Great Googly Moogly

[jonjacobjingle]

Hello everyone .... I have found that when I become interested in something forums are the best way for me to learn. a long time ago I have a Boa but ....well it was a lond time ago. I decided it was time to revisit and I like what I have read about Ball Pythons so I told my wonderful wife (skeptical but I know her well ...she will end up fighting over which one of us gets to care for it) this was what I wanted to get.

So here is my first noob question:

How do I find a reputable dealer in my area? (currently milwaukee WI)
Thanks JJJ

[Maddumpling]

isnt that title from two and a half men?

[Mft62485]

isnt that title from two and a half men?

I think Great Googly Moogly is a Project Pat song.

[Eric Doane]

It's good googaly moogaly. Project pat. That ain't a monkey hangin off your back girl, thats donkey kong

[loonunit]

Garrick DeMeyer is up in Wausau:

http://www.royalconstrictordesigns.com/contact-us

I'm sure there must be plenty of smaller reputable operations more immediately local to you, I just don't know the upper midwest as well. Are you looking for a nice normal, or a morph?

[SHROP]

if your looking for reputable Garrick is a very good guy.

[jonjacobjingle]

It's good googaly moogaly. Project pat. That ain't a monkey hangin off your back girl, thats donkey kong

Actually I got it from a snickers commercial year ago..... when the field caretaker painted the chefs in the end zone.

Garrick DeMeyer is up in Wausau:

http://www.royalconstrictordesigns.com/contact-us

I'm sure there must be plenty of smaller reputable operations more immediately local to you, I just don't know the upper midwest as well. Are you looking for a nice normal, or a morph?

On this (the highlighted section) I say a big HUH???
I am truely a new wannabe and I have no Idea what those terms mean. When I had previous ownership I was young and just bought one from some store and that was it. Also any info you can think of to give someone new to this area of life would be great.
I love to research and I love to learn from anyone that is knowledgable. Thank you all and anyone who has help for me

[heathers*bps]

Welcome to bp.net! Make sure you read over the great caresheets we have and research as much as you can about ball pythons. Don't ever be afraid to ask questions, how else would you learn the answer?
When loonunit asked about a normal or a morph, he meant are you looking for the average everyday normal ball python, or a nice morph, which pattern and color are completely different. Whenever you get the chance, check out www.worldofballpythons.com and check out the morph list. You will be amazed at the number of morphs of ball pythons and how amazing they all look!

[heathers*bps]

Oh, and I want that bp in your avatar!!! Lol

[loonunit]

On this (the highlighted section) I say a big HUH???
I am truely a new wannabe and I have no Idea what those terms mean. When I had previous ownership I was young and just bought one from some store and that was it.

Okee dokey! Here it comes...

A "normal" is just your average, found-in-the-wild, petstore ball python. Also known as "wild type", and 99% percent of animals in the wild are just that. There's a lot of variation in normal ball python color and patterning, you can get an idea by looking at the notorious "is this a morph?" section of the forum:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/forum...s-This-A-Morph

Most of the animals that make it into that section are normals, or occasionally "dinkers"---nominally wild-type animals with characteristic patterns or colors that suggest they might be worth breeding to see if there's something genetic going on.

A "proven morph", on the other hand, is an aberrant color or pattern that has been proven to be genetically inheritable. They're usually straightforward genetic recessive (both parents have to carry the gene) or dominant (a single parent can pass it on) traits. Or occasionally co-dominant (two parents with the gene can result in "supers": animals carrying two copies of the gene that are much more spectacular than the single-gene version.)

The basics of ball python morph genetics are on the morphology pages:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/forum...hon-Morphology

NERD (New England Reptile Distributors) has a pretty good visual aide for grasping the full range of available morphs:

http://newenglandreptile.com/nerd/in...ollection.html

Though even that picture isn't completely up-to-date. For a full list of possible ball python morphs, check out the World of Ball Pythons:

http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/

The morph/normal terminology works pretty similarly for boas and corn snakes and most other commonly bred snakes.

... the important thing, though, is that morphs cost money, because they're very rare. For ball pythons, we're talking anywhere from $100 -$50,000. (!) Why? Because in the wild, these animals are very, very rare---maybe 1% of the imports from Africa are known morphs. In captivity, they've become quite common, as people breed for these colors and patterns, and the prices drop as availability increases.... but the small clutch sizes of ball pythons plus the increasing popularity of the animals mean that it's still a wacky high-priced market.

If you're a true newbie, you might want to just get a nice healthy normal animal or a "het". (A "het" is a "heterozygous gene carrier"---a normal-looking animal that's secretly carrying a single copy of a recessive trait.) These usually run $20-$100. Breeders try to produce fancy animals, but the genetic odds mean that they make plenty of normal ones along the way. The normals make great, healthy pets... so if you're not quite sure what you're doing yet, it's better to make sure you can keep an animal healthy and happy before you spend lots of $$$.

Personally? I got into ball pythons because a friend bought a normal, and I thought it was just gorgeous. (I still do.) But then I saw my first piebald, and I almost fell down.... so my first snake was a male het pied.