Quote Originally Posted by Daigga View Post
IMO if you have all the proper tools for ball python breeding, with the obvious exception of normal males there is no wrong starting point as far as morphs go. Whatever you want and can afford is a good starting point for you, and if all you can afford is a pair of hets, then by all means. Will it turn out better if you buy a visual recessive? Probably (I think the male visual is a better investment than a female, btw). Will it turn out fine if you only have hets? Yeah. Some people will also say you should start with doms or codoms, but the best rule to go by is not to let anyone besides you decide on what makes up your collection.

You aren't doing this to please a bunch of people you've never met on the internet.
You have some very good advice in your post. The only thing I would expand upon is that a visual recessive male may be better if you buy multiple het females and are trying to keep costs down. I feel that a visual female is better if you are only buying a pair, or if you want to get away from producing hets sooner. This is because you can replace a het male with a visual male that you produce far quicker than you can replace a het female with a visual female that you produce. So as usual, it comes down to a choice of time or money. I always recommend that if one has the money available, they should get visual females because of the time it takes to raise up a visual holdback to replace a het female.