Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok before I ask, please don't give me the "you won't get rich breeding snakes", I know that.

So I am curious how much most of you breeders make in a year just off selling your snakes? I have just started to wonder what the average person/breeder makes off breeding snakes.
Thanks
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1.1 Motley het butter corns
0.1 Snow corn
0.1 Okeetee corn
1.0 Anery mutt corn
0.1 Stripe Ghost corn
0.1 Amelanistic corn het carmel
2.1 Colombian Redtails
1.0 Hypo Colombian redtail
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Anery Kenyan sand boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan sand boa

Well....if I include the purchases of food, electric, and misc supplies not including caging. I think I make -40 bucks a year. Cheapist hobby I ever had.

>>Ok before I ask, please don't give me the "you won't get rich breeding snakes", I know that.
>>
>>So I am curious how much most of you breeders make in a year just off selling your snakes? I have just started to wonder what the average person/breeder makes off breeding snakes.
>>Thanks
>>-----
>>1.1 Motley het butter corns
>>0.1 Snow corn
>>0.1 Okeetee corn
>>1.0 Anery mutt corn
>>0.1 Stripe Ghost corn
>>0.1 Amelanistic corn het carmel
>>2.1 Colombian Redtails
>>1.0 Hypo Colombian redtail
>>1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
>>1.0 Anery Kenyan sand boa
>>0.1 Normal Kenyan sand boa

after the main snakes to start with always wanting more snakes the cages for every1 proper heat devices electric to run everything food snake hooks feeding the hold back that you gotta keep lol thermostats etc i think -10k roughly maybe a lil more but thats just the tinitial once stable and running ok and got everythgin -100k lol just kidding around next to nothing to maybe even debt lol and i am serious on that one. mine is a hobby and a expensive one would be cheaper but dave has to keep posting drool pictures making me wnt more

doing things right requires a little money but planning does go along way and building the tub racks will help out significantly with the costs and one other maybe even bigger concern which is space. I only buy and keep snakes cuz it makes me happy and I plan on breeding my hypo brb and a couple of bci to get some money back that way I can buy other projects but I don't plan on making a penny but rather plan to just put back in the hobby which includes caging, feeding, thermostats etc etc.... but I do plan on having a table in like 4 years at a local reptile expo in Harvey (2 hours east of you Tsusnakeguy) cuz the selection and quality are a friggin' joke oh yeah I forgot about pricing too. I mean they had $700 pastel balls that looked like crap, normal red tail for $75, hypos that looked like crap for $250 on up so I got something for those bastards so I am slowly and selectively building the stable of bci and brb's but the brb's are not as near as popular as bci's so if you want to make money then the best of luck to you but try and do it with the snakes that make you happy
Bob

Bob,
..I have been a vendor at small shows and most of them suck. At the typical small show the slobs selling dirty imported animals usually sell more than the real breeders. Most of the crowd at the small shows is loooking for LOW priced junk first and foremost. They do not recognize the difference between dirty diseased imports and good CB animals. I have not been to the show you mention but I bet it would be hard to find anyone at the show except the vendors who would have enough cash to buy a Hypo BRB. There are way too many small shows and they are a blight on the herp hobby. Rather than planning to go to one of the small shows think about going to one of the big CB only shows where the show is big enough to draw both the right vendors and the savvy customers to make it a great experience.
Jeff

>>doing things right requires a little money but planning does go along way and building the tub racks will help out significantly with the costs and one other maybe even bigger concern which is space. I only buy and keep snakes cuz it makes me happy and I plan on breeding my hypo brb and a couple of bci to get some money back that way I can buy other projects but I don't plan on making a penny but rather plan to just put back in the hobby which includes caging, feeding, thermostats etc etc.... but I do plan on having a table in like 4 years at a local reptile expo in Harvey (2 hours east of you Tsusnakeguy) cuz the selection and quality are a friggin' joke oh yeah I forgot about pricing too. I mean they had $700 pastel balls that looked like crap, normal red tail for $75, hypos that looked like crap for $250 on up so I got something for those bastards so I am slowly and selectively building the stable of bci and brb's but the brb's are not as near as popular as bci's so if you want to make money then the best of luck to you but try and do it with the snakes that make you happy
>>Bob

the lines of the below average pastels, average to below average hypos and things of that nature but hell no I'm not taking no hypo brb's, no sunglows (maybe one or two), maybe some albinos but nothing coraling or above average by no means cuz I have to agree with that these people were buying 20 dollar ball pythons and what not but they did have LLLreptile there and that was the biggest name but by no means no QUALITY but maybe I can get my name in a cirlce or two for those who want something nice prolly bci wise. thanks for your thoughts Jeff
Bob

