I’m going to make a big investment into hognoses and I need some advice from people with experience.
I’m going to get a male yeti hognose. There is one on MorphMarket with good lineage. I also reached out to an industry leader in this species (being vague to not break guidelines, if you want to know details, shoot me a message), and they said they should have a clutch with a yeti this year.
The one currently on MM has 1 parent from the industry leader previously mentioned and looks high quality. I currently have the money set aside and the price of the two are going to be about the same. I am looking for a very high quality male, because I am going to have multiple hognose projects branching off of this one pairing.
Would you wait and probably get one from an extremely well respected breeder, or get one with good lineage now from a good breeder? Or should I try and get more information on the one for sale and get pictures of the parents to see how he will age?
I guess one of my big questions for you would be - how long until you need the male? Assuming hogs are like other species, the females take much longer to sexually mature. If you’re buying females that are young/juveniles, then I’d even consider holding off on the male temporarily, if that’s an option.
If you just want to get the male now to get it out of the way and know you’ve secured it; then I’d say either option you couldn’t go wrong. I’d definitely consider looking into info on the parents, regardless of which snake you go with.
I think the one for sale now could easily be just as high quality, coming from a “good” breeder vs. the one coming from a “industry leader”.
Since again, I know little about Hognose, is it guaranteed the industry leader breeder will hit a male yeti? That’s something else to take into consideration. If you have many projects banking on this one male, and you have a good quality one now that you like, you could miss your chance if you pass on it. Just another thought to think about.
I guess I should’ve mentioned, I already have the female, and she’s 7mo old (she might be able to breed next year, she is an amazing eater, she was in blue yesterday, and climbed out of her tub looking for food when I fed her). I’m going to breed them whenever they are both mature, so if I get the male now, that could be next year (depending on the female). But, if I wait on another male, it will be in 2025.
Looking back on the messages with the “industry leader”, he said he has a female breeding that could produce a yeti (in the pairing, each egg has a 1/4 of being yeti, 1/8 chance of being a male yeti). He also said that he will have some available. So, my impression was that he had multiple pairings that could produce a yeti, and he was pretty confident that he would get a male yeti that he would sell this year.
With the points you’ve mentioned, I’m leaning more towards getting the one for sale now, but I’m still going to ask a couple questions on him either way. The one for sale is probably almost as high quality as the other one would be, and since the other option is not guaranteed, it might just be better to get the male now, have everything in place, and possibly breed next year.
All the confidence in the world can be shattered by the odds. I’m sure there’s plenty of people with pairings that should hit certain genes, with a 50% chance of hitting male/female, but in my experience, it works out just how you DONT want it to when you need it most.
I’d definitely recommend asking more about the one for sale now, and going that route if/when you’re confident he’ll give you the breeding plans you want. Don’t feel like you have to settle because it’s what’s listed, make sure you get what you want. If it is meant to be, it’ll work out.
Just some food for thought - focusing on what you want and quality should always be number one priority. Quality in - quality out, and you can make yourself stand out among everyone else by proving top notch examples of the genes you want to work with. I held off on adding chocolate to my breeding plans for ball pythons because I couldn’t quite find the expression that I felt was the best quality. Then I happened to stumble on not 1, but two females that fit perfect into what I wanted.
Sounds like you’re heading in the direction I’d recommend with what you’ve explained, and am glad you’re not just buying something because it’s there. Planning is always the best route.
I agree with @nswilkerson1 I wouldn’t play the odds game, especially if you are looking to breed potentially next season. On the other hand I understand you wanting to be extremely picky about this particular male that will be the cornerstone of your future breeding program. I would ask the breeder(respectfully, and explain why) for anything you need, pics of parents ect. If all looks good with the established male great! If anything throws you off or you don’t like something about this male then wait and see if the other breeder produces some. Bottom line is you need to be 100% satisfied with this male, or wait until you find one somewhere else, even if it prolongs your breeding timeline.
@erie-herps I definitely feel like that is a huge point that should be focused on. Settling for what’s listed is not some thing that I recommend. Slim Shady was a holdback that Boa Zone was not going to sell (was not listed). I contacted him on an inquiry for one of his available females (IMG Jungle 66% Het VPI 66% Het Sterling) from that pairing asking if he produced a visual male. I told him that I was a very serious buyer and really wanted that male. He did try to convince me to buy a few different males that I didn’t want but I was persistent about what I wanted. I made an offer and he said that he wanted him. We went back and forth until I gave him an offer that he didn’t turn down. Slim Shady is the only IMG Sterling 66% het VPI poss Jungle in the world to my knowledge. He is truly a priceless investment into my collection.
I would have never have gotten him if I wasn’t bold enough to prod and see what was produced in the rest of the litter. Honestly, I’m a person who originally would’ve never done something like this but I decided if I really want to grow my business, I need to be willing to state what I want and go after it.
I’m just letting you know, I believe waiting is one of the best things you can do for your collection. Two months before going and getting Mr. Sorbet and Slim Shady, I had the opportunity to get involved in with a new up-and-coming morph in boas. I truly still is this day fully support that project. It was going to be a trio of breeders (myself, and two other breeders that definitely have some size in the boa world) and we were going to have a collaboration where we were going to prove out the morph. The results that already have been proven with this morph was very very promising. But I decided because of my limited space it would be best for me not to acquire two adult boas and produce a litter in the next year and holding back all of the babies that had the morph.
The point of that is to really to tell you to decide what you really want to do and what is best for your collection at this time. If you feel like you would want something that he might not be listing, question him and ask about that. Riley, we are here for you, ask as many questions as you want.
This is all great advice, thank you all! They had NFS profiles of the parents and they used offspring groups for some offspring, which helped me a lot to see how the color and contrast passed on. I looked through the babies, and everything looks good in terms of contrast, the only problem is that the dam is also a yeti and looks pretty yellow when I would like to see more white/gray tones. But, the pictures really aren’t good, so it’s hard to tell accurately. I’m going to ask for more pictures of the yeti and dam, and ask if they have any others not listed.
The original pictures of the dam were misleading, when new pictures were taken (in her enclosure, so I could compare to the substrate and tub), she looks very good. He costs $200-300 more than others of his morph, but the quality and lineage is worth it. So, if everything goes to plan, I’ll be getting him.
If the one available now checks all the boxes, then why would you wait? If the one available now only checks the “available now” box, then maybe take a pause. But also keep in mind that the one available in the future may not be exactly what you want - maybe it will be too patterned or the wrong form of Albino (yellow Albino versus orange Albino versus red Albino)
He is extremely calm. He just chilled on my hands when I got him out, and when I put him in the enclosure, he just explored. I forgot to to put water in his dish at first, so I had to open his tub again, and he moved towards my hand, checking it out. I am extremely happy with him and he should make some awesome babies. The pictures do give him a yellow color, but he has no hint of yellow on him. I’ll probably adjust the pictures a bit when I have time to show what he actually looks like.
Awesome looking boy you got there! Glad you got exactly what you wanted in a future breeding and pet snake! More pics would be great after he adjusts to his new home! Congrats again😀
Yay!! So happy that it worked out, and happy that he’s exactly what you wanted/needed for your collection growth. Can’t wait to see what he’ll produce for you in the upcoming years!
Thanks everyone!
As far as lineage, it’s not super important, but it does help to know that it’s high quality, and it might make it a easier to sell the babies.
