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What do/would you breed?

Posted by Starwild at 3/11/2010 6:56:45 PM

A friend of mine (who might very well be reading this! HIIII!!) is getting into ball python morph breeding.

I would like to try breeding at some point, but I'm not sure what I'd want to breed! Maybe pair my SHT Leopard gecko with a really nice male Sunglow? Or get a High White Reverse Okeetee girlfriend for my cornsnakes? Or perhaps even try for a litter of boalings?

I see some small-scale breeders who produce just one or two clutches/litters a year for the joy of doing it and for propogating really excellent animals. If I ever get into breeding, that's what I would do.

The REAL question is how do you sell your offspring - both literally and emotionally, LOL! I'm such a sentimental sod, once they broke shell I doubt I'd be able to give them up.

No, I wouldn't **ever** try breeding for money. For one thing, I know you're lucky to break even, and more typically lose money; and secondly, I'm not sure my nerves would take selling an animal I'd produced! That would mean being prepared to keep whatever I produce, and that in itself is a big consideration, financially and space-wise.

I think *that* more than anything is one of the draws for me, besides the spirit of propogating a worthy reptile line that's healthy and possesses desirable traits: the chance to raise a snake or gecko from conception through their lifespan. I would love the chance to have a corn or gecko with me from the moment they're born and throughout their life.

Whether that will ever be possible for me down the road, I don't know, but if it is, I'm up for it.

As for the market, I'm not really the kind of person who's into the latest, hottest morphs just for their own sake. I know what I like and if I bred something, it would be to refine and clarify the best traits of that animal, striving towards something ever better. I really admire PoppyCorns for example, she works small-scale but shells out big bucks for high-quality animals of morphs that may or may not be hot at a particular time, but produces such stunning examples of their kind that they sell for much more than an average-quality corn might. That's the kind of philosophy I'd want to follow, though again, I wouldn't be doing this for profit.

What do or would you breed?

Comments:

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Patrick ,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 7:11:16 PM
	Im going to try my hand at carpet pythons...but like I think i should of just bred Rodents IMO

Aimee ,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 7:39:29 PM
	lol, Patrick have you not bred your own clutch yet? whatever.... as far as selling, I never named any. I sold the last baby from last April a few weeks ago and she was still #11. it helped me a little to know that I can't realistically keep them all - not enough time, money, space - I bred a clutch of IJs last year and am working on another this year. I would add one thing, though: before you breed anything, find out how many are on the market, what they're going for, and how the market trends will go. for example, so much of the market has crashed in the last few years. people who are breeding cresties will tell you that there are so many easily available, it's not really worth it unless you have something very special. also, in my limited experience, don't do it for extra cash. if you want to be small-time, breaking even is a good thing!

Patrick ,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 8:07:23 PM
	Actually Sadly no Aimee....My past three years have SUCKED but then again one year my only female turned male, then my beautiful breeder male got a nasty RI, and this last year i got reabsorbed follicles and 48 slugs :( So Its kind of been puddingty but I did also recently buy a crap ton of carpets, so before I was only trying the same pair just to try ya know? But as of now Ive got two gravid girls so Hoping that changes and this year ill have 20 different girls to chose from breeding, so ill produce something damn it!! The company im working with just got a clutch of Jungles but I didn't help in any of that but im getting first pick!

gfx,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 8:37:07 PM
	Ferrets. Selling them becomes easy as soon as that feed bill starts to sky rocket!

Rebecca ,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 10:00:52 PM
	Starwild, take what Aimee said to heart. If you becide to breed animals – of any persuasion – be sure you don't do it for illusions of making money. I also really haven't named any of my hatchlings & it makes it much easier to part with them when I have to... but it doesn't completely stop you from getting attached either. My #1 mantra: work with animals YOU are passionate about! This will make it much easier on you when you have to invest energy, attention, and money into your project that you aren't likely to make back (btw, ALL reptile prices decrease over time... it is as certain as gravity, so plan on it). This makes it bearable if what you're passionate about is ablso something that has already flooded the market... because you will have to invest a lot more energy finding suitable pet homes, and not see much in return for your efforts. So long as this involves animals that you LOVE to work with, you'll still have fun doing this. :) I have bred Ball Pythons, though we are all (me & my BP's) taking a year off to deal with the rest of life. In the future I plan to breed my Duméril's boas (they are a REAL labor of love, and never have been a money maker), and eventually, I will probably breed my Amazon Tree Boas. I'm a fan of the short-tailed pythons (P. curtus & P. breitensteini) and the short-tailed boas (Boa constrictor amarali), and Mexican Rosy Boas... so those guys may be in the works in a few more years, but for now, I've got enough on my plate. :)

