Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have several questions for serious breeders. I want to start small scale breeding next year and sell at the local shows. I understand that breeding is large commitment and takes a lot of patience. Im very unsure of how to start and what to invest in. I would think I should start investing in racks and a couple display cases, then move onto the geckos. As for the geckos what do you think is the most popular morph? I know enigmas are "new" and fun to look at but I would think the hypo's and albinos would still be the most popular? Unsure about that? Could any breeder explain to me what they did to start their business and how? I could really use some good advice.
-Thanks, Cheyenne

How I got started years back was with the Normal/Hi Yellows, Albinos, Jungles, & Patternless which I sold mainly to pet stores. I was pretty successful at the time & would have animals spoken for befor they hatched. But when I decided to get into some of the more expensive morphs Hypo Tangerines, Pastels, plus some others but things backfired & petstores didn't want them just based on the price. So between that & some of my best customers going under I then started vending shows & over the internet. It's actually a real long story, but that is kind of the short & sweet version.

When it comes to the displays for shows, all I use & what alot of the other venders I see do, is use the 6" display deli cups. I put as many that will fit on the table & cover them with bird netting. It sounds tacky, but it actually makes a nice display, easy to work with, & very cost effective. My philosiphy is the booth, hotel room, gas, & other trip expences cost the same weather you have 20 animals on the table or 100, so get as much variety on there as you can.

As for what morphs to work with, I'll give you the same advice as I do others. Work with what you like, it's your hobby. For the longest time I would focus on what would sell or what was popular & I ended up with too many animals which some of them I didn't really care for. I eventually had to just do my own thing to prevent myself from getting burned out. Just like I said earlier, go for a variety. If you vend a show with only one or two morphs, you will only sell to people interested in those morphs. With more selection, you will appeal to more people. Also look at what other local breeders are into. Then I would shy away from those morphs(unless you like them) & get into the ones they're not working with so you can offer something different then the others. In a nut shell, it's more about what you like.

Another tid bit to think about, you sound like you want to keep the number of breeder animals down to a minimum. So I would set my colonies up to produce as many different morphs from one colony as possible so you can still get variety. An exsample is one of my trios is a Albino Jungle male & the females are a Jungle & a Reverse Stripe which both girls are het Albino, So from those 3 animals I get Jungles, Reverse Stripes, & Stripes that are either Albino or that are normal color & het for Albino.
I hope this helps & I'll try to get to other questions you have when I get a chance. Good luck.

My concern when I read questions like this one is the poor animals that will be regarded as expendable material. When the colors don't turn out, off they go to someone else's plastic shoeboxes.

Before you breed, consider seriously the ethics of it. Many a poor gecko was discarded for the spots, or lack of them.

If your interest is just to make money, collectible sports cards and disney pins are profitable and expendable. Company stocks are better. But please do not involve animals as a source of income without making sure that your motives will not bring on a poor quality of live, diseases, and exposure to less than adequate care.

A sincere, respectful advice on behalf of the animals...

I think you should get off this forum. You have no idea what your talking about. I have never met or known of a breeder who has "discarded" a gecko for any reason. If I only cared about the money then I would do something that actually brought in a decent amount of cash.To be honest I actualy lose money from breeding, so don't come to me about money. And for the shoeboxes...all of my geckos are kept in tanks, no racks or boxes. So before you start insulting breeders and my lifestyle you should stop and think "is it really necessary". Do you think what you have to say is going to change my mind. I have dedicated three years of my life on the research and husbandry of leopard geckos. I love all of my geckos and dont see them as profit. But being able to watch hatchlings grow and watch someone's face light up when they buy there first gecko is totally worth it. So thanks for trying to make me sound like a heartless wretch, but you just made a fool out of yourself. Im sorry if I sound blunt and rude, but I don't like being insulted and don't think the other breeders on this page would appreciate your input.

A sincere, respectful advice on behalf of the animals
-Cheyenne

Well, if the forum is all about breeding poor lizards for a profit, you're right I should get off.

But on behalf of those who truly care for their animals, even go the extra mile to take them to be checked by a specialist, I will recommend that anyone thinking about going into breeding thinks about all aspects involved.

You've had your animals three years? I've owned mine more than 6. I've read too many boards where animals are called "projects" and discarded or traded off when the spots didn't come out right. They bounce from one owner to another. They are kept in plastic shoeboxes, stacked up. I have even seen poor gravid females scrunched in deli cups at reptile shows. And the saddest part of it is, if you tried to track them down two years later, you couldn't.

Get angry all you like but unfortunately, it is happening. If it does not apply to you, you have no reason to take it like that.

He or she is right. Before anyone goes into business breeding/selling animals, they need to make sure they're doing it for the right reasons. There are a lot of people out there who care only about making a buck of the hottest morphs. There are also a lot of people who love their animals, and the miracle that is life is what it's all about. I obviously do not know which type you are, and it's doubt full the other poster does either, but you did come off a bit like the first type in your post.