BP noob, general questions

franks · 07-03-12, 08:09 AM

Hey guys, I am new on this forum. I am planning on purchasing 1 male and 2 female ball python morph babies at the next expo (early august) and had a few questions. My purpose is to keep the trio as display snakes, with the intention of breeding them. I like pastels and pinstripes, but am open to whatever gets me the best breeding group.
Why are females more expensive than males? Am I wrong to assume that one male can be bred to two females?
How aboreal are these snakes? I am building the enclosures now and they are 36x18x20.
Finally, I am open to (actually hoping for) some suggestions to start a decent breeding group. I would like to spend under $400-$500 for the trio.
Thanks guys

infernalis · 07-03-12, 09:32 AM

Not arboreal at all, they like it on the ground.

snake man12 · 07-03-12, 09:46 AM

For that price you should get a normal and a couple of pastels. A male can breed to two females

StudentoReptile · 07-03-12, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franks

Why are females more expensive than males? Am I wrong to assume that one male can be bred to two females?

Quote:

A male can breed to two females

...or more. Some breeders use a single male to service as many as 6-7 females, although the practice is debatable.

In general, that is why males are cheaper. For any breeding group, one can get by with fewer males than females, so hobbyists are always getting rid of excess "sperm donors."

Toronto1977 · 07-03-12, 09:52 AM

They are very adept at climbing, and mine is quite agile. If given the chance they will climb. Most keepers do not give their Royals the opportunity to do so. Great exercise as well for them.

DeesBalls · 07-03-12, 09:53 AM

Not arboreal at all, my cages i built for them are only 12'' high ( i would suggest a little taller just for ease of getting them out easier)

as for breeding...we will go for $400 cap

Pastel Female- baby could be for $150-$175
Pinstripe Female- baby could be for $150-$175 or so
Pastel MALE- baby, ive seen as low as $75-$100

with that your male can easily breed those two females...

you can get lemon blasts, super pastels, normals, pins, pastels.. the pastel (imho) is one of the best morphs to start out with.

can also get spiders for fairly cheap, just be carful with though...
enchis are cheap around $100 for male

hopfully Mykee or Aaron will be in here and help out... they know more than i do, i just started breeding myself, so ive been researching prices and stufff.

Gungirl · 07-03-12, 10:44 AM

Why do you want to breed?

franks · 07-03-12, 11:40 AM

Thanks for all the responses. The reason I want to breed is to get more into my husbandry, and to help financially support it.
In regards to the group set-up, if one male can handle a few females, would it make sense to try to buy a male that is a 2 gene morph? I was planning on M pastel, F pinstripe, F cinnamon, but I do not have any experience with bp which is why I wanted to run it by you guys.
@deeugi, "can also get spiders for fairly cheap, just be carful with though...
enchis are cheap around $100 for male" by be careful are you referring to "the wobble" or is there something else I need to worry about?

DeesBalls · 07-03-12, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franks

Thanks for all the responses. The reason I want to breed is to get more into my husbandry, and to help financially support it.
In regards to the group set-up, if one male can handle a few females, would it make sense to try to buy a male that is a 2 gene morph? I was planning on M pastel, F pinstripe, F cinnamon, but I do not have any experience with bp which is why I wanted to run it by you guys.
@deeugi, "can also get spiders for fairly cheap, just be carful with though...
enchis are cheap around $100 for male" by be careful are you referring to "the wobble" or is there something else I need to worry about?

what do you mean "more into husbandry?"
yes i am talking about the wobble, some have it bad, some you can barley notice it...

if i were you, you could think of getting a male pastave, you can get those for around $300, maybe even less if there are sales at the show, then get a nice female pastel. then pick up a female normal too, just to produce more pastels and mojaves...

doing a pastave x female pastel can give you awesome looking snakes, and doing a pastave by normal female can you give pastels, and mojaves... take one of those mojos and breed BACK to the male pastave, then your looking at chances of getting BEL- yes it will take a few years in order for that though....

check out kingsnake.com, its where i got alot of my snakes at, and had nothing but good experiances, even keep in contact with the breeders.

mykee · 07-03-12, 12:11 PM

You can get almost any base morph for a reasonable price these days, far cry from the $7500 I spent on my first spider.
As for what to breed, breed what you want. In my 11 years of breeding, not once did I ask others what to breed or for anyone else's advice. I breed what I want to work with and for that reason, I love every single minute of it as much today as I did a decade ago.
Good luck.

franks · 07-03-12, 12:47 PM

what do you mean "more into husbandry?"
I mean that I like working with my reptiles, and breeding is a way to get more involved with them.

Thanks for the suggestion, I am definately taking your advice about the pastave male. That should give me some pretty cool breeding options.
@mykee: that is crazy to think spiders could cost that much only a decade ago. Thx for the website, your summary care info was helpful.

Do you guys find heat tape, rope, or matts to be more effective heat sources?

mykee · 07-03-12, 01:03 PM

Heat tape by far. Also a better use of heat as well as being extremely cost-effective.

DeesBalls · 07-03-12, 02:49 PM

heat tape.

TinkerbellsMom · 07-08-12, 01:23 AM

females are more expensive usually because they get bigger. im sure there are other reasons but that is one of them.

**Aaron_S** · 07-08-12, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TinkerbellsMom

females are more expensive usually because they get bigger. im sure there are other reasons but that is one of them.

I don't think size has any reason.

It's purely based on the fact that a female can only give you ONE clutch of eggs per season. A male can breed multiple females per season. The female is then the valuable one.