Bob,
...Thank you for your thoughts on this. I was hoping we would get more opinions on shows but I do admit to highjacking the thread. Perhaps other people are being polite and not participating because of the highjacking.
Jeff

>>the lines of the below average pastels, average to below average hypos and things of that nature but hell no I'm not taking no hypo brb's, no sunglows (maybe one or two), maybe some albinos but nothing coraling or above average by no means cuz I have to agree with that these people were buying 20 dollar ball pythons and what not but they did have LLLreptile there and that was the biggest name but by no means no QUALITY but maybe I can get my name in a cirlce or two for those who want something nice prolly bci wise. thanks for your thoughts Jeff
>>Bob

Let me just say significantly less than I've spent!!! Hope to turn that around in the next few years though!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Income $0
Cash Outlay: about $9k for the year - so far.

I have bought all baby and juvenile animals, and just started getting into snakes as a breeder this year. It will still be a while before I see any income.
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Mike

6.7 BRB
1.2 Spotted Python
1.0 Cal. King

I am also taking my hobby to a new level and starting my "breeding project" this year. Right now I put in about $2,000 on animals(neonates), extra equiptment, lots of books, cages and such. I hope to break even two years from now (on my purchases this year) and then make some extra cash to put back into my hobby/business in three to four years. Of course time is the key so these next few years I will be in the red and only hope to be out of the red in my 5th year.

But it all depends on what animals you choose to breed and how many you successfully breed that year, the snake market is always all over the place (very hard to predict) and right now my starters "Hondurans" are fairly easy to sell but they may end up like the corn snake two years from now because of all the morphs. That is why I am keeping a close eye on Rainbows and several other species because they don't have many morphs, I hardly ever see any quality breeders at my local shows and I simply love the way the animal looks and I have always wanted one lol..

The key is though love the animal you breed and money will follow.
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Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."

I will also say that I have spent more on snakes in 2007 than I have made selling my babies,,,,,
,,,,,,but to give you a real answer, I am at nearly 10K in sales... (mainly wholesale income because I do not have enough time to deal with large numbers of individual customers right now...and by just keeping the most outstanding animals for retail, I know that every snake that I ship to individuals will be top-notch). Also, keeping an additional 150 baby snakes quickly becomes more work than fun…but keeping the top 30 is somewhat manageable.

Don’t be impressed by this figure however, My rodent bill will be about $2,100 for the year, and I’m eyeing a few new cages. I have never put more than 5k in my pocket after expenses, but there are breeders out there that do make real money with their animals.

What I think is impressive is that it is recurring income. I started breeding reptiles in 1992 or 1993 but never made any substantial money selling kingsnakes and ratsnakes (although it was PRICELESS EXPERIENCE for what I do now…and it was fun). In 1997 I made about $1800 on my first litter of Brazilians, and it was nearly all spent buying babies from adults nicer than mine. It went this way for several years selling a litter or two and buying nicer ones to raise for future breeders.
Breeding snakes helped me pay my way through college and Grad School. Reptile income pretty-much covered my tuition while at The University of Texas in Arlington studying reptiles. I would not have been able to survive (without going into debt) on the grad student teaching stipend of $1,100/ which is supposed to cover tuition/books/food/rent,,,if it were not for a few litters of rainbowboas each year.

My biggest suggestions are to do what you love, do what you are good at, start with the nicest animals you can reasonably afford (which makes babies easier to sell in the future), buy from a reputable breeder, buy and raise babies until they are breeding age instead of buying adults, keep a diverse collection, don't get too many of any one species, and remember that a morph just a normal animal with some color or pattern issues. Also, don’t expect to make quick OR EASY money.
The best thing about breeding snakes is telling non-snake-people that you breed snakes…..and you make money at it…
BEST OF LUCK TO ALL.