Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm rather new to the reptile world (Got my Cal King only about 2 months ago) and as such I know very little about breeding, but I had a few basic questions about the actual economics of breeding.

How did most of you get started with breeding? What is the typical start-up cost of a breeding project for a new breeder? What sort of day jobs do breeders have? How does one start out as a breeder - which is to say where do you start selling at? How much money does one actually make with breeding that is profit (I understand this varies based on how much one spends on certain animals, but still general answers would be greatly appreciated)? Is this more of a hobby than an actual money-making process for most breeders?

I'm quickly falling in love with reptiles in general, and I doubt I would ever be able to afford breeding, however I'm fascinated by people that do breed. Having an entire rack full of reptiles would be so amazing, not to mention those who have entire rooms dedicated to breeding programs!

I know I jumped around a lot in this post, but hopefully I got my point across well enough. I just don't know hardly anything about breeding reptiles, and I would really appreciate how breeders manage it!

Welcome to the hobby, it sure is captivitating isn't it

Most "breeders" start off breeding their pets and then putting the funds from the offspring towards buying more pets. 99% of people who call themselves breeders are really just hobbyists selling offspring to support there habit.

For now, just take your time and enjoy your snakes. More important than the economics of breeding is the knowledge and experience to do it right. Also avoid the "newbie rush"... that is, a quickly expanding collection that see's you burn out after a few years. This is incredibly common and see's people downsize, cut corners, lose interest, and just simply lose the joy that reptiles brought to them in the beginning.

I hope this opinionated post helps you out a bit...
Take care and have fun with it! Should you get around to breeding your california kingsnakes it'll be an experience you won't soon forget

Ian

Joey gave very good advice. I started out breeding my pets. I started by selling the you to the pet store I purchased the parents at and to this day still do that. I feel if you have the time and energy it is very possible to make a good amount of money breeding. I believe the key is to look towards a market that is not already saturated. For example Corn Snakes and Ball Pythons can be very hard to get rid of as the market for them is huge. I am working on a King Snake project but have yet to jump into that market or research it very much so I don't know how big it is but I would imagine its a very large market as well. Be very careful though I DID loose all pleasure in keeping reptiles for a while. I turned my hobby into work, made quite a bit of money and then at season end it was also payday end. When the cash flow slowed so did my interest in the business as well as the hobby. It took some time to get myself back into a position of enjoying it again and still to this day it sometimes feels like overwhelming work and less fun than it use to be.
Foot Hill Reptiles

I bred my snakes for the first time two years ago after having them for almost 8 and got three clutches one from each female. I rolled most of this money into an account for food the next year and spent the rest on more snakes. All of those snakes bred the next year. I would say I am a hobbyist because I only hatched out about 30-40 snakes each year but it was still a cool experience and it allows me to expand my collection a lot and pay for feeding. I would recomend choosing a species of snake that you are going to enjoy. I only breed the ones I keep because I like the species. Keep in mind expanding a collection does mean a lot more work and when the hatchlings come you better hope you have plenty of time especially for picky eaters. I terms of where I sold them wholesalers will snatch up everything you have but do not pay big bucks. I mostly just trade for feeder or supply credit to shops. I mostly work with in demand species because my visual preference dictates.

Do it for fun one year. Do not think you can support yourself from it. Treat it as a hobby and build slow or risk it eating up some of your free time.