Desert problems

[ColoradoConstrictors]

I think the more people who get involved in the project, the faster we'll know what's up! Those brave enough to buy them early get a chance at a huge payout if they breed as well as we all hope they do.

im purchasing a female for 150 and i pray she proves out! im willing to throw down 150 dollars to prove out snakes and make 2000 dollar snakes. wish me luck.

[Royal Hijinx]

im purchasing a female for 150 and i pray she proves out! im willing to throw down 150 dollars to prove out snakes and make 2000 dollar snakes. wish me luck.

The money is not the point. It is pretty well known at this point that attempting to breed a female Desert may KILL HER. I hope you have taken that in to consideration.

[mybandit90]

Ive purchased a male and female desert both are pro exotics blood lines i plan on working with the females i personally dont see a lost cause i see a diamond in the rough, the desert gene was found in the wild how would the gene thrive without being able to reproduce? there is a way nobody has figured it out yet people just need to think outside of the box and venture out of the traditional route

[Valentine Pirate]

Ive purchased a male and female desert both are pro exotics blood lines i plan on working with the females i personally dont see a lost cause i see a diamond in the rough, the desert gene was found in the wild how would the gene thrive without being able to reproduce? there is a way nobody has figured it out yet people just need to think outside of the box and venture out of the traditional route

See Jinx's post. It's not a matter of thinking outside the box, it's a life threatening ordeal to put them through. Your snakes and your choice, but I hope you put more thought into it for the snake's sake

[rabernet]

Ive purchased a male and female desert both are pro exotics blood lines i plan on working with the females i personally dont see a lost cause i see a diamond in the rough, the desert gene was found in the wild how would the gene thrive without being able to reproduce? there is a way nobody has figured it out yet people just need to think outside of the box and venture out of the traditional route

The males reproduce. They aren't a recessive gene. The females do not reproduce and enough bigger guys than casual hobbiests have tried enough times that THEY care enough about the life of a single female to not ever breed females again.

With all the cases of females dying, any one else trying would be blatantly giving their females a death sentence, which I personally find extremely wreckless.

Even if ONE person successfully got a female to reproduce, it would only serve to be a death sentence to more females as others tried to be that 1% chance.

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[RobNJ]

people just need to think outside of the box and venture out of the traditional route

Do you have any "outside of the box" suggestions? Keeping ball pythons is hardly rocket science, and while many people have different opinions and such, there are still well defined parameters as to what can and can't be done with them.

My biggest worry these days is the people buying a desert female because prices have dropped through the floor thinking they are going to be the ones to "crack the code" and be able to breed them successfully, despite a number of well documented fails. This is the biggest reason I'd never buy a desert male to breed...I don't want the burden of selling females, no matter how inexpensively, knowing that people will no doubt go ahead a breed them anyway.

[TessadasExotics]

I bet you a lot of the bigger breeders, or any smart breeder, has gotten rid of all of their Desert stuff. It is a dead end project. I know that George Sampson ditched his. Why spend the effort and the space on something that is going to produce useless pet females? Females are USELESS. The way odds work yes you could end up with a clutch of males, but guess what? You can also end up with a clutch of all females.
There is no "magic" formula to get females to produce and live.

Not saying that no one should or will mess with the Desert anymore.think about it. Females are not worth 300 imo. They are less valuable than a normal. I think males are still way to overvalued. I have seen them selling in the 300-400 range so far. Which I think better suits the project.

[Serpent_Nirvana]

My biggest worry these days is the people buying a desert female because prices have dropped through the floor thinking they are going to be the ones to "crack the code" and be able to breed them successfully, despite a number of well documented fails. This is the biggest reason I'd never buy a desert male to breed...I don't want the burden of selling females, no matter how inexpensively, knowing that people will no doubt go ahead a breed them anyway.

My feelings exactly.

Especially since people still insist on referring to the females as "useless" ... To me, it demonstrates that we as a hobby are still just too focused on breeding, breeding, breeding for the idea of a "pet only" animal to stick.

Personally, I'd love to have a tiger or other combo desert female as a pet -- I think they're gorgeous, and that way I can have one to gawk at without messing around with the potential ethical issues of selling females. I do agree, however, that $300 is still way too high to pay for a desert female when there are so many other morphs that are available for <$300 -- some of which, like the albino, appeal much more to the average pet owner ..!

[pythnsnkmn]

I have considered getting into the deserts. My wife and I have no problem keeping the females as pets or give them to my kids, but then again I don't want to get into a project that ends up dead. Desert combos are amazing looking, but I can't keep them all