Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am only 178 years old almost 18 in 3 weeks.....I was wopndering if anyone here makes a living by breeeding different morphs of ball pythons? I really would love that as a career and would LOVE to know how to start out? How to sell the babies...is it hard to sell them ect... as much info as possible thanks so much for anyone who answers

ps: would morph is good to start with? Albino maybe?

thanks
Mike

n/p

,
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Occupants not paying rent:
1.1. balls
1.1 corns
1 everglades rat
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2.1 cats

First rule - don't quit your day job.

You will need a sizable chunk of change for your initial investment. Very unlikely you will be able to live off of one pair of albinos or even maintain your pair of albinos with a pair of albinos. There is a lot of time and money needed to get up and running - the bigger your name - the faster your animals will sell - if you are an unknown - be prepared to hold onto babies for a while - very much harder to sell AND you won't be able to sell at the same price as the "big guys" - you will need lots of connections and references - there are many scammers. Breed what you like, start off slow - problems happen - don't put all your eggs in one basket. Patience is more than a virtue it's a necessity. Breeding balls can be easy - hard - frustrating - exciting - they don't always do what you want - some die - lots of maintenance - lots of time. If you don't own your home - lots of places won't let you set up racks (fire hazard), keep pets, if you do own - your homeowners insurance may not let you keep racks (fire hazard). Do your homework - be prepared for anything.

And don't quit your day job.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

good answer tosha...i like the fact tosha said "breed what you like" or something along that line...sometimes being original pays off...try buying odd looking snakes whether it be pattern or color. With alot of the morphs out there by the time you produce it there will be a new pattern craze and it will become hard to sell what you have...On the other hand if you have something new your chances of getting in with the big boys is better. Try to keep at least one line your trying to improve on. Not all projects turn out as planned and it will take several generations before you see results ..(if any)...If your buying hets i would recommend checking out the persons reputation because its so easy to devote several years raising a normal that was sold as het..not only could you get ripped off you can waste several valuable production years.
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we're here because a hobby became an obsession... if only every one had this much fun

some days your the dog, some days your the hydrant...don't know who started this saying but it's the truth

For inspiration read Ralph Davis' story. Construction guy, loves animals, buys pet store, gets involved in breeding, sells pet store to breed full time. Takes on the big guys, clears $800 K in 4 years...it can be done. He speaks a lot on his site about what it took and his approach. Took lots of money, risk, passion, the normal things that separate successes from failures. It's all about where your heart is and atittiude is and how savvy are you in things like marketing, networking, etc.
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Mike and David at 3-D Pythons
www.3dpythons.com