The sperm would cost less than buying and maintaining a male. Sperm from a stud is invariably less than the cost of the stud, in any species.

Inserting the sperm is usually very easy, and with minimal training a "layman" can do so in several domestic species. It's not as if the hemipene of a male python insert to a unusual depth during mating.

Yes, it's pricier than using a male you have on hand, but it's less pricy than owning a special combo snake if it's a high-end morph combo. Also, some of the other species like rare boa localities could be better preserved.

All the "what about retained sperm" or "what if she doesn't take" are the same risks if you did a regular breeding loan too.

AI was once considered crazy for horses and such too. Who's to say that most pet species will not be created via AI in another 20 years? It's certainly less risky to ship frozen sperm than to ship a stud.

I thought the argument was whether it was "right" to use AI, not the technicalities of if it would be possible though.

Also, if you could use DNA testing to see whether a line of caramel carried the kinking issue, would it be considered okay to test for that? You could avoid breeding kinked babies if there was a test for the issue. Or would that be cheating too?