Is bp breeding a good idea

[futurereptilebreeder]

Hi everyone I just bought an albino bp from marki reptiles. She had an ri, mouth rot and minor scale rot. I want to breed her and I've been researching it for a very long time. I was thinking about buying a really nice enchi male 66% ph albino from exotics by nature. Has anyone heard of them? And I'm not in it for the money I just love bps and want to get a collection started. Is it a good Idea for a fourteen year old?

[Spiritserpents]

I would spend a year first just taking care of her. Learn as much as you can about genetics, and make sure she's healthy enough to breed. Also, if/when you do get a male for her, find one that is at least 100% albino. 66% means there is a 33% chance the snake is NOT het for albino.

[Blue Apple Herps]

I agree, especially with the get a 100% het male part. Albino isn't a super rare gene that would be worth gambling on possible hets and IMO it's worth putting out a little more coin for a 100% het. That way you'd be pretty much guaranteed to get F1 visuals. Especially with a co-dom morph.

[J.P.]

breeding balls may or may not be a good idea depending on your plans. assuming you plan on selling the offspring, can you home the ones that do not sell?
a better idea is to build your collection, and think about the breeding part later on. after you have an understanding of the efforts and expenses involved in keeping a number of snakes. snake keeping is not about how many you have but about how many you can sustain. at first i dreamed of having a really large collection, but after keeping some for a while, there came a time when i reached a threshold that my hobby is becoming a lot like work due to the number of animals, and the expenses is hurting my finances, so i had to stop. if i want a new morph, i give up one of my exisiting snakes in order to maintain that comfortable level at which i can enjoy. this is my first year trying to breed balls, if i'm successful i will sell, if nobody buys i have a ton of friends and relatives that want pet snakes.....

[J.P.]

just to add. do not go on a buying spree. buy bps one at a time, and buy only when you are sure you can handle another one. so that you do not wake up one morning and realize you have too many....

[Pythonfriend]

at age 14, if you want to get into breeding, i think its really important to have the full support of your parents, and that you can rely on their help if something goes wrong or if you feel overwhelmed.

i think it can be a great learning experience, i see no problem, except that you are basically spending your parents money and will be using space that is technically in their home. so they also should have a say and be involved in some decisions.

i think breeding and building the collection go hand in hand.

about the genetics... for a female visual albino, i would get a male that is at least 100% het albino, if not a visual albino, and should also have an extra gene. maybe something like spider 100% het albino, or enchi 100% het abino.

[futurereptilebreeder]

Hi everyone I just bought an albino bp from marki reptiles. She had an ri, mouth rot and minor scale rot. I want to breed her and I've been researching it for a very long time. I was thinking about buying a really nice enchi male 66% ph albino from exotics by nature. Has anyone heard of them? And I'm not in it for the money I just love bps and want to get a collection started. Is it a good Idea for a fourteen year old?

I have wanted a bp 4 4years and that's how long I've been doing my research. Also the reason I want a enchi poss het albino is because enchi het albinos are $500-700. Plus I spend my own money on my animals thank you for all of your advice and responses

[J.P.]

why don't you get another morph that's 100% het albino aside from the enchi? enchi wouldn't be doing a lot for the albino (aesthetically), a spider or pin would look crazier since they're pattern mutations, so if you combine that with a color morph like the albino, the result really stands out. this is just my opinion, others may think otherwise.. check out internet photos and maybe you'd agree.

also, you have a lot of time to spare before that female is ready for breeding, perhaps with the declining trend in prices, you'd be able to afford a suitable male once the female is ready for breeding.

[CptJack]

I have wanted a bp 4 4years and that's how long I've been doing my research. Also the reason I want a enchi poss het albino is because enchi het albinos are $500-700. Plus I spend my own money on my animals thank you for all of your advice and responses

Spending your own money on the animals is great, but it really doesn't change the fact that you're in their house and what you are looking to do is effectively run a business out of it. One that involves animals that, four years to eight years (depending on if you go to college, if you do and live at home, or if you wait until you've graduated to move out) so from now, you're going to probably have to leave behind for long periods of time because it's a rare rental that is okay with a SNAKE BREEDING BUSINESS as opposed to a pet snake or two. Which means they're going to have to be on board with that -as well as the whole driving you around for two more years (how are you getting these baby snakes to customers, or are you keeping them all? How are you getting to the vet? How are you getting supplies) and dealing with the risks factors associated with selling. They're also WHO IS LIABLE if a customer or someone sues you.

This is a big deal and you REALLY have to either have your parents on board or need to wait until you're in your own house. And by that I mean own, not an apartment rental. Even if you find a cool landlord, moving with a snake breeding project is going to be awfully hard, and when you're young your job will change frequently and mobility is important.

I let my 15 year old get a snake. I'd let him get a couple of more. If he tried to start a breeding project in his bedroom I would explain most of the above as best I could and make sure he understood WHY it wasn't happening - but it wouldn't be happening for those reasons. Mostly the liability, and fact that I don't want a breeding project and he's 3 years from moving out with a very low likelyhood of moving out to somewhere all those snakes could go. I? Don't want a ball python breeding project and business. So yeah. No.

[joshm]

Hi there this is Joshua over at Marki Reptiles. Not sure who the poster is as I haven't had anyone contact me regarding anything I've sold to anyone of late and haven't sold an albino anything in 2014. Glad to see whoever you are that you signed up this morning here as it's a great place to find information on the care and keeping of ball pythons as well as meet others who enjoy the hobby. If your having an issue with any animal the first thing to do would be to contact the breeder and discuss your issue with the animal to see what can be done to resolve it. Most of us who do this as our living have spend decades working with animals and if at 14 you need help or concern with something you buy contacting the breeder directly often you can learn from them and and resolve whatever issue your having. Follow up addressing all kinds of things from health, housing, feeding etc. is a large part of working with animals and something any good breeder would be happy to do. Posting something of this nature on a public forum without having contacted the breeder at any point can for some lead to sore feelings as your post suggest that as a breeder I would have sent you a less then perfect animal. Now for me as I can recall I haven't sold an albino anything in 2014 so "recent" is not an accurate statement. Nor have I ever sold an animal with any of the issues you have mentioned above to anyone. If I had animals offering mouth rot, ri, and scale rot? Goodness I wouldn't be selling animals very long! After the sale of thousands of animals this being the first and only negative post found on the internet about my company speaks volumes more then I can of the quality and care of animals I offer. Whomever you are I wish you luck in the full recovery of your animal however it developed these issues. With proper care, husbandry and a reptile focused veterinarian you should be able to correct whatever isn't working for your animal within your home. That said I hope this is a lesson learned not just for you but anyone who reads this post. Buying an animal is a commitment. One that if you find you are having an issue with needs addressed as soon as you see it. Don't be afraid to ask when something isn't right. Contact the seller, get on a good forum like this one here, find a good local vet etc. These examples would have gone far farther to help you and your animal months ago then this post here has today.