As someone slowly learning the ropes to be a new breeder and raising up a decent number of morph females, here are my thoughts on the matter:
I simply adore ball python morphs. The thought of breeding two snakes with multiple genes together and waiting to see what the randomizer gives me in each egg is an amazing thought. I wouldn't be too interested in breeding normals together (despite a fascination for watching eggs hatch) due to not feeling confident in finding a good home for the babies, though. I plan on breeding expensive morphs together because I know there's a demand for them, and if someone's going to pay me a decent chunk of money for him or her (whether that's $200 or $2000 or $20,000), I know the animal is most likely going to be treated properly due to the investment the other put into the purchase. It's not a promise, of course, but it's a likelihood. Why mistreat an animal you invested so much money in at the risk of it becoming ill or dying?
The money matters to me too. Making money through this hobby is going to matter. The reason? So I can continue investing it in buying more excellent examples of morphs and supporting other breeders by doing so and expanding the genetic pool of my collection. Money helps me buy an unrelated male DH albino/pied when I breed my albino and pied in hopes for females in order to avoid inbreeding as best I can and produce healthier animals as a result. Money helps me invest in a brand new gene for my collection that I could then breed to my other animals to produce more beautiful animals. Money helps feed animals and purchase new racks and pay for trips to the vet with more ease than simply paying those expenses out of pocket. Would I pay them out of pocket? Of course! No animal would go hungry or without proper environment or care, but it's a whole lot easier when your hobby can break even or earn some profit to reinvest back into it.
I don't expect to make a living off breeding ball pythons and I can't say I'd really want to. I just want to breed what I think is beautiful and the market can sustain. I wouldn't want to breed animals that the market had no demand for out of fear that they wouldn't be able to be sold to good homes. I could keep them, of course, and don't plan on breeding anything I can't support if it were left unsold, but part of my reason for breeding is to share my creations with others and to see them appreciate the results as much as I did when producing them. It's the same reason that -- despite loving the idea of breeding ball pythons in general -- I wouldn't breed a normal x normal or a co-dom x normal, simply because I don't feel the market needs more breedings of that sort.
Well, that's just the thought of a newbie. Your mileage may vary.
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