Looking for breeding ideas!

[andrewpeter07]

I just picked up a male pied ball python with ought any plans on what I had planned for him. I am currently starting a small breeding project with my other snakes but got this little guy because he was a great price at the moment because I bought another with him. So I'm wanting some ideas on a female for the guy, I was interested in a spied or something else. Just want some opinions. Thanks!


1.0 Champagne Enchi
1.0 Pied

0.1 Normal
0.1 GHI Cinny

[Alter-Echo]

Ok.... before the others come in to give you a beating for talking about breeding with your first post on the forum, I just gotta ask how long you've been keeping snakes, because if you are new to ball pythons, you might wanna wait a while till you've gotten used to them and have read up on breeding and care some more.

If you've been keeping them a while, I apologize and you can get cracking on the breeding thing.

As far as a female for him, a yellow belly, banana, spider, or pastel pied or het pied would work well, as all these genes make great pieds, or even something will more than one of these for a good variety.

[Lord Sorril]

You must decide if you are breeding to make money or for your own preferences. The two are not always mutual.

[Alter-Echo]

You must decide if you are breeding to make money or for your own preferences. The two are not always mutual.

That too, for example, pied and clown combos are really the in thing right now, yet, I don't particularly care for either. My breeding program is gonna focus on orange ghost combos, but I'm keeping things small because while it's what I want to produce, I know they may not sell as fast as the current fads.

[andrewpeter07]

No... I have had a couple ball pythons for a couple of years but am just now getting into breeding, Ive been interested in it for a while now and finally picked up a new little guy and girl the other day. I have a male champagne enchi for my female GHI Cinny and then a Pied male that I picked up with the GHI Cinny because I have always loved Pied and I got him for $150 since I bought two. I have done lots of research on the subject and am just really looking for some preferences on my pied. I kinda joined this forum for ideas haha.

[andrewpeter07]

I'm doing more for my own preference but would also like to make a little money. I like the clown pied also but really like the spider pied's a lot!

[Alter-Echo]

Well, pied are popular, so I'm sure you will be able to make money and make some things that tickle your fancy.

[andrewpeter07]

Thanks for the replies, I might get a regular pied or a pied with some other dominant trait I like!

[Alter-Echo]

I would browse world of ball pythons... that site has pics of almost any combo you can think of, including pied combos.

[PghBall]

My advice would be to breed to get snakes you want for your collection but do not go into it thinking about making money. That is the biggest mistake I see people making all the time. You need to take the following into consideration when breeding:

1. You will now have more snakes to house, heat, feed and clean
2. There is also the bad when it comes to breeding (females getting egg bound, deformed hatchlings, hatchlings that die in the egg)
3. Selling is not as easy as it seems. Are you prepared to keep hatchlings for a lengthy amount of time before they sell? I'm talking up to a year plus (being new to breeding means having to build up a reputation as a "good guy" which is a big factor when selling).
4. You will deal with lots of tire kickers and low ball offers. You will get that "high" when you think you have a definite sale and then never hear back from the person or get some lame excuse like "my car broke down" or something else.

When you factor in the time and money you spend caring for your growing collection are you really making money? Not to mention the time and effort you will put into selling your animals. Breeding is an awesome experience (the planning of who will get paired with who, your first lock, first ovulation, first eggs and first pip) however, I would recommend to anyone thinking about breeding to take the above into consideration and make sure you are 100% prepared to deal with everything involved with breeding. In no way am I trying to be negative or discourage you. I was just sharing a little of what I have experienced/learned over the years. Good luck