Hey guys!
So…I’m in a bit of a morph pickle!
I’d like to list my females and males (ball pythons) I have, and ask what direction you guys would think it’s wise to pursue.
I’m just a bit distraught and don’t want to do something stupid as I’ve done more than once concerning morphs.
Female #1- Spinner Enchi Calico YB Prob. OD (was pos. Het Pied but turned out she wasn’t)
Female #2- Huffman Black Pastel
Female #3- Ghost YellowBelly
Female #4- YB (She was a miracle baby and I just can’t part with her!)
Male #1- Huffman CG (Intended for #2)
Male #2- Pastel Vanilla Cream GHI Ghost (Intended for #3)
Male #3- 100% het Pied
Basically, you guys can see I have some direction with the Ghost and Huffman pairings but the other snakes are just kind of random?
Basically, should another female for Male #3 be obtained that is het or visual pied? I’d like to make OD Pieds or something along that line.
And, what genes could be thrown at Female #1? I have intended to get her a male for some time but it’s so hard to choose.
I know it’s impossible to just say ‘hey this morph is the clear choice’ as what is good looking is subjective but, I’m asking for opinions because I don’t know what to do 
Anyways, thanks in advance! 
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What kind of market are you selling to? If it’s a local market, producing lower quality ball pythons is okay, if it’s an online market, you want to produce high quality multi-gene animals. If it’s a mix, then you get a lot more freedom.
Personally I would pair female 1 to male 2 or 3, female 2 to male 1, female 3 to male 2, and female 4 to male 2.
But, if you have long-term projects in mind, you might want to take a different direction. I personally would sell male 3 and buy a male with multiple recessive genes (visuals or hets) and maybe a dominant gene or two.
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Well, mostly local but there are several highish end breeders around here too.
I had planned on the pairings you listed in the future, and, I’d thought about selling Male #3 too as he’s not really fit for any of the females.
I’m still pretty stuck in what the new male should be however as I like to have males that, should any of the others not be able to breed that year, a different male will be acceptable.
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Do you have a budget in mind for another male?
I’d personally sell make 3, and look to add a double visual combo of sorts. So like a hypo/pied male with other genes if the budget allowed. This would make him useful in multiple projects, and he’d always make double recessives.
Male Hypo pieds can be gotten right now for around $400, which seems absurdly low to me. So just some food for thought.
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Wow that is low! My budget is $400-600 or so.
That is a smart male to get I think too.
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I think the biggest question is what are your goals? Work towards more cutting edge combos? Just produce a few “pet priced” clutches each year? Breed a particular animal you want as a pet?
Although regardless overall I think Male 2 is by far the most worthwhile male since it’s a visual + ALS animal so you’re not gonna get normals and I think they’re all versatile morphs that pretty much look good with anything imo. Also Male 3 I’d sell and put money towards whatever is the next snake you get
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Well, I’m wanting to make snakes that aren’t what everyone in the area has, or maybe even not what lots of non-locals have.
That’s why I went for Huffman, because it’s more uncommon but not unheard of.
My goal is to breed snakes that most people locally will be able to afford but I also sell to a few people now and then that appear to have a larger budgets than for $100-300 snakes.
I think selling Male #3 is also the best move here as I’d been thinking about it, just wasn’t quite sure.
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What do you think of Freeways? You have a lot of YB combos so an Asphalt combo male could be versitile for that
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I love freeways! I actually just had a thought…what about an Asphalt (if he has other gene that great) het Hypo? Then I could pair him to Female #3 and het Hypo Freeways?
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I think if I went the Freeway route I’d get the best Ashpalt het Hypo combo I could and then pair that to F 1 and 3, and pair M 2 to F 2 and have a really good chance at fire/van huffman ghi het hypo to build on. Also M2 could be a decent back up in case the new male doesn’t breed in time.
I probably wouldn’t breed F4 unless I had people lined out the door to get just about any snake from me.
Definitely just my opinion though and totally skewed because I like GHI and Hypo way more than CG
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I just might end up getting an Asphalt combo Het hypo. I think Freeway is a good direction to take this.
I’m not sure Female 4 will get to breed as she’s very small for her age despite being a pig…she was born underdeveloped so she may end up a pet.
I’d hope to find an OD Asphalt het Hypo.
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