room in your budget to grab a couple girl friends for that mojave you got. orange ghost are hot right now so maybe a trio of those. theres just sooooo much to choose from. its just what ever you like best. like ive got a pastave male paired with a lesser female, pewter female, and a bumble bee girl. that will give me some really good babies in my oppinion but others may not see it that way. I like it because if im not screwing up my punnet square i have very low chance at normals.

[PythonOutlaw]

Why do people always say, "pick morphs that look good too you"... If your looking at investing money into balls for breeding, wouldnt you go for a variety of morphs too broden your market which you sell too.

what looks good too you, may not be whats hot and everyone else likes.

[Slim]

If your looking at investing money into balls for breeding, wouldnt you go for a variety of morphs too broden your market which you sell too.

You breed what you like, so if you can't sell them you aren't stuck with a bunch of animals you don't enjoy.

BTW, except for a few, BP breeding is a money losing endeavor, so you might as well make snakes you like.

[Mike41793]

Where did you hear this?

Ive heard it too before too on here, dont have any proof tho.