Opinions On Breeding Male Normal BCI (Aberrant) From A Business Standpoint?

[Aedryan Methyus]

A few months ago, I made an impulse purchase at a reptile expo and bought a 2015 male BCI normal aberrant. He will be 2 years old in September... Originally, when I got back into keeping snakes with the intentions of pursuing breeding as a sideline business/passionate hobby (like most of us), I had no intentions of buying or breeding normals, because of how the market seems to work (mostly consisting of other breeders and more serious collectors, etc). But, I thought this snake was really pretty and the vendor gave me a deal I couldn't refuse, so he is my baby now and I love him to death. Anyway, I am considering picking a girlfriend up for him, but I feel I should be very selective from a business standpoint. My main concern is, I want to end up with as few hungry normal Boas that no one wants to buy as possible. As a side note, I have a 2017 female Ghost Het Moonglow that is a possible super, but it will be a few years before she can be bred and my plan is to pick up a male Ghost Het Moonglow boyfriend for her at some point. I don't feel like I will be willing to take a chance on breeding her to a normal with only a 1/3 chance that she might be a super after waiting 5 years...

There are a few different specific Boa morphs that I would love to have, but from a business standpoint a super form of something would make the most sense if i'm going to breed this normal. I am a huge fan of Boas that are either black, silver, grey, white, red or any interesting color combination of those colors. I'm not a fan of mutations with speckles, freckles and broken patterns... I'm just looking for some ideas for really cool, yet affordable (maybe $300.00 - $500.00 range) super forms that would produce desirable/marketable offspring. Could you guys throw some ideas at me?

As far as non-super forms, I am considering a Motley or a Motley Parahet. If i'm not mistaken, a Normal x Motley would produce 50% Motley offspring, is that correct? And, also, if I understand correctly, a Normal x Paradigm would produce 100% Het Albino (Caramel-hypo) 100% Het Albino (Sharp), right? So, what would happen to those odds with a Normal x Motley Parahet?

I welcome all of your thoughts and ideas!

[snakequeen74]

A hypo motley would be a good choice. His abberant patterns may throw some cool babies, even if they are normals.

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[Aedryan Methyus]

The breeder also told me that if I were to breed him to a Hypo he could pass his aberrant markings on to the offspring... Is there some reason why he could only pass them on if crossed with a Hypo or could he pass them on no matter what he is crossed with?

[cchardwick]

I think from a business standpoint you probably want to breed most of your snakes as low end cheaper snakes. I just saw a video from a big breeder and he said that the majority of the snakes he breeds are corn snakes, and they are cheap. The demand is higher for a cheap snake. Anything above $300 and you are probably targeting possible breeders instead of your typical pet store hobbyist. I've seen people breed high end snakes and they seem to sell pretty slowly, not many people can whip out thousands of dollars to buy a snake. And in most cases it's an investment breeder making the purchase, not the general public.

With that said I'd say to purchase and breed what you really like. If they don't sell you can add them to your collection and sit on them until they do sell or perhaps you may want to keep them. Personally I have a mix of high end and low end snakes, from $50 up to about $1200. I'm planning on breeding and selling at shows, so when someone walks up to my table I'll can reach the largest variety of customers (big snakes, little snakes, cheap snakes, expensive snakes, colorful snakes, drab snakes, active snakes, lethargic snakes, etc..). If you have a few of each kind you'll get the most people coming to the table, especially if you have just one or two of a kind that most people don't have (like the Australian Woma pythons for example).

[paulh]

The hypo mutant gene is dominant to the corresponding normal gene. Mating a normal to a hypo would be expected to produce 1/2 hypo and 1/2 normal. IMO, the former owner meant that your normal's aberrant markings could be inherited by both the hypo and the normal babies.

Note the previous sentence says "could" instead of "would". If the aberrant markings are caused by something in the embryo's environment, than the offspring probably would not have the aberrant markings. Even if those aberrant markings are genetic, there are too many variables for me to predict what the offspring would look like.

A paradigm boa has a gene pair made up of a Sharp albino gene and a boawoman caramel (AKA Sharon Moore hypo) gene. A parahet is a normal looking baby from a normal x paradigm boa mating. A parahet is either het Sharp albino or het boawoman caramel, but you do not know which because both look normal. I would advise against getting a parahet because of the uncertainty of what you are getting, and particularly if you are getting snakes that are Kahl albino or het Kahl albino. A moonglow is a hypo Kahl albino anerythristic. A ghost is a hypo anerythristic. A ghost het moonglow is also known as a ghost het Kahl albino. Mating a Kahl albino to a Sharp albino produces 100% normal looking babies (both het Kahl albino and het Sharp albino). Such babies are practically worthless because people want to avoid mixing the two types of albino.

