Holdbacks & Growing Your Collection

[bcr229]

Regardless of gender?

Example: I have eggs incubating now from a mojave x lesser pairing. If (fingers crossed) there's just one BEL in the clutch then it will be held back regardless of gender. If the odds are in my favor and there are more than one, then it depends... if there are two males or two females, I'll hold back one. If a male and female BEL are in the clutch then I'll keep both.

[serpenttongues]

I personally have planned all my future breedings with hopes of certain snakes hatching. I would holdback those specific snakes, and if any happened to be male, they would replace their father unless I like him too much. Also any absolutely exquisite hatchlings would probably have to stay with me, too.


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[MasonC2K]

I think it all comes down to personally preference.

For me, it's 2 or 3 things.

1) Am I shooting for something specific for...well...me? And I hit it?! Hell yeah I am keeping it.
2) Not something I aimed for but it's a combo I don't have. Or a gender I don't have for that morph. Maybe I'll keep it if I like the look.
3) Something completely unexpected. So I am gonna keep it to dink around with.

Everything else gets sold.

That's just me though.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I tried as much as possible to follow the original plan, during the first few years I held back the best looking females to grow them and one day breed them to make even higher end combos.

Now I hold back both males and females, always the best example and always trying to follow the main plan, of course this means as I holdback 2, and 3 genes animals and as they become ready to breed, I let go of single gene animals to make sure that the collection keeps a size that I am comfortable with.

[PitOnTheProwl]

I started and still am breeding for female holdbacks for future plans.
However if I get a good looking two gene that could replace a couple males then so be it.
I started very male heavy. I am almost at a 1.1 ratio.
A couple more seasons and then if everything goes right my male population will get cut way back on my visuals.
Have to make room for a bunch of 😉hets😉 that will need to be grown out.

[Royal Hijinx]

I will hold back no more than ONE animal per clutch. Only way to keep things sane on my end.

Now, if it is a female, hooray more females.

But, if it is male, it needs to be one that I am comfortable replacing his father with. This keeps the number of males in check.

Ex. #1: Desert Ghost X Enchi - Held back one female Enchi het DG
Ex. #2: Hypo Mojave X Black Pewter het Hypo - Held back a Hypo Black Pewter Mojave to replace the Hypo Mojave dad

There well could be clutches down the road where I do not hit the right snake I am looking for, and hold back zero.

[bunnykit]

This is my first season as well, but I decided even before the eggs came how I would do things.
I decided that a snake with a nice combo, such as lesserbee or queenbee would be holdbacks no matter the gender since they are on my morph wish list, the rest I will probably sell.

I did get a lesserbee, but not a queen, so the lesserbee is a keeper no matter gender because it is smoking hot and I wanted that morph. I also have a bumblebee that I might keep if it's a female. I don't know their genders yet, because I SUCK at popping and will ask a friend to check later on xD For now they need to grow and eat, so no rush there.

I also have a clutch coming soon from a spinnerblast, so I might get a nicer looking bumblebee from that one since this first one is a little too brown for my taste. If I get another spinnerblast female I might keep it and let it get big, and then sell/trade or breed it myself when it's adult, their value increase over time so I don't mind holding onto some babies for future value.

I do know however that before the eggs hatch next year I might have to re-prioritize things, since I will be breeding a butterfire to bumblebee/spinner/spinnerblast, aiming for nuclear spider, nuclear spinner, and nuclear bee and nuclear spinnerblast <3 Only time will tell how many holdbacks that will give me, so I know I can't keep too many from this season. I might have to settle for the lesserbee. xD

[Blue Apple Herps]

I holdback on what I want to make down the road. I also have been holding back more females than males. Gotta have the females to make the supers and might as well start getting them up to size.

[Eric Alan]

I holdback on what I want to make down the road. I also have been holding back more females than males. Gotta have the females to make the supers and might as well start getting them up to size.

That's what I'm thinking too and what starts getting me thinking, "Man - I'm going to have to buy more females if I want to keep up with any male holdbacks." For perspective's sake, next year's female holdbacks won't be breeding size until the 2016/2017 season. I'm glad I'm a patient person.

[kc261]

My question for you is when you made the move from virtual breeder to actual breeder, how did you choose what to sell and what to keep as holdbacks?

Did you tend to keep stunning examples of hatchlings, regardless of specific genes or sex? Or, did you set "holdback criteria" before a clutch hatches (morph, combo, sex, etc) and stick to that goal? Or, did you wait until everything was out and decide once you saw what you had? Or, did you sell everything no matter what? What would you recommend as initial plans for someone starting from the ground up? Personally, I've played through the entire spectrum of scenarios from "keep everything" to "sell everything" and can think of supporting arguments for both extremes and probably everything in between.

Similarly, for those of you that have been, or are currently, in my shoes: How do you balance growing your collection from the inside with realizing your dream of a small return on your large investment?

First, let me clarify that I haven't actually done this yet. I've got eggs in the oven though!

My plan (we'll see how well I end up sticking to it....) is to have a plan and *mostly* stick to it. But you have to be willing to be flexible if something unexpectedly wonderful pops up. If I unexpectedly hatch out (insert expensive recessive morph here) and it's a male in a clutch I said I was going to sell everything or hold back only a single female... well, guess what, I'm holding back that male and possibly some of the phets. If I unexpectedly hatch out what may be a new morph, I'm holding back everything. But, for the most part, I expect to hold back a limited number of females and sell everything else in the early years. If/when I get to the point I'm expecting hatchlings with lots of genes or things like double hets where I'd need a pair, then I'll plan on holding back some males. But mostly, you can get better selection of males (and thus get higher quality ones) for a lot cheaper than females, so I'd plan on buying the males I need rather than holding them back, and that will allow me to introduce new genes (both in terms of new morphs and for the sake of avoiding inbreeding), and possibly improve the quality of my stock or get combinations I don't have the right pieces to produce. If I happen to have both the pastel and spider genes only in females, and I really want a bumblebee. Well, maybe I should just buy one instead of holding back a male to produce one. Or buy something like a cinnabee which I could then pair with my pastel to get that bumblebee and the possibility of hitting a triple as well.

I think there are 3 big things to watch out for. Lots of people have already mentioned how easy it is to get male heavy, so keep that in mind when choosing what to hold back. If you want to hold back a male, maybe you should sell the father instead of the son. BTW, that's another reason I think I should mostly only hold back females. I KNOW I'll be more attached to ones I hatched out, and that'll make it easier to sell off extra males when I've got an upgrade to replace them.

Another thing is to make sure the overall number of animals you have doesn't grow too big. If you have too many, it'll become work to take care of them, and can kill your enjoyment. Don't let that happen.

And finally, this gets mentioned in lots of "what should I buy" threads, and I think it is worth a mention here too. Hold back what you like. What excites you. Don't worry so much about what has high value or will make a better return on your investment. Which morphs & combos are worth more than others can (and will) change, so you are aiming at a moving target. At least if you are working with what you like, you'll smile when you have to clean up their poop even if they aren't worth a dime.