Breeding for size?

[Crowfingers]

True the clutches would be small, but I think the novelty of a BP that only got the size of a milk snake would have people lining up to buy them. For some reason people love any animal that has “mini”, “tea cup” or “pocket” in front of it.

By the way, I’m in no way saying that I would consider doing this. Just making conversation.


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The only thing is - "mini" dogs and "dwarf" cats have a ton of health issues from not being the correct size. Small breed dogs have luxating knee-caps, retain baby teeth / have dental problems, malformed livers and hearts, the dwarf cats have joint issues as well. Not that snakes have to worry about limb malformation....but any time you breed for something the species was not meant for you get issues. Our morphs are all crazy in appearance when compared to natural wild-type pythons, but they are still recognizable pythons in shape and mobility. I think if you tried to "shrink" a ball to less than 'small male size' you'd probably increase things like spinal kinks, egg binding, possibly infertility as well as organ issues.

And, yeah - even with the problems people would want them for the novelty of the animal without considering health.