Looking to buy my first BP

[FlipsideJohn]

Hi, Im looking to buy my first BP (hatchling) from a reputable breeder either online or at a local reptile expo soon. I decided I'm going to get a female first in case I want to breed in a few years once shes of weight. Breeding isn't a for sure thing, but its definitely a possibility. I want to spend around $150 on this female and I was wondering what would be a good morph that can create some nice hatchlings. If I do breed in the future I plan on spending a lot more money on the male so I can create nicer looking morphs.
So basically what are some nice morphs that are priced around $150 that are pretty enough to be bred?

-Thanks

[mues155]

Honestly your not going to have much of a variety with that budget.
Pastels or normals it's all i can really think of for females right now.

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[Himitsu]

Even Normals are pretty. But if you are looking for a morph I think your $150 limit kind of constricts you to just a Pastel. For just a bit more ($200 more or so) you could expand that to Pinstripes, Spiders, Mojaves, Black Pastels... um... Albinos. I am no expert on it and have only been to 2 shows (August 18th will be my third one), but at $150 you can't really get much more than a Normal or Pastel.

[spud6]

idk but ybs also may be in that price range

[angllady2]

Because females do breed, your selection will be much more limited with a small budget than if you were buying a male. Here in St. Louis, you could pick up an average Pastel for that. Maybe a lower quality Yellowbelly if you were fortunate. You might even be lucky enough to find a so-so spider for that. That's about it.

Males on the other hand. You could get a nice pastel, a decent yellowbelly, a fairly nice spider, occasionally even a nice mojave, sometimes a woma, once in a while you'll see an all right cinnamon for that.

Unfortunately, if you want high quality snakes that will produce high quality offspring, you will pay a premium for them. Now, on the other hand, this time of year, you can sometimes find really nice big normal females that have recently dropped clutches and are up for sale. This has is benefits and it's drawbacks. For one thing, since the animal is mature, you already know what you see is what you get. And there are really nice normals out there that bring a lot to the game when combined with the right morphs. On the other hand, you have no way of knowing if that female will be ready to lay again in the upcoming season. You might invest in her, feed her up, and try for eggs, only to get nothing. It's very frustrating, I've done it myself.

Your best bet might be to start small, with an inexpensive normal to learn the in's and out's of care, and save your dimes for a really worthwhile female later in the year. You can usually find some sweet deals around the holidays, just like for anything else.

Gale

[1nstinct]

With a budget like that your looking at very basic morphs(not thats theirs anything wrong with them). Your looking at yellow bellies, pastels(not high quality ones), larger normals, Hets for either ghost or albino. and thats about it. Is $150 for everything(cage,heating,hides etc)? or just the snake alone. If you are looking for females i would say look at a het albino(or ghost) or a pastel, there will always be plenty to morphs revolving around pastels/hypos. Or what you could do is save up a little more money and just get a banana. then you would make everyone on here really jealous.

[RetiredJedi]

You might squeeze out a pinstripe for that much..MAYBE! I got my pinstripe for $175 at Repticon.

[FlipsideJohn]

Thanks for all the replies. I wanted to spend $150 on just the snake, and then supplies separate. I've been looking at BHB reptiles and Royal Constrictor Designs and there is a big difference in price. It seems like BHB's morphs are a lot cheaper.. $60-$100 cheaper. Are they cheaper because of quality or because one breeder is able to produce more?
Second questions, would I be better off picking up a normal locally? I see some nice looking normals online but shipping costs more than the snake itself so I feel like it isn't worth it to buy online.

[angllady2]

Well, quality has something to do with it. I bought a 600 gram female pinstripe at Tinley from Garrick. Despite the fact I could have bought a breeding size female for the same amount from someone else. However, Garrick's pin was exactly what { I } wanted, so I paid his price and I have never regretted it. I'm not knocking BHB, I've never bought from them. But with Garrick, you buy quality and pay for quality.

As to getting a normal, I'd hit a local reptile show. Not only should you be able to get a decent snake at a good price, you will have the chance to chat up some local breeders and find out a lot of information first hand. Besides, you just might see something you like, and know who to contact later on when you are ready to morph shop.

Gale

[meowmeowkazoo]

A reptile show would be your best bet to get a low price. And nothing wrong at all with starting out with a pastel female. The pastel gene does nothing but good to anything it's combined with.