Ball pythons are collected. They are in a sense like other collectors items, baseball cards coins etc except you get to play with them and have to clean up for them. Nothing like dogs though. I have 5 dogs and 30 bps. I want to make MORE bps while I might shoot myself if one of my dogs got pregnant and I had to keep all the babies(impossible but you know what I mean). A person can care for an entire collection more or less in one day and not have to do more than look for the rest of the week, while dogs are a 24/7 pet. BP's do best when kept like records, stacked one on top of another(in tubs of course). A huge amount of BP's can be kept in a very small amount of space if you use a rack system, dogs need alot of room to run and need attention and love from their owners, BP's would be happy if you never put a finger on them... BP's are more like coins than dogs. lol!