It is possible to make a living breeding reptiles, but I can tell you from personal experience that you have to be willing to put in years of time and work, and invest and re-invest a lot of money.

I have kept reptiles as pets since I was very young. When I was in college, I bought a pair of day geckos with the intention of breeding. I soon purchased some leopard geckos, bearded dragons, and veiled chameleons. Having some success with those, I decided I'd like to become a full-time reptile breeder once I graduated from college. I decided to get a degree in biology and I also took some business and computer courses. I think those classes actually help me more now than the biology classes! It took me years of trial and error with many species to figure out which ones I was good at breeding, and which ones were the most marketable. I put all my extra money that I had, which wasn't much considering I was a college student. I also got into quite a bit of debt with credit cards- I don't recommend doing that! Luckily, my parents were very supportive and let me keep my collection in their basement. I think it took me about 6 years of breeding various species before I started making an actual profit. I eventually purchased my parent's house from them. It was easier for them to move to a house nearby than it was for me to move my collection. After a couple more years, I was doing well with my collection and outgrew the space I had. My wife and I bought a new house with some land and put up our 3500 square foot facility. Since then, we've expanded our collection. We have a huge collection of leopard geckos, crested geckos, and bearded dragons. We also have a very large collection of ball pythons, boa constrictors, green tree pythons, and some others. We are not even close to getting rich from reptile breeding, but it is paying the bills and we are putting some money away. I can also safely say that I still have the passion for what I do that I've always had. That is so important with any business. I wake up every morning and I can't wait to get out to work. How many people can say that? I also don't feel that a full-time breeder has to compromise his or her ethics to "make a buck". Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I'm as trustworthy and honest as they come.

Breeding reptiles as a career is a lot of work. There are a lot of aspects of it that isn't very fun. I spend a lot of my days just cleaning poop from cages. How fun is that? Its also a little stressful to know that if your animals don't breed well, you won't have anything to sell. That means, no money to pay bills. Overall though, the reward of doing something you absolutely love, and built up for yourself, is worth it. I can't see ever havning a different career. I do know that many people try this and fail, but if you do it smartly, are willing to work long and hard, and have a lot of patience, it is possible to succeed.

Thanks,

Garrick DeMeyer
www.crestedgecko.com
Royal Constrictor Designs
CrestedGecko.com/ Royal Constrictor Designs

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