Question:
Question about ball pythons (and breeding)?
Sarah239
2010-01-22 21:16:11 UTC
I have always loved snakes, I just started looking into ball pythons, however I have never owned one yet.
I just have a few questions about them; (and I am curious about their breeding habits)
I was wondering what different colorations of ball pythons there are.
what colors bred with what colors and the possible outcome of the offspring it terms of pattern / color,
Also I see a lot of people keep their snakes in plastic tubs. Is a plastic tub better than a glass tank?

(Links would be very helpful!)

Thank you!
Six answers:
2010-01-22 23:38:19 UTC
well u should start by having some good exp with a normale

lol dont ask how many different types there are, theres tons some that price out at about 50 and some that can go to about 4 thousand and higher

but BP breeding as easy as it may be is not for the average Joe

get tons of reptile exp first

i am a BP slash leopard gecko breeder



morphs i own:

pastel

Carmel albino

spider

bumble bee

Mojave

ghost

pine stripe



it can be price-E



plastic tubs should only be used for ppl that have lots of snakes

if u have like 4 there should be no reason why it should have a awsome tank with tons of decore

but if your like me u simply cant afford that

plastic tubs are good

and really help keep in any humidity



if u have any questions just IM me



Fun and confusing morph

ghost spinner x super Mojave heterozygous for blue eyes lucistic



simple

http://marcsmorphs.com/images/python_male_big.jpg



awsome

http://www.freewebs.com/royalpython/bumble%20bee%20ball%20python%20dreptiles.jpg

Hardcore

http://www.constrictors.com/images/BallPythons/Leucistic/Lucy0930.jpg



SUPER HARDCORE!!!!

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/10600killer_clown_09_holdback-med.JPG





this should help =O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGfQfrn8qIA
Steven
2010-01-23 12:43:22 UTC
Actually cages made for reptiles are best. Glass cages let too much heat and humidity out of screen tops. Vision, Neodesha, Animal Plastics, and Monster Cages are a few companys that make them. Feed pre killed or you might end up with a dead snake. I don't know what that person was talking about when the said feeding live lowers your snakes chances of survival if it escapes. Same with morphs. Unless you live in Africa you don't need to worry about that. The temps will kill it. If it could survive outside that would be introducing a non native species. I would try owning a few BPs before deciding to breed. It might end up being more work than you really want to do. If you want to see morphs and prices go to the classifieds on kingsnake.com
Bella
2010-01-23 08:09:02 UTC
Um, i really don't know anything about breeding but i do know some ball python morphs including: normal, spider, albino, pastel, pie ball and cinnamon. A glass tub is better than a plastic tub(in my opinion) because you don't have to worry about having a heating pad. You shouldn't have a heating pad with a plastic tub.
Amaterasu
2010-01-22 23:52:01 UTC
Ball pythons do not come in a variety of color patterns, their naturally occurring color is a black/brown on a green background with a cream underbelly, though albino (white/yellow) does occur and selective breeding has created morphs. You should not breed for albinism because it is a genetic disease that makes it impossible for the animal to survive in nature and is not a positive trait to promote in any species (would you breed humans for albinism or any other genetic disease). Personally I am not a huge fan of the really outrageous morphs either, again due to the reduced survivability of these animals, but the morphs that are variations of the normal color pattern (pastels, platinum, mojave, yellow underbelly, etc) can be pretty and are not a result of disease so they are not damaging to the species. I've linked some sites that have specific details on how to breed ball pythons and what kinds of morphs you can breed for. You can also find some very informative videos on youtube.



Since you've never owned a ball python, I suggest you get a few juveniles and care for them for a while before you decide to breed (you can start with the 2 males and 3 females recommended on the kingsnake link because this should give you some idea of what to expect caring for a number of snakes or just start with one if you don't want to invest in the equipment before you know how much work it will be). You will need a separate 20-30 gallon long for each snake outside the breeding season, a 60 long at least for when the females are in season and an incubator for the eggs if you want to reduce mortality with a peat/vermiculite substrate (you can get this at any plant store, Walmart, etc). Breeding can be rewarding, but it is also a yearlong process and requires a fair amount of attentiveness and a large investment in equipment. Although ball pythons are small, docile, and relatively easy to care for, there are certain challenges to raising them. The biggest is that ball pythons can be difficult to feed. Make sure you purchase a captive bred python as wild caught individuals are more likely to refuse food. The second article goes into this in detail, though I strongly disagree with the author's decision to feed prekilled prey, and have found in my personal experience that reptiles are more likely to refuse prekilled mice and using the prekilled mice lowers your snake's chance of survival should s/he escape. If you choose to give live mice, you will need to observe your snake while s/he eats and make sure s/he consumes all the mice. It is a good idea to have a temporary habitat for any leftover mice in case your snake does not eat them all, and if you really do start breeding, you may wish to breed mice as well so you don't have to constantly pay for them at the store, which increases the cost of breeding substatially. This is another reason to stick to live prey the whole time. Some people stun the mice before feeding, and this is probably a good idea with a very young snake. You should also feed smaller mice to ball pythons and never feed rats. The baby pythons get pinkies.



You should also maintain your python for a while before breeding because that way you will have a good habitat set up and you will have good control of the environment. Whether you choose glass, plastic or heavy screen is entirely up to you. My husband made a 3x4x2' cage for the pythons, and we used a wooden bottom covered with an astro-turf substrate, heavy screen sides with wooden corners and top, and a hinged lid that was sectioned with wooden frame and heavy screen (like a screen door). We had a climate controlled room for our reptiles with a heater and a humidifier that maintained the room humidity at about 70% and a fan that circulated the air, and all that screen is only good if you are controlling the temperature and humidity in the entire room. We had several hiding places (these do not need to be expensive - ours loved the cube soda can boxes more than any commercial products), a few large sterilized rocks, one with a heat lamp over it for basking, a tupperware water dish with a heat light over it, and some tubes for the snakes to crawl into. If you need to control the climate in each individual cage or do not have a room to dedicate to reptiles, you should choose something with waterproof sides, so tupperware or glass will work, though I prefer something with transparent sides that will allow easy observation of the snake. Regardless of how you choose to control the climate, you will need to put a humidity and temperature gauge inside each tank. Even if you are doing room climate control (which might be easier than climate controlling all those tanks if you breed), remember that different places in a room can be very different. Good luck and enjoy your snakes.
2016-05-26 20:11:50 UTC
No... the females give off a scent that gets the male ready to breed so if you truly have two males then NO I doubt they would try to breed each other and well if they did they wouldn't get to far would they?
?
2010-01-23 07:22:40 UTC
go to bhbreptiles.com they spcialize in ball pythons and they have just about all the morphs imaginable.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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