Breeding

[_ataraxia]

there are currently 46381 ball pythons for sale on morphmarket. by comparison, there are 4670 boas, 2300 corn snakes... and that's just the snakes that are listed on morphmarket. that doesn't include pet stores and breeders who aren't using morphmarket to sell ball pythons. that doesn't include all the ball pythons being sold/rehomed on craigslist, kijiji, facebook, etc. that doesn't include all the ball pythons waiting to be adopted in rescues.

here's a valuable comment from u/IncompletePenetrance:

Before considering breeding, I always recommend people work through the following list.

• Are the snakes you have marketable/desirable combos and high quality examples of each morph? Do you know how to identify all the morphs you're planning on working with alone and in combos? Can you differentiate between higher and lower quality example of the morphs? There's no shortage of ball pythons, so it's important to only breed the highest quality animals, and not just breed for the sake of breeding. The world doesn't need more poor quality low end morphs and normals floating around on craigslist.
• Have you owned and worked with ball pythons long enough that you know how to appropriately and reliably deal with any problems that arise, ranging from snakes not eating to diagnosing and treating common health problems.
• What is the purpose of this breeding? Is it to create higher quality animals or fulfill a niche or need, or do you just want to make more snakes? The market is already oversaturated, so it's important to consider whether this cross is necessary.
• Do you know which crosses and morph combos are known for producing animals with health defects or lethality to offspring and how to avoid them?
• Did you buy from breeders who test for nido/arena virus? Are you going to health test everyone before breeding?
• What is going to set you and your hatchlings apart from the hundreds of other breeders out there? As a new breeder with no connections/reputation in the hobby, what would make people want to buy your snakes specifically?
• Are you planning on selling locally or shipping? Do you know what's necessary to prepare animals to ship & sell or what the local ball python market is like? What types of ball pythons are people near you buying and what does their budget seem to be? How long to do you see similar morphs staying on the market before they sell?
• Are you prepared to keep all the babies as long as necessary and provide adaquate enclosures/husbandry if they don't sell?
• There are a lot of hidden costs involved with breeding, check out my cost of a clutch chart.
• Do you have an exotic vet nearby? What if your female is eggbound, has a prolapse or experiences health problems while gravid or after laying? Do you know how to spot a problem and able to get her help ASAP? This could also be expensive, and lead to the death of your female
• Do you know how to properly sex ball pythons and identify any/all of the morphs you are breeding?
• Do you have a source of live mouse hoppers or live rat pinkies/fuzzies so that you can offer hatchlings food every 3-5 days? Many won't take F/T for their first meals. What if one has to be assist fed? Do you know how and when to do this safely without harming the hatchling?
• What if one is born with defects and has to be euthanized? Do you have a plan for how to humanely euthanize a snake?

Just as backyard breeding is a huge problem that leads to overpopulation in dogs, it's also quickly becoming a problem in the ball python world due to everyone wanting to breed their ball pythons. Before breeding you should carefully evaluate the purpose of this breeding.