Listen, I'm with you. The largest of the large breeders have A LOT of snakes. But that doesn't matter........they have so many, it's hard to focus on individual animals like those in smaller collections.......for example, how is it I produced a pastel fire before anyone else? But what I'm getting at is, you have to pay your dues, and life is much easier as a small breeder, because you can focus. This is one of their flaws.......

Next, take BIGGER CHANCES.......and NO, I don't mean more money. I mean SACRIFICE......RISK......for example, do you need to breed a black pastel to a female pied to make a black pastel het? NO......you just need a het female. Easier to acquire, cheaper, and the outcome is the same. It's just that you take a bigger chance that one won't prove out (I know, sometimes there are markers, so maybe the pied wasn't the best example). Downside......nothing in the clutch is really worth selling. So keep them all!

Finally........time to pay dues......it takes TIME. You breed, you hold back, you wait, you breed, you hold back, you wait, you breed, you hold back, you wait.....and it goes on and on! If you are not holding back, you are wasting your BEST investment....because they cost you nothing. And remember, always buy new morphs every year......it doesn't have to be expensive, just something new to play with, something new to add to the collection. If you don't want a large collection, then you make a high quality, low quantity collection......sell your breeder size het pied females when your pied females get up to size......then replace them with the pastel pied you later produce when they get up to size......you collection gets rarer, work is the SAME, and you keep producing crazier and crazier stuff!

Sacrifice.......cleaning cages until the wee hours of the morning.....investing most of my profit back into the business......being available to my customers 24/7 despite what my family or significant other wants......I'm one of the many who has dedicated their lives to snakes. We are the most compassionate of people.........we love snakes......and they don't love us back! It takes someone special! And it has paid off......you think the firepastel is the only first I've done? There are a few others around my place that I have yet to show off........MORE POWER TO THE SMALLER GUYS!!

Produce more......make more to support your addiction......hold more back......pay your dues, and once you hit the top of the hill, it's all downhill after that! It's much easier to produce a first when you have already done it!

Brandon Boeke
Priceless Pythons

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