Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I'm a nice guy and I don't want any trouble. I have been here before but the admin erased my account because of what some people said about me here before. Let me say it again, I don't want any trouble...all my questions are sincere, and everything I say is truthfull...thanks.

I am buying a banded water snake from a supplier in Bushnell, FL. Can I give him a water dish? Or does he need an aquirium filled with water.

Also, I am interested in breeding kingsnakes. Are there any good books on this, or even better, are there any free web sites with that information.

What kind of cage set up would I use for breeding snakes? My space is limited because I have two monitors, 4 rabbits, rats, and a black mexican kingsnake.

Thanks.

Sorry, one more thing popped in my mind. I am seriously considering selling rabbits to my local petstores, because I heard I can get around $10 a piece for them, and $5 for smaller feeders. Can I sell my kingsnakes? And can I make new patterns by mating different types? For example, could I sell an albino crossed with a black mexican kingsnake to a petstore? If so, how much would I expect to get for it.

I live in Florida.

Thanks.

You'd have to check with the stores on their specific policies. I'm not sure how much they'd offer you. If you look for what MBKs are going for and half it, that's probably approximately what the stores may offer you.
You can cross different types to make new patterns, (and occasionally the same type) but it takes a ton of time, money and research. To do it well, is a multigenerational project. With little profit in the first few years.
If you found an albino mexican black king (don't know if that's even an available morph) and crossed it with your regular black mexican black king, you'd get a bunch of normal looking black babies carrying the gene for albinism.
Breeding snakes, is a difficult way to make any profit. But if you want to do it just for the enjoyment, I suggest just breeding same to same, but the nicest individuals you can find.
Have fun, whatever you decide.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

okay...are there any books with information on how to breed them? The pet store owner said you had to use lights and heaters to make the snakes think the seasons were changing so they would mate. If you know of any books I can buy that would be good, or even any websites.

If I could sell a black mexican kingsnake for 40$ that might be pretty good. Snakes usually have about 10 eggs right? That would be 400 bucks.

Many snakes do need their temperatures to change around the year to mate. I don't know of any book that focuses specifically on breeding kings, (though I'm sure they're out there) but there's the book, "Kingsnakes and Milksnakes A Complete Pet Owner's Manual" by Markel and Barlett and published by BARRONS (I know it has a few pages on breeding) and I'm also fond of the AVS or "Advanced Vivarium Series" books which have always struck me as being quite informative. If you ask in the kingsnake forum, I'm sure they can give you some good titles. There's also a webside called www.anapsid.org which has tons of articles. Might be worth a look.

Ten hatchlings at $40 does sound like a lot (and some clutches have more), but there are some things to consider which will chew away your profit something nasty. Both the male and female king will have to be housed separately since the species is known for cannibalism. That means 2 seperate cages, 2 separate heating elements and controls for elements, the electricity for both snakes year round, food for both snakes year round, incubator for eggs (I've heard people can often make good homemade ones with the right instructions) separate secure containers with heating elements for all the little baby snakes since siblings will eat siblings, food for all the little baby snakes (and here's hoping they eat willingly).

Then I've seen baby MBK's for sale for $50 and a very handsome adult for $80, but if you sell to a store, they'll probably only offer wholesale or $25 of that fifty. You could advertise and sell on your own to take full price, but that would probably involve a fair amount of legwork.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm discouraging you. Breeding snakes is an awesome endeavor and a great challenge to take on. (kinda like climbing a mountain because it's there) It brings new information to the hobby, captive breeding lessens the pressures on and protects wild population, and I've never bred snakes myself, (I will someday) but it's gotta be an awesome experience for the breeder and I can imagine the thrill of seeing those little heads poke out of their leathery shell the first time in their little lives. But frankly, breeding for money's a whole other ballgame and you'd be doing very well by just breaking even.

Good luck, whatever you decide.
-----
0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human