Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is breeding and selling leos lucrative, or do the profits mostly go back into the care of the geckos?

I am asking because I really am interested in breeding. Once I have my house and career going, I want to breed a bit and maybe sell some here and there either online, to pet shops, or both. But if I get married and end up taking a hiatus from my main career to stay home with kids, etc. etc., could it be an activity that earns me a little cash on the side?

I'm just curious about some of your experiences. Even if it is not lucrative, I'll still probably breed and sell them because the little buggers are just so darn cute.
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-Kristin

0.1.2 Leopard Geckos
(Monet, Kumquat, and Tamale)

I have a feeling that to be profitable enough to justify breeding as a business would either require high volume sales or specializing in harder to get morphs.

I've asked around while at a reptile expo and most of the better dealsers had a photo album with them showing their breeding racks, etc. Might give you an idea of what it takes if you're serious about making it a occupation.

Of course if you're in it primarily for the hobby value and don't think you'll have trouble placing hatchlings in good homes then it might just be something you can "grow into".

I'm considering breeding mine and making them available via my work's "for sale" web page. There's a few thousand employees there so chances are good that I won't be stuck with hatchlings if that's the case.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm getting my masters in Food Science so finding a well-paying job should not be a problem for me. I went to daycare a few times as a child and really hated it, so I am not going to put my kids through that if and when I have them. I'd like to stay home as long as possible, and I think that breeding might be a fun way to occupy some time while maybe earning some income on the side.

The good thing about my plan is I don't want kids for a long time, so I have plenty of time to put more research into it.
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-Kristin

0.1.2 Leopard Geckos
(Monet, Kumquat, and Tamale)

I wouldn't suggest this as a way to make money. There are some that can support themselves with this but they are very few. By the time you factor in costs and time it doesn't look as good anymore. Being a new breeder no one is going to want to pay you as much as they would an established breeder. On top of this the values plumet dramatically every year. So lets say you bought a snow last year for $1000. This year they are already down to $100.(extreme example) Make sure you look into how you are going to house them along with who is going to buy them and for how much first. I've seen where people hatch 50 geckos and can't find them a home. Good luck whatever you decide.
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Brian
www.thewindycitygecko.com

It is really hard to make a living breeding reptiles, especially Leos. Leos breed readily so any moron with a shoebox and some perlite can do it. Also they have a short generation time and a large number of offspring. Because of this prices of new morphs drop faster than in most other species.

Unless you produce thousands (30,000 ) of leos that you sell to wholesalers and large chain petstores, you are almost certainly not going to make a living doing it. The bad news is that these breeders are already well established.

I only breed a few leos a year and produce around 50 babies a year. I also breed other things like Cresteds, Corns, Ratsnakes, Balls, Boas, and Hognose. Althogh I don't breed everything every year. I would say that every year I end up losing money overall. But I do it as a hobby and any money I do get just goes back into food and new animals.