So Patrick informed me I was getting a snake for my birthday in about two months (though it'll likely be early, so I can settle it in before he returns from.deployment). This is exciting: I need to build up my females. I have a $350-500 budget and a male bumblebee. I'm gunning for a double gene female. My goals? Pastave or pewter. However, there's a problem.
Pastaves have become rare unicorns- females especially.
Pewters? I've found about seven... all male!
Lithiums were a dream until I saw the price tags and how HARD they were to find.

All three of these are made from two COMMON genes... I can't believe my poor luck finding them. Search engines, classifieds, everything. And I don't want to get one Mojave and one cinny. I had my eyes set on a double gene; quality over quantity strikes me as better breeding and financial sense- though I'm years away from breeding or having so many snakes that my rodent bill hurts. Still, I'm trying to be diligent early on.

It just stinks because I want Mojave in my collection, and I like pewters and was excited at the possibility of one day making a Sterling

Suggestions on (available) morphs? I'm not looking for pinstripe at the moment and wary of having spider x spider (or is that 25% fatality wrong?)

Alternatively I did see a pretty Mojave het ghost, and I'm interested in Ghost projects in the future, but I'm not sure how she'd fit into my immediate situation.

On another note, two misc questions : I'm also planning on moving my two snakes into tubs with heat tape. As my male outgrows his, can.heat tape be moved?

My normal girl was a rescue originally and therefore I have no age for her.. at what age are females no longer fertile? The youngest she can possibly be is about 8-9, since she was a Hurricane Katrina rescue .