Want some opinions.

[ChrisS]

My girlfriend and I have been discussing for a long while now about how many snakes/animals I have and how many I wish to have. With me having an 18 month old that gets into everything and a work schedule that limits my time on everything having a large collection at this time is not in the forecast. I really want a bumblebee and lemon blast, maybe a couple leos and one or two more spiders(not the morph). So as of right now there are two paths I can go. I can either sell my adult female pastel and yearling female pin to buy the bumblebee, the leos and the spiders. And possibly have a few dollars left over to start saving for my lemon blast. Or I could hold off on all that buy a spider bp and breed it to my pastel to hopefully get my bee. Then hopefully be able to sell the rest of the babies quickly so I'm not stuck with babies I don't have time or need for. I know that caring for 2 or 10 bps isn't much different, but I have to set a limit for my sake and my girlfriend's as well. I really want to breed and that's why I bought girls to start but it's looking like until my son is older or I find a job that better suits my life it is going to be a stretch to pull off.

So what are your thoughts and opinions on my situation? Would you go ahead with breeding and hope for the best or go for the other wants up front and get back into breeding when the time was right? I'm in no rush to get rid of my animals nor in any rush to get more. I just want to get some other outside opinions to help my mind think outside the box.

[Mike41793]

It depends largely on you job i would say. How much you make, what the hours are and how stable it is. If none of these are good then im not sure if i would go ahead and start breeding. I would hate to say go for it and watch you bite off more than you can chew.

[ChrisS]

It depends largely on you job i would say. How much you make, what the hours are and how stable it is. If none of these are good then im not sure if i would go ahead and start breeding. I would hate to say go for it and watch you bite off more than you can chew.

My job is stable my income is well of enough I could breed, the only part that would get me is the hours. I already work 6 days a week and 10-14 hour shifts. What time I'm not working is spent sleeping, spending time with my son, or taking care of personal errands. Sunday is my only animal day (cage cleaning, watering, feeding and if I'm lucky handling). So that is why having a large collection right now is out of the question and maybe breeding as well. I just don't have the time to check on eggs and incubation temps and all the other details that eggs and babies need. I don't have time to assist feed if necessary with a hatchling. But I just don't want to give up on the idea of breeding and regret it 2, 3, or 10 years from now.

[1nstinct]

that is a tuff one. me and my gf joke around all the time and i tell her the rule is if she has her horse i am aloud to have as many snakes as it takes to equal the same weight as her horse. This was before she sold her horse. i would say personally hold on to the snakes you have and just wait. but i also don't plan on selling any of my snakes unless i have to, my rule is once i give a snake a name it is mine until i need to sell it(personal reasons), example i have a black pastel 100%het albino, i hope to get a albino black pastel in my future breeding,but i would not sell the black pastel i have now just because i have a better gened animal. all the animals i have are pets, yes i plan to breed them and sell the babies, and hope to make some money doing it, just because if i sell one snake and it pays for the rats for 3 months for my collection that is a win to me, because this is a hobby to me.
i would say keep the one you have, don't breed tho. there is a chance you breed and end up with all normals. no one buys them and your stuck housing and feeding them you will be out more money and time then you would have if you didn't breed. there is a difference between having to care for 2 ball pythons vs 10 ball pythons, time. your like me you don't have much free time, so in a sense time is valuable to you and your gf/kid. breeding is something you have to make sure you are ready for, thats why i am waiting for a few years(i bought babies for this reason), you will not sell each snake within 3 weeks, it takes time and money. you will have to be able to feed and care for each single baby, and if you can't, i truly feel you should not be breeding. look at cl look how many "normal" ball pythons are for sale, and if you get bad odds and get 90% normals it will be hard to sell them(unless you go wholesale)
take a certain amount of money out of each pay check, i take out $100 out of each pay check(get paid every 2 weeks). That is my reptile money, if i need anything for my reptiles: new rack,rats,hides,new snake/new reptile. it all come out of that money. that way when i go buy the new rack or new snake i didn't really spend money in a sense because i saved that money since this is my hobby. it is the same as, some people like to go out every weekend and go to the bar and spend $25-50 a night, i would rather go get a new snake instead of buying beer(i also work till 8 on friday nights and have to be back at work at 5am sat so my weekends are shot anyway). buy taking money out of each paycheck you will be able to get the bumblebee, lemon blast, and whatever other reptiles you want.
hope it helps,
tom

[ChrisS]

that is a tuff one. me and my gf joke around all the time and i tell her the rule is if she has her horse i am aloud to have as many snakes as it takes to equal the same weight as her horse. This was before she sold her horse. i would say personally hold on to the snakes you have and just wait. but i also don't plan on selling any of my snakes unless i have to, my rule is once i give a snake a name it is mine until i need to sell it(personal reasons), example i have a black pastel 100%het albino, i hope to get a albino black pastel in my future breeding,but i would not sell the black pastel i have now just because i have a better gened animal. all the animals i have are pets, yes i plan to breed them and sell the babies, and hope to make some money doing it, just because if i sell one snake and it pays for the rats for 3 months for my collection that is a win to me, because this is a hobby to me.
i would say keep the one you have, don't breed tho. there is a chance you breed and end up with all normals. no one buys them and your stuck housing and feeding them you will be out more money and time then you would have if you didn't breed. there is a difference between having to care for 2 ball pythons vs 10 ball pythons, time. your like me you don't have much free time, so in a sense time is valuable to you and your gf/kid. breeding is something you have to make sure you are ready for, thats why i am waiting for a few years(i bought babies for this reason), you will not sell each snake within 3 weeks, it takes time and money. you will have to be able to feed and care for each single baby, and if you can't, i truly feel you should not be breeding. look at cl look how many "normal" ball pythons are for sale, and if you get bad odds and get 90% normals it will be hard to sell them(unless you go wholesale)
take a certain amount of money out of each pay check, i take out $100 out of each pay check(get paid every 2 weeks). That is my reptile money, if i need anything for my reptiles: new rack,rats,hides,new snake/new reptile. it all come out of that money. that way when i go buy the new rack or new snake i didn't really spend money in a sense because i saved that money since this is my hobby. it is the same as, some people like to go out every weekend and go to the bar and spend $25-50 a night, i would rather go get a new snake instead of buying beer(i also work till 8 on friday nights and have to be back at work at 5am sat so my weekends are shot anyway). buy taking money out of each paycheck you will be able to get the bumblebee, lemon blast, and whatever other reptiles you want.
hope it helps,
tom

I wish I could keep every snake that I would produce/purchase but due to the constraints I wouldn't be able to keep both the pastel and pin if I purchased the bee and blast. I like your idea of set a little aside each check and I do this but this isn't just snake money it's emergency money. Its for incase I get sick or a snake gets sick. So even if i save enough to purchase the snakes i would need to sell the two i have now. Im limited by the number of snakes i can have. And it isn't my girl saying what i can and can't have either. I don't go to the bar either nor anywhere else that would cost me substantial amounts of money.

[EAC Reptiles]

If you don't have the time to breed them do not do it. It would not be fair to he animals if they don't get the proper care because you are working a ton of hours.

If I were you I would get the select few animals that you truly desire an get them. There is nothing saying that when you are able too you cant breed them. And they do take a few years to get to breed age so get what you want, hold off on breeding until the time is right with you.