[Aedryan Methyus]

Thank you for your insight cchardwick! I really appreciate it! I agree completely with everything you touched on. I am brand new to the snake breeding/selling market, but it seems like I am pretty much correct about how the market works. Obviously, most people, who are just looking for a pet snake for themselves or their 10 year old child aren't going to care about what kind of genes an animal has in it or what kind of breeding potential it has. I would imagine their biggest concerns are going to be getting the cutest snake at the cheapest price possible. That's where normals and lower end mutations are perfect. My only concerns about that are, how many of those types of buyers are shopping online and/or going to reptile expos to buy a pet snake? It seems to me like most people would just go to their local pet store. Also, due to shipping costs, you have to drop the prices of your normals so much to be in the same ballpark as the local pet shops that you will be losing money by the time you add up all the costs of feeding each baby until it sells, etc. I mean, I have seen hatchling normal Ball Pythons online for only $25.00! lol So, yes... When I first decided to pursue this, I picked right up on the fact that the higher end, more sought after animals would mostly be a breeder/serious collector market.

I also completely agree with the importance of having a variety of snakes available. I can't wait until my collection is all grown up and producing! There are 3 monthly local reptile expos in my immediate area and I have never seen even one of most of the species that I will be producing. I suppose that could be good or bad, though, because mostly what I never see at the expos that I will be producing are Bloods, Borneos, Sumatrans or Womas. And, yes! I am happy to say I finally decided to buy a pair of Womas! lol There is no doubt in my mind that I will never have any problem selling Womas. I already get emails from people looking for them all the time. The Bloods i'm afraid, are going to be mostly a breeder/collector market, due to their adult size and unfortunate nasty reputation. Would you agree? Though, I am definitely going to become a strong advocate for "Bloods over Balls" as pets... lol

[Aedryan Methyus]

The hypo mutant gene is dominant to the corresponding normal gene. Mating a normal to a hypo would be expected to produce 1/2 hypo and 1/2 normal. IMO, the former owner meant that your normal's aberrant markings could be inherited by both the hypo and the normal babies.

Note the previous sentence says "could" instead of "would". If the aberrant markings are caused by something in the embryo's environment, than the offspring probably would not have the aberrant markings. Even if those aberrant markings are genetic, there are too many variables for me to predict what the offspring would look like.

A paradigm boa has a gene pair made up of a Sharp albino gene and a boawoman caramel (AKA Sharon Moore hypo) gene. A parahet is a normal looking baby from a normal x paradigm boa mating. A parahet is either het Sharp albino or het boawoman caramel, but you do not know which because both look normal. I would advise against getting a parahet because of the uncertainty of what you are getting, and particularly if you are getting snakes that are Kahl albino or het Kahl albino. A moonglow is a hypo Kahl albino anerythristic. A ghost is a hypo anerythristic. A ghost het moonglow is also known as a ghost het Kahl albino. Mating a Kahl albino to a Sharp albino produces 100% normal looking babies (both het Kahl albino and het Sharp albino). Such babies are practically worthless because people want to avoid mixing the two types of albino.

Excellent information! Thanks! So, if I go with a Motley female the odds would be 50/50, right? So, what would happen to the odds if I went with a Hypo Motley female? Because, some of the offspring would be Hypo, some would be Motley, some would be Hypo Motley and some would be normal, right? Or, would half be Hypo Motley and the other half normal? I'm a little confused on that...

[paulh]

Excellent information! Thanks! So, if I go with a Motley female the odds would be 50/50, right? So, what would happen to the odds if I went with a Hypo Motley female? Because, some of the offspring would be Hypo, some would be Motley, some would be Hypo Motley and some would be normal, right? Or, would half be Hypo Motley and the other half normal? I'm a little confused on that...

Right. Motley x normal is expected to produce 50% motley and 50% normal.

A hypo motley female would be an excellent choice. From what I have read on various forums, hypo motley x normal produces 50% hypo and 50% motley. There are no or almost no normal or hypo motley babies. The general belief is that hypo and motley can make a gene pair, like the Sharp albino gene and the boawoman caramel gene do.

By the way, don't try to mate a motley to a motley. Some of the babies would be super motley, which are weak and usually die before maturity.

Good luck.

[Aedryan Methyus]

Right. Motley x normal is expected to produce 50% motley and 50% normal.

A hypo motley female would be an excellent choice. From what I have read on various forums, hypo motley x normal produces 50% hypo and 50% motley. There are no or almost no normal or hypo motley babies. The general belief is that hypo and motley can make a gene pair, like the Sharp albino gene and the boawoman caramel gene do.

By the way, don't try to mate a motley to a motley. Some of the babies would be super motley, which are weak and usually die before maturity.

Good luck.

Yes, that is a shame about the Super Motleys, because those would be ideal for me to get into otherwise. I loves me some black snakes! I've read how they usually don't live past 2 years old. It sucks that the IMGs are still so pricey, too!

[chip07]

An eclipse can be fairly dark too. Not like an img but still dark.

Hypomotley female and a normal male. Would be 1/4 motley 1/4 Hypo 1/4 hypomotley and 1/4 normal. I personally wouldn't find use for normal male from a business stand point unless it was high quality. You can find some really high quality normals that go for over 400. Those are the pastel lines you see people selling.

I have an adult female that would be ready to breed at any point. But she's butt ugly if you are talking about breeding quality. Personally I think she's pretty but her normal babies would be 40$ tops.