How to pick a good BRB from a Litter

[varanus1]

Im close to buying a bunch of BRBS and i know from who but not sure which to choose why are some more priced than others does it mean the lower priced ones will not color up as nice or ? At what age or how many sheds can you tell which will be screamers. Some i see are obvious right out of the gate but some cant say

[DeesBalls]

You get what you pay for pretty much... I know you said you have a breeder lines up, but check out living gems reptiles, or even rainbows r us. Anything you buy from either of them will be great.

With my brb, she gets brighter and better coloring with each shed.

[varanus1]

I figured that lol anyone have a pic of a brb they bought that was one of the lower priced babies for sale by someone ?

The question is what are the breeders seeing that makes them more cost than others at such a young age other than the ovbious like pattern etc cause we know its not color yet

[varanus1]

You get what you pay for pretty much... I know you said you have a breeder lines up, but check out living gems reptiles, or even rainbows r us. Anything you buy from either of them will be great.

With my brb, she gets brighter and better coloring with each shed.

Does living gems have a web site ?

[Strutter769]

You can find Living Gems on FB.

I have a female yearling I picked up for $200, the lowest you should expect to pay for what you're looking for. She already has a great red color and it fades beautifully into her white sides. She, IMHO is far different from that normal orange/brownish, duller color you can get for about 2/3 that price. I'll post a pic shortly..

Stand by..........

[DeesBalls]

Ya, cliff at living gems is on Facebook... you can also go to king snake.com and he advertises on there..... mine was I think $175, and she is gorgeous.

They look for crescent shapes on the side... coloring.. or morph.. km surer there are more factors, just not 100% sure. My advise was to buy from living gems, and you won't be dissapointed.

[Strutter769]

Here she is:
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa458/Roy7692/2012-09-18_20-01-36_263.jpg

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa458/Roy7692/2012-09-18_20-01-16_239.jpg

[varanus1]

Thanks. I looking for many breeders but they are one of them along with another but the other is who has more im interested in

[Strutter769]

You don't have to go far to find some of the best, that's for sure.

Good luck!

[Rainbowsrus]

It's simple actually. Babies DO have color, while not the ultimate color, it is still there and those babies with more bright colors and less dark ones are most likely to turn out amazing. It's exponentially easier to see and differentiate in person, the pics are just a snapshot in time and never show all the nuances. I have produced well over a thousand babies and raised up hundreds to at least the yearling mark. That does help train the eye for stunners.

I literally put all the babies in numbered deli cups and shuffle them around to get them more or less in order. Then with my experience in grading babies I decide the top and bottom prices of a litter and where to make the breaks. Not all litters are the same. Some are heavily skewed towards the higher end because they all look great. Others may be skewed towards the lower end since most turned out plainer (not a pairing to be repeated btw) Many have a typical middle skew.

Of course there are other factors such as pattern, crescent, sex and of course the presence of morph genes whether visual or het recessive.

[varanus1]

Thanks dave

[Rainbowsrus]

Thanks dave

Your welcome,

I guess the bottom line in acquiring a stunning BRB is to talk to a breeder with a good reputation. Discuss what YOU like in a BRB and let them help you select a baby. Many of us have wait lists for babies including future year wait lists. And don't be surprised if the baby you like the best has a higher price tag, the stunners always do.

One other note, Not all BRB's will color up the same. Some come out dripping with color and only color up slowly. Others come out with little color and go off like rocket. Those instances are both few but does happen. You can pick out a "ugly duckling" and end up with a swan but most of the time you end up with an "ugly duck". You can also pick out a swan and end up with something less than a swan.

[Snakesitter]

Thanks for the plug, DeEuGi and Strutter769.

Varanus1, our website is under development; in the meantime, we use Facebook as our website, and have plenty of information hosted there, including pictures, a wait list, a monthly sweepstakes, and an on-line store. I keep trying to get back to website design, and other projects keep interrupting. ;-) Both links are in my signature below.

[Snakesitter]

The question is what are the breeders seeing that makes them more cost than others at such a young age other than the ovbious like pattern etc cause we know its not color yet

There are a few main factors that can help guide in determining a baby's desirability. Some of these are factors the breeders look at, and some are factors the buyers should take into account.

The first is the quality of the seller. There are public stores, private breeders, and even home hobbyists. Each of these combines different elements of stock availability, stock quality, disease risk (people often do not consider this factor), customer service, species expertise, and more.

The second is the parent snakes' color. As babies have yet to color up themselves, the color of the parents is often the best gauge of how the baby will mature to look -- the theory being that the babies will form a bell curve around their parent snakes. It is not uncommon to find sellers that do not have this information, and that is usually not a good sign.

The third is the baby's color. While not developed, there are important hints present. As Dave noted, however, it *is* possible for a baby to go up or down from its original appearance, which is why the parents' color is a better guide for this factor.

The fourth is the baby's pattern. For the back, individual "spots" are the norm, but some have short "chains" of linked spots, some have long chains, and some even have stripes. For the side, individual inverted crescents (orange within a black background) are the norm, but some have filled dots, some donuts, some empty dots, some linked spots, and some stripes. All of these pattern irregularities add more value to the right buyer.

The fifth is the baby's care history. Has it been eating and shedding fine? Is this in writing? Does it ship with these records? This is an oft-overlooked part of the equation.

The sixth is the sale writeup. In addition to pictures (and some sellers do not even offer these -- again a poor sign), does the seller provide any additional information? Last year we did detailed writeups for each and every baby we sold, featuring six to eight pictures each taken at different periods as they matured. We also included notes on pattern and behavior for each baby, to help potential buyers get a sense of their character.

There are other factors, but these are generally either personal preference (gender) or special situations (morph genes).

I hope this helps,