Quality of breeding stock

[nimblykimbly]

Soooo uhhh, what are you guys' thoughts on my Pastel??

Juuust kidding! She's still a baby, hoping she doesn't brown out, but so far so good!

[RoseyReps]

I really would like a grading system for babies although it would need to be monitored and policed by the most experienced breeders in each morph. The logistics would be a feat, but to sell a "A" quality enchi would be that snake is an excellent example of the morph and meets certain qualities. A "C" quality would be pet quality or something similar.
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I had actually planned on integrating a grading system into my website once we are hatching/selling little ones. I was going to use a similar scale to http://www.fireandicedragons.com/pricing.cfm which is this (Note, this would be a general guideline, as working with bp's you don't have the vast numbers that dragons produce.):

How we generally rank quality:
1. Pet Quality - The 2 or 3 dragons in each clutch with the least amount of color. These are available at a low cost and show more color than pet store dragons.

2. Breeder Quality - These dragons are average in color for the clutch. This group is medium priced.

3. Hold Back Quality - These are intensely colored dragons; the top 2 or 3 in the whole clutch. Our breeders come from this group.

4. Collectors Quality - These are the best of the best. Maybe 1 dragon per clutch. Our breeders come from this group.

Obviously I will need to tweek it, as I see how things pan out over the years. But it's a start! I think it would be practically impossible to have a "standard" among the community, as has been stated, because of the opinions varying so much on certain traits.

[Joshua Jasper]

The sterling vs. Pewter should be obvious, but it happens so often!

Another problem - people try to pass of genetic combinations in snakes when they purchased it as something else and either labeled it something or "suggest" without proving it out.

Example: I know someone locally who picked up a female normal in a collection sell and is now calling it an Orange Dream without evidence or proof. Hasn't even bred her yet. Not gonna lie, this pisses me off to no end. Here I am, just dropped $1500 on what I think is a phenomenal OD female from a reputable breeder and here we have what could be irreparable damage to the gene as a whole.

What do you do? What can you do? I am all about quality, not quantity.

This is a great thread everyone! Thank you!
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[nimblykimbly]

I have thought a lot about it but would need participation from the big breeders on defining the "A" standards for each base morph that we could then use to compare. There would be a certain reliance on honesty on our part, but we should have a morph description and way to accurately and fairly grade our clutches. I would definitely grade one of my babies a "C" if I felt it was a poor example.

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I wonder if something like this could be worked out... I think it would benefit us all. And I would definitely rate any of my babies a 'C' if I felt that's what quality they were... I'd rather be forthright and sell a pet quality as it is, and for less than seem like I'm putting them out there regardless of quality as 'potential breeders'... maybe as I become more skilled at these kinds of things and if there is no system set up by then, I will label my 'for sale' snakes as 'pet quality' if I feel they are that....

[Joshua Jasper]

I had actually planned on integrating a grading system into my website once we are hatching/selling little ones. I was going to use a similar scale to http://www.fireandicedragons.com/pricing.cfm which is this (Note, this would be a general guideline, as working with bp's you don't have the vast numbers that dragons produce.):

How we generally rank quality:
1. Pet Quality - The 2 or 3 dragons in each clutch with the least amount of color. These are available at a low cost and show more color than pet store dragons.

2. Breeder Quality - These dragons are average in color for the clutch. This group is medium priced.

3. Hold Back Quality - These are intensely coexcellenr!
lored dragons; the top 2 or 3 in the whole clutch. Our breeders come from this group.

4. Collectors Quality - These are the best of the best. Maybe 1 dragon per clutch. Our breeders come from this group.

Obviously I will need to tweek it, as I see how things pan out over the years. But it's a start! I think it would be practically impossible to have a "standard" among the community, as has been stated, because of the opinions varying so much on certain traits.

Excellent, and this tells me right off the bat you are a responsible breeder who cares about the quality of the animals you produce. I plan on integrating something similar for my breedings and on my website. Just wish it could be standardized across the board. Like a quality stamp of approval for breeder's who integrate it.

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[Joshua Jasper]

I wonder if something like this could be worked out... I think it would benefit us all. And I would definitely rate any of my babies a 'C' if I felt that's what quality they were... I'd rather be forthright and sell a pet quality as it is, and for less than seem like I'm putting them out there regardless of quality as 'potential breeders'... maybe as I become more skilled at these kinds of things and if there is no system set up by then, I will label my 'for sale' snakes as 'pet quality' if I feel they are that....

I am planning on on having a grading system for each snake we produce with thorough descriptions why I think this enchi is an "A" and this one is a "B" and o on. I would love to see it catch on so we all stand by the quality we are putting out there 100%. I know we are small, but you never know!
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[nimblykimbly]

I had actually planned on integrating a grading system into my website once we are hatching/selling little ones. I was going to use a similar scale to http://www.fireandicedragons.com/pricing.cfm which is this (Note, this would be a general guideline, as working with bp's you don't have the vast numbers that dragons produce.):

How we generally rank quality:
1. Pet Quality - The 2 or 3 dragons in each clutch with the least amount of color. These are available at a low cost and show more color than pet store dragons.

2. Breeder Quality - These dragons are average in color for the clutch. This group is medium priced.

3. Hold Back Quality - These are intensely colored dragons; the top 2 or 3 in the whole clutch. Our breeders come from this group.

4. Collectors Quality - These are the best of the best. Maybe 1 dragon per clutch. Our breeders come from this group.

Obviously I will need to tweek it, as I see how things pan out over the years. But it's a start! I think it would be practically impossible to have a "standard" among the community, as has been stated, because of the opinions varying so much on certain traits.

This is a GREAT idea! Mind if I steal it from you as well (obviously, tweaked for BPs)? for when I am selling?

[RoseyReps]

Go for it Maybe we can all work on editing a general guideline like this and use it. As Josh stated, we may be small, but perhaps it will catch on.

[Luke Martin]

Ever wonder why you cannot find a nice Enchi or Pastel (or whatever)? IMO the simple answer is a lot of folks just breed whatever quality of stock together and then sell off the numerous sub par examples.

This may be the only thing I kind of disagree with. Quality animals can produce sub par animals. Line breeding takes time and you're not going to be producing amazing animals all the time only because your breeders are nice looking. Most of the time, the reason you see the sub par quality animals for sale is because the breeder held back the best quality, or it sold before most people even saw the animal. A lot of the stuff you see on the classifieds are the lesser quality animals, because the high quality gets picked up first. Not disagreeing with your premise, just offering a reason for it over blaming most breeders for selling sub par animals based on their breeding stock.

[RoseyReps]

Perhaps something like this -

Pet Quality - These are the pythons with the least favorable coloring/pattern, but the most affordable.

Beginner Breeding Quality - These pythons are mid range, showing decent coloration/pattern for the morph. The majority of our babies fall in this category. Market price.

Superior Quality - These pythons go above and beyond the morph standard, showing excellent coloring/pattern. Our breeders come from this group. Priced according to market, with additional quality mark up.

Holdbacks / Breeders - These are our personal stock. Sometimes we will have pythons here we have bred in the past, who have been replaced by their offspring. All of these are Superior Quality, and priced accordingly.