I recently discovered that I love keeping snakes as pets, and I am totally loving my pair of ball pythons. I think I would like to keep several more and begin breeding morphs. I don't have any illusions of getting rich off snake breeding (I make enough at my job, thx) however I would like to at least be able to eventually recoup the immense costs of buying my initial breeding stock. I am seriously considering spending about 2k on a pair of het pieds and a pair of het albinos at topshelfexotic.com in the near future. What I am looking for is just any advice you can give to someone starting out... often the most important questions when getting into something like this are the ones you don't know to ask. The ones that have been on my mind are, what should i start with and what should my startup strategy be (e.g., spend lots early on the double recessives or go for the less expensive hets or possible hets? Concentrate on one or two main morphs or go for a variety? Work with recessives, co-doms, or some combination?) Also are there certain types of breeders I should avoid buying from? Should I buy online or wait for the chance to go to shows? Also for those of you who are already into breeding bp morphs, is it is rewarding as you'd hoped? Do you find that you spend a lot of time with your expensive morphs or tend to keep them safely in their homes? To me this seems like a really interesting hobby with the opportunity to play with some mendelian genetics, plus the fun of caring for ball pythons, which so far have won my title of "best pet ever." And I've had a lot of different pets! Anyway hope this stirs up some good discussion and feedback.
Thanks!
-Justin