Reptile & Amphibian Forums

staying around 40k total investment.
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billy jean king
BugBusters

Really depends on what you like, I'd say avoid the Co-doms as they drop value very fast. Go recessive and then plug co-doms into those.

I think if you'd want to be with the big players, these recessive mutations could help you get there ;

Piebald
Lavender Albino
Genetic Stripe
Caramel

For Co-doms, the most potential in my eyes is the Cinnamon, think of homo super cinny pied or super cinny lavender albino!

REAL players have every single morph you can buy or make......

period...

thereore I bet there are no real players....

...

your defintion may be ."you need enough to make $1000000 a year".......???

less?
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You need more than $40K
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

LOLOL, I'll drink ta that.

Quig

Then again, nobody said you have to go absolutely hog wild to start. You can start small and get bigger once you get some offspring from the affordable morphs...

Yeah But, to be a "real player" ya gotta start with ALL the good'ns.

Quig

First, I need to know what you think a "real player" is.

If you mean to be a "big breeder,top name" money can not buy that! only hard work(if you can call breeding snakes hard work) will get you there.

Agreed $40K might by you one maybe two high end animals - but that doesn't make you a real player. Yeah you can buy lots more of the low end snakes - that makes you - well someone like me and I aint a no player - so I'd estimate a very minimum $100K investment and about three years hard work in order even think about running with the big dogs.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Sssigh I guess I'll stay under the porch.

Quig

That is why I am starting my business of with tics and burms. Less money, more babies...then once I have a little nest egg venturing into the incredibly expensive world of the ball. Todd

So you think that Retics and Burms are the way to Ball Morphs? I do not see the logic in starting with two giant snakes that are found in Reptile Refuges because of their size, that people will beg you to just come "take" out of their house...that are basically "free to good home." Do people actually still pay money for Burms and Retics?

Dave

The burm market has seen several new morphs come out, but I wouldn't even mess with them.

As for the retics, that isn't a bad start at all.
Say you bought 1.4 Albinos, regular or lavendar, not purples.

You breed them and get an average of 30 good eggs(not a large clutch at all). Now you have 120 eggs and you will need racks for the babies, maybe not even that. You could wholesale all of those babies. Let's use a low number, say 300 a piece. You are looking at 36000 off your retics, using small clutches.
Of course, feeding is expensive, but you could start with a small investment in retics and work your way to balls fairly well.

Say you bought some albino tigers-there's a great start.
The dwarfs? That's going places if you want my advice.
There are a lot of possibilities with retics, I prefer them to balls 10 to 1. It's the size and expense that keeps me focused on balls, but when you wind up with morph retics that consistently stay

Local and state laws, proposals, etc. have made the larger constrictor market a little "touchy" if you ask me. Obviously mutations will still be in demand to some extent but still...it's sad but true, but the way the Gov't is, I'm betting in the next decade or so anything over 7' will most likely be banned completely, thanks to ignorance by their keepers ( for letting them go in the wild, less than adequate caging, etc.) and politicians (need I say more??) alike.

I'd take a clutch of 5 Pinstripes over 50 Albino Burms anyday of the week. If not for the obvious $$$ sense, the care and management alone, 55 rat pups every 4-7 days compared to 5 or 10... that's all me.
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Troy James Cromwell

Contact Me

0.1 Bowling Green State University freshman - perfect in every way - 100% problem free.
0.1 Southeastern High School freshman - perfect in every way - 100% problem free.
1.0 USMC 20 yr. old serving our country in Iraq - perfect in every way - 99% problem free.
1.0 Future Linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks (age 6)- testing every inch of my patience and sanity.
1.0 Future point guard for the Indiana Pacers (age 8) - doing the same as his little brother but for two years longer.
0.1 Psycho Girlfriend (age 30) Beautiful...but psycho

Always taking a moment to thank God for another day with my family and friends

I dont even think 100 grand would get you up with the big boys.... it has been said... 100 would get you started and then only a few years would prove you have what it takes...

Any good playa knows it's all about the bling. So, you gotta get da right bizzall pyzzles...

I suggest any of these morphs err... mizzles:

fo shizzle!

I'm not one for the "bling", but that last one is nice.

I would love to get that for my mother.

You would need a Patternless Ball Python.

Current known players:

RDR

VPI
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Ryan Farris

I don't like the first, don't like the way the head and tail are done, and I'm not a broach person but love that necklace.
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons
ballpythonworld.com

ita all about time.

What is a "big dog"? Is it all about the money? I think not...

I am profiting from my venture already. Not in money, but in knowledge and relationships. Another reason that people fail to “profit” is they have unrealistic expectations.
· You put up allot of cash- in animals, equipment and care.
· You invest a TON of time (a bigger investment here than money)- getting to know as much about keeping, breeding & raising the animals as possible & then applying what you learn.
· And you must develop & establish a great reputation, participate on forums, & events; building relationships…

This business has a tight knit group, a person who has great snakes but no connections may fail just because no one knows them. I think for those who measure profit in solely in dollars, don’t expect to quit your day job for years, if ever. Even so you may still make "big dog" status; because it’s about patience. I’m starting as a hobbyist, but I will run this as a business as I do intend at some point to turn a monetary profit along with the knowledge.

I love the animals, am excited about finding ways to improve the quality of what I produce so that each generation is better than the one before it & maybe someday creating a new Morph (THAT to me = Big Dog!). The learning curve is high & you end up wearing a lot of “hats”.

I’ve invested money, time and am getting to know people along the way BEFORE I have anything to sell. I think that’s the necessary expense most overlook. And I do believe there are WAY easier methods to make money, so if it’s just about money this is not a good business to consider.
Just my .02- Deb

NorthernRegius

Yep I said it..............

IF YOU DONT HAVE A LESSER, YOURE NOT EVEN ON THE LIST!

YOu could trade lesserS right now FOR ANYTHING YOU WANTED!!!!!!

ANYTHING WITH ANYBODY

If it was me spending 40k, I would look at the morphs that are making the cool looking combo mutations. On that list I would have the following:

Ghost, pastel, cinnamon, lesser, lavender albino, axanthic, calico (in the future), spider, clown, pinstripe, and many more.

Just because a morph is expensive doesn't mean it is a good investment. I think one of the best ones right now is a spider, because it's getting to be at a price were people are more willing to invest money into that project and you can actually sell or trade them, and again a great combo mutation to have.

It's like chess, you need to anticipate everyones next move and have it already to sell. (Like clowns this year)

Daniel @ Sterling Reptiles