Murphy's Laws of Snakebreeding

[midnightline]

Everyone who's bred snakes has run into Murphy's handiwork. Here are some of my observations regarding Murphy and breeding snakes:

If you pair up project hets, you will get a huge clutch. Despite this, you will get none of the morph you are looking for. This will continue for years.
Corollary: The year you give up and buy the homozygous morph, you will hatch out 5 of them.

If you are working on a project involving hypo, both parents will turn out to be het for amel.

If you have homozygous snakes whose offspring will be worth a lot, they will refuse to breed. If they do breed, you will get fewer than 5 good eggs.

Corollary: if you have homozygous snakes of low-end morphs, you will be inundated with eggs and hatchlings.

If you are trying to create project hets, you will get a large clutch. They will be almost all males, and the one or two females you get will be kinked or non-feeders.

If you have a high-end male that you're looking to breed to several of your females, he will prove to be a dud... ...until you sell him to someone else, who will promptly get a bajillion offspring from him.

If you sell the parents before the eggs hatch, you will hatch out a surprise morph from the eggs that will make you wish you kept them. If you were trying for a specific morph from the eggs, you will not get it.

If you spend a ton of money on picking up a nice adult male for a project, the female will lay her eggs in the waterdish.

If you spend a ton of money on a nice adult female for a project, she will escape and you will find her remains several months later.

The nicest-looking hatchling is always the worst feeder.

If you somehow get the morph you're trying for in a project, it's kinked. If it's not kinked, it won't eat.


That's all I've got for now... feel free to add to it.