This matters so much to me! I have been breeding for disposition since my first clutch. There’s not as much discussion of the heritability of disposition in reptile circles as one sees in other areas, like dogs or horses. I recognize that for many species this doesn’t matter so much, as there are many species who are typically only display animals. Corn snakes have a well deserved reputation as wonderful pets, and most can be just that. They might hatch skittish, as they instinctively understand that they are prey for many things in nature, but most settle fairly soon. That said, there are definitely individuals and bloodlines who are on the wilder side, and there are definitely bloodlines who are sweethearts right from the egg. I personally do not breed animals who have proven themselves to be stinkers, disposition wise.
You’ve got a lovely assortment and a lot of possibilities for combinations. One of the joys and also one of the challenges of breeding is that you’ll find yourself with new possible projects and unexpected directions popping up from what you produce. Expect this, and same at least some mental and physical space in your plans for it.
As far as Lavenders, @snakesofshadowlake is correct that you need to be careful. Purple is my favorite color. I avoided Lavenders for many years until they had been outcrossed enough to eliminate a lot of the early trouble with kinks. Natalie is correct that I’ve had good success with snakes from Chris Nicholas, as well as from Sean Niland (VMS). I’ve got a couple from other sources, too. Should be getting a first clutch from one of those any minute. (Yes, I’m dying to see them!)
Other basic recommendations, well, ask a lot of questions when you’re purchasing anything. The more information you can get, the better. Develop a good relationship with your vet. Don’t wait for an emergency to try and locate someone. Be prepared to house every single baby you produce for at least a year. That’s my personal baseline. It’s not what has actually happened, but since I’m prepared for that I’m not in a state of panic about selling them. For certain unusual morphs, I keep them until they’re at least a year or two old to watch their development.
I could probably go on but this is probably too long already. I’ll close by again saying welcome to the exciting, frustrating, surprising, heartbreaking, thrilling, annoying, satisfying, time consuming, wondrous task of breeding corn snakes.
