How would i start selling ball pythons?

[robert242245]

I am going to start breeding Bp's soon, i have no problem with the genitics and how to breed them, my problem is, im scared i wont find a place to sell my bps... I mean, i first got into reptiles (snakes mostly) because i love them... but my family is in hard time and i need to come up with some money, im going to be breeding two het pieds soon but i need a place to sell them! Please, any responce would be good. Thanks for your time.

[mattb]

I wish you well in your project. I am hoping to breed this year. I know there are many classifieds out here that you could sell them on. The one thing that you will hear on here is don't breed to get rich. Do it for your love of the animals. I will say that with everything I have spent I will maybe break even and have a little for feeders for the next year. For a while anyway I know most of what I make will go right back into this hobby that I love. I will say that this is the best place to get any information that you could ever need. So many minds to pick and so little time. Good luck. I hope the odds are in your favor.

[BWyant]

Right here is a decent place to start. There's a classified section. So, forums, that's one place you can sell.
Shows... There's gotta' be at least one show somewhere within a couple hour drive of you. You can sell snakes there.
Website. Build yourself one.
Word of mouth.... You know, be careful about it, but tell people you breed snakes. Just don't freak anybody out.
Craigslist. It's only local sales, but people sell snakes that way.
If you get desperate and can't find any other way, sell 'em to a good pet store.

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there's other ways.

Oh, and make sure you don't need a license in your state.

[alpine]

Some people in my area sell on craigslist if they are newer in the game. Others do make websites or they create facebook pages for their stores and post them on different sites so people can go and have a look. Others will create a site and post the information and link directly to photobucket with pricing and pictures of the reptiles.

[I-KandyReptiles]

I am going to start breeding Bp's soon, i have no problem with the genitics and how to breed them, my problem is, im scared i wont find a place to sell my bps... I mean, i first got into reptiles (snakes mostly) because i love them... but my family is in hard time and i need to come up with some money, im going to be breeding two het pieds soon but i need a place to sell them! Please, any responce would be good. Thanks for your time.

There's multiple places where people in the states can sell ball pythons.

Bp.net has its own classifieds here, and you could try posting on fauna classifieds.

You'll probably have a difficult time trying to sell your het pieds as het pieds considering how "new" you would be to the reptile community. People are extra cautious when buying het snakes.

[boyer.michael.s]

In my opinion, after reading your post, it may not be a good idea for you to even start breeding. As you stated, your family is in a hard time and you need to come up with some money so I can only assume it is a financial situation that you are in.

One of the most important things when it comes to breeding and selling not just ball pythons but any animal is your reputation. If you do not have a good reputation then it will be hard to sell your animals regardless of what price tag you put on them. So first you need to ask yourself, do you have a good reputation in the ball python breeding scene? From the sounds of it, this will be your first go at breeding which would mean that you do not have a reputation in the ball python breeding scene established yet so you may have a struggle selling your ball pythons for that reason alone.

With that said, you also need to justify the costs of breeding before you even get to the point of selling. Some things you will have to consider are you will need an incubation setup, more housing for when the babies arrive, and also more food for feeding the babies while they are in your possession. All of these are going to cost you additional money before you even get to the selling point. Can you justify these extra costs while you are in the financial situation you are currently in?

Then once you finally are at the selling point you have to make another consideration. What I am talking about are the snakes you are pairing. You said you will be pairing two het piebald snakes together. With that said, you will have a ¼ shot at a normal python, a 2/4 shot at het piebald, and a ¼ shot at an actual piebald. Because of the possibility of a normal python you would have to advertise your snakes that are not piebald as 66% het piebald because you could not be sure that they are het piebald unless your held them back to prove them out which would take a significant time. When advertising your snakes at a 66% het piebald you will get less money for them simply for the fact that there is a chance that when someone buys it, it ends up a normal and not a het piebald. This reason alone could potentially have you stuck with some snakes that won’t sell. Are you prepared financially to take care of these snakes if that does happen?


After reading everything above if you are still adamant about breeding and selling your ball pythons then you really have many options for selling your snakes. You can utilize forums such as this one that have a classifieds section (this option is where your reputation will probably be questioned and matter the most), you could use Facebook, you could create your own website, and many other options.

I hope you look at this as useful advice and not criticism. Good luck with whatever you decide on and I hope your hard times turn around.

[robert242245]

In my opinion, after reading your post, it may not be a good idea for you to even start breeding. As you stated, your family is in a hard time and you need to come up with some money so I can only assume it is a financial situation that you are in.

One of the most important things when it comes to breeding and selling not just ball pythons but any animal is your reputation. If you do not have a good reputation then it will be hard to sell your animals regardless of what price tag you put on them. So first you need to ask yourself, do you have a good reputation in the ball python breeding scene? From the sounds of it, this will be your first go at breeding which would mean that you do not have a reputation in the ball python breeding scene established yet so you may have a struggle selling your ball pythons for that reason alone.

With that said, you also need to justify the costs of breeding before you even get to the point of selling. Some things you will have to consider are you will need an incubation setup, more housing for when the babies arrive, and also more food for feeding the babies while they are in your possession. All of these are going to cost you additional money before you even get to the selling point. Can you justify these extra costs while you are in the financial situation you are currently in?

Then once you finally are at the selling point you have to make another consideration. What I am talking about are the snakes you are pairing. You said you will be pairing two het piebald snakes together. With that said, you will have a ¼ shot at a normal python, a 2/4 shot at het piebald, and a ¼ shot at an actual piebald. Because of the possibility of a normal python you would have to advertise your snakes that are not piebald as 66% het piebald because you could not be sure that they are het piebald unless your held them back to prove them out which would take a significant time. When advertising your snakes at a 66% het piebald you will get less money for them simply for the fact that there is a chance that when someone buys it, it ends up a normal and not a het piebald. This reason alone could potentially have you stuck with some snakes that won’t sell. Are you prepared financially to take care of these snakes if that does happen?


After reading everything above if you are still adamant about breeding and selling your ball pythons then you really have many options for selling your snakes. You can utilize forums such as this one that have a classifieds section (this option is where your reputation will probably be questioned and matter the most), you could use Facebook, you could create your own website, and many other options.

I hope you look at this as useful advice and not criticism. Good luck with whatever you decide on and I hope your hard times turn around.

Thank you for your advice, I am prepared to take care of the snakes (actually a few of my friends want another snake, and one, wants his first snake, so i would find a home for them " But i am prepared for them if i get ones that wont sell, thanks for the feed back

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In my opinion, after reading your post, it may not be a good idea for you to even start breeding. As