Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have finally decided what i want to do with my life, i want to be a professional snake breeder. (they say do what you love) What do i need to know to start this? Do i need a degree in zoology or biology? What choices make the differece between a successful breeder and an unsuccessful one?

Is it necessary to have a degree to breed snakes? I know several large scale snake breeders without degrees in Zoology or Herpetology. I would say a degree in marketing would help if you plan on sustaining yourself monetarily.

Most breeders would no doubt tell you to get a day time job unless you’re financially set in life. The cost of sustaining several colonies of adult snakes can be costly. Especially when you factor in caging, Vet bills, supplies, heating and food. Then what snakes would you market? That snake that everyone wants today but by the time your colony starts producing the value of that snake has dropped? The rare ones the general public can’t afford. And how many different species would you be able to constantly breed successfully and market.

My post is not meant to discourage you in your quest. I have watched the snake market for several years. Some large scale breeders are successful in actually turning a dollar. Importers make the fast buck by supplying the market without breeding, turn over in the long run, not sure it pays out.

I breed my snakes for the love of the species I keep. I can truthfully say I will never make back want I have spent out. Not even going to try.

Respectfully
Dann

From the other very educational post, it sounds to me that your best bet may be to get a degree in Zoology or Herpetology. You can then teach and be involved in conservation efforts.

Degrees open so many doors which will allow you to find a job in a field very close to your passion and you can always breed on the side. The education you obtain will also open the world up to you in ways you have never seen it before.

In short, if you have the drive and intelligence to obtain a degree, get it and follow your passion.

Have you thought about doing rescue? by no means do you make any money- if thats your goal, then go with breeding and best of luck. I would reccomend though, going with something a little more high end though, true the general public can't afford them but if you're doing things like burmese/retic crosses, Bob clark sells them for 2500$, I bet you could ebay (or similar) them for close to that. or you go so much as to go much higher up and do something like burmese/rock crosses, those are A LOT OF MONEY! I've got a friend that accidentally bread a burm and retic so it can't be all that hard. or maybe something like emeralds that are around 350 or if you're willing to "hand tame" them (lol) then you could probably get 450 for them- i've seen them for 800. anyway- I've seen the opposite end of the breeding world, and people ask me all the time if i get anything like sunglows or emeralds, the answer is always no. I strongly feel that the majority of people that will spend THAT much money on a pet will probably spend a little time and figure out what it is and how to take care of it instead of feeding it pinky mice once a week for 3 years, letting them get eaten alive by mites, and not even bothering to put a water dish in the enclosure....
If you're interested in simply working with these animals, I would lean more towards rescue. I've had a lot of our cages donated- I got 4 new ones last week in fact. If you can get the 501 c 3 status, you'll get more donations b/c people can write off thier donations on thier taxes. (I've been trying to get the 501 c 3 status for a few months and now the "fees" are going up from 150 to 300 and 300 to 750!!, and I've been told several times it would be better to hire a lawyer for around 950 plus the 300 for the "fee"... ugh) anywho....
If you do decide to breed, congratulations, but i still reccomend going with somehting a little more "up there" in price. I get more ball pythons and RTB's than you can shake a stick at. (and iguanas).....
Best of luck-
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

I don't mean to discourage you, but only to warn you, that breeding snakes for a living, while possible, is extremely difficult. The only real way to make a decent profit, is to be able to breed, and come up with very rare, and even unseen color morphs. Someone mentioned Bob Clark, and he is a perfect example of this. I'll even quote him,"My business depends, to some extent, on my ability to make new "products" available on a continuing basis."
This can be extremely expensive, as many "new morphs" can cost in the thousands, and it is always a gamble. You never know if that 15 thousand dollar snake you bought will breed,or even live.
The thing is, if you can't come up with something new, you also have a great deal of competition, even with simple hobbyist breeders who simply breed for fun, and will most likely beat your prices considerably.
Another warning is, if you go in to breeding for a living, you have to realise that that will become your life. Breeding animals isn't like other jobs where you can call in sick, or take a week off for vacation. You will have to be able and ready to take care of your stock, every day, rain or shine, sick or not. As well, you can consider taking vacations, even just for a couple of days a thing of the past.
If this is really something you want to do, i urge you of course to do it. I simply wanted to show you just how much it is to consider.