Based on everyone’s feedback, I’ve decided to come on here to say that I’m breeding my snakes for me and no one else. Thank you if you commented, but some of the negativity was very unnecessary.
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I read through other post and there was not anything negative there. Everything there was solid advice, just look at for sale ads there are over 25k ball pythons just for sale just here alone
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The negativity was constructive criticism, but it’s hard to interpret that over text. If you’re only breeding for yourself does that mean that you’re prepared to keep the entire clutch, even if it’s a huge clutch of 10+ eggs for its whole life? If you’re prepared for that, which would be a huge expense and commitment, do what you want. But, if you have to sell any of them, when you produce normals it’s very difficult to sell them. And since there is a huge surplus of animals, especially normals, that means you are going to be selling them for a very low price, and unfortunately, that often means the new owner, even if they are excited at first, won’t be as committed in the long run and the snake could end up being forfeited to a rescue or the owner isn’t taking care of the snake well and it could have harmful health consequences.
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As said above, solid advice and critique. Any negativity there was your own perception of it.
There are some things that any breeder should be aware of. Regardless of if this is for yourself or for selling.
-These are animals that will live up to 20+years. Have a plan for any of the 1-13 animals you will produce. Don’t be surprised if a friend suddenly can no longer care for theirs if you are only giving to friends and family.
-You will need to provide medical care for these animals and sometimes make hard decisions. You could easily have an incubating issue and a snake could be born with a deformity such as missing eyes, extreme under or overbites that affect feeding or kinks. You will nee to be prepared to have these animals euthanized or provide lifelong hand feedings and care if needed.
-rehoming normals and lower demand single genes can be very difficult. I f you are not prepared for this influx of animals from this breeding and the issues above, you may still need to hang onto them for a while before they are rehomed.
After taking this all into consideration, then you can say it is fine and just for you. We give you this advice so that you have an idea of what to expect and how to prepare.
I didn’t hatch the kinked ball python I own, he was given to me from a breeder who had an incubator overheat on him mid incubation. They lost a lot of eggs and hatched a few animals that needed to be put down because they physically could not survive.
Yes, the odds are small, but still there. And these are things to take into account for any animal you want to keep or breed. How to care for and a plan of what to do if things go wrong.
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I would like to add my experience and say that I am helping a friend re-home her collection due to heath issues on her part, and I am having an extremely tough time rehoming normal males.
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I don’t feel that the recommendation to avoid producing normals or low end single gene morphs is negativity, but rather constructive advice. It’s not that normals/wild type are unloved or unworthy in some way, there’s just so many of them that supply vastly outweighs demand, and it’s heartbreaking to see how many end up neglected on craigslist, in rescues, are abandoned, or stuck with breeders, unable to find homes. The abundance, acessability and affordability of some of these ball pythons means that anyone with $20 can buy one on a whim, and that’s not always a good thing for the well being of the animal. Limiting the supply and oversaturation can help curb some of the neglect. While the inherent value of a wild type life isn’t any less than that of a $5,000 morph, at the end of the day, it’s not Kinova’s Pompeii that’s getting abandoned by a dumpster.
Whenever the topic of government regulation of the reptile industry/hobby comes up, the general consensus of the community is that we should “police ourselves” rather than outside control. I would agree with this, but part of what that means is we actually need to do it. That can meet everything from encouraging individuals to do their research before working with more advanced species, regulating the breeding of invasive species and making sure they don’t escape, only selling “hots” to those who have adaquate training and suitable enclosures/setups, and discouraging breeding of animals that have defects or are already over populated. It’s not always popular advice, but it’s important if we want to continue having the freedom to own and breed these species.
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This is absolutely 
spot on imo
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I agree, all of the examples you mentioned are things that often make the negative news stories and that end up in lawmakers fighting to take away our freedom to keep and breed these animals.
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Just a cursory Google search finds these two recent stories:
Mushroom forager rescues abandoned baby ball pythons in Durham
Ball python found behind fryer at Sonic restaurant in southeast Georgia
And those are just animals that were found.
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I’m sorry that is happened for you. I’m not much of a seller, these guys are my pets and family. A lot of people are worried about my commitment and knowledge of these animals, I am fully aware of the commitment and things that may or may not happen.
Thank you everyone for your advice, I understand everyone’s concern and side of the topic. I wish everyone a great day
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I didnt see the original post. I wanted at least 2 normals was hoping for male and female. I bred my mojave het pied to a tristripe. I got 3 mojave and 1 normal and the normal is male. I was actually quite happy. I just have 1 mojave het i dont know what i am going to do with. Its a boy and mojave so i have no one for him to breed to.
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First, I want to say a belated welcome to the MorphMarket Community. As you’ve already seen, this place is full of people who truly care about the animals who are completely dependent upon us. This includes education. It also includes respectful discussion of opinions which may differ. You didn’t get any negativity. You got some snippets of reality.
I cannot speak for others, but having read both threads you began, it seems to me that the people who have commented clearly understood your position. I didn’t see any indication that anyone believed that you were “trying to make a career of breeding.” You did state in your first thread that your first clutch was “to get some experience in,” which implies that you plan to breed more. Frankly, this is an all too common idea; breed some inexpensive animals to gain experience. It too often results in adding to the population of unwanted pets.
If your goal really is that you"just want more pet ball pythons to take care of," I strongly suggest that you volunteer with a rescue organization. There are usually many more abandoned animals, including baby ball pythons, than there are homes and people to care for them.
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My advice is to not make normals on purpose of the most over bred species in the hobby
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I appreciate your comment. I understand, I’ll try to be better in the future.
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I’m fine with whatever I get honestly, but would be super siked if I got just a banana 
I know this might not be what you want to hear but the wasn’t negativity it was the way where reading it and it’s extremely hard to sell normals at the show I went to last weekend there where normals listed for $20 and as I went around not to many sold I would recommend invest a bit of extra money and getting a pair that’s het for a gene like clown or hypo(just as examples) that’s what I ended up doing and I haven’t breed them yet but I plan to next year as well as my hogs
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Yeah that’s why I ended up turning to hognose snakes since their is much much less people breeding them
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If the goal is that you want a nice big snake family, you could be the right home for a dozen-odd rescues, which might be very fun for you- you sound like a person with a big heart.
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I understand that now. Thank you for commenting. It’s hard to tell if someone’s just trying to be rude or giving you genuine advice through the internet. All the normals I’m gonna produce are staying in my collection. They’re not gonna be sold. I understand the reasoning behind not selling them. I won’t be breeding anymore normals after this pair slight_smile:
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