kfethe,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 10:05:23 PM
	If you're gonna breed something with the intent to sell, make sure there is a market for it. Boas for intstance are becoming difficult to sell lately, especially normals. I know of a few local breeders who sell normals for as low as 40 or 50 bucks. Try to go for something that isn't on the market in numbers that rival cornsnakes and balls. Thats my 2 cents.

Stephen ,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 10:12:01 PM
	i have a pair of BRBs that i plan on breeding this up comming season and i have often wondered what i am gonna do with the litter. i am pretty sure i would want to keep at least one of the little slimers, but what of the rest? do you sell one or two at a time on the internet, try to sell half the litter to a petstore, or wholesale all of them away... are there any other options on one hand i kinda dont like the idea of selling off the entire littler wholesale, but what would happen if you wernt able to sell off all of em... just end up keeping them? my hope is to build a collection that can pay for itself, y if i can make enough to just break even im happy... if i can make a little more where it can now expand a little even better

Starwild ,	Posted At: 3/11/2010 10:18:07 PM
	No, I wouldn't ever try breeding for money. For one thing, I know you're lucky to break even, and more typically lose money; and secondly, I'm not sure my nerves would take selling an animal I'd produced! That would mean being prepared to keep whatever I produce, and that in itself is a big consideration, financially and space-wise. I think that more than anything is one of the draws for me, besides the spirit of propogating a worthy reptile line that's healthy and possesses desirable traits: the chance to raise a snake or gecko from conception through their lifespan. I would love the chance to have a corn or gecko with me from the moment they're born and throughout their life. Whether that will ever be possible for me down the road, I don't know, but if it is, I'm up for it. As for the market, I'm not really the kind of person who's into the latest, hottest morphs just for their own sake. I know what I like and if I bred something, it would be to refine and clarify the best traits of that animal, striving towards something ever better. I really admire PoppyCorns for example, she works small-scale but shells out big bucks for high-quality animals of morphs that may or may not be hot at a particular time, but produces such stunning examples of their kind that they sell for much more than an average-quality corn might. That's the kind of philosophy I'd want to follow, though again, I wouldn't be doing this for profit.

shellboa,	Posted At: 3/12/2010 1:21:03 AM
	This feed right into my philosophy of keeping this a hobby because once yuor hobby goes from a hobby to a money making venture it stops being fun!

John ,	Posted At: 3/12/2010 8:23:16 AM
	I agree with everyone here about money. The best animals and the best purchases I have had were from smaller breeders. I breed a few Leos and a few corn snake clutches each year. I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't breed Leos and Corn snakes because it seems there are already millions of them out there. I do it because I just love the whole process. I love watching over the incubators and waiting to see what's going to come out of those eggs. I really like breeding herps with lots of hets because you just don't know what all is going to hatch out until that day comes. And, to me there is just nothing cuter than a little baby lizard face poking out of it's egg as it hatches. I also like the idea of seeing some offspring from my favorite animals. For example, I hatched out an unusually large Anery Corn snake baby from my big boy Hockey. This baby takes after his papa so much that I decided to keep him and I named him "junior". The fact that he is so much like his papa makes him really special to me. My Carpet python breeding so far has been driven by that idea. I love my big boy Escondido and my Girlie is really beautiful, so any babies from them would be really special to me. I'm sure I'd have to keep at least one....or two. But then I'd really have to get busy on selling them because I'm not set up for an army of Carpet Pythons. With some clutches I have given away babies to children, like my friends' kids. I love doing that. There's nothing like the look on a little kid's face when you hand them a free lizard or baby snake and say "it's your's now, take good care of it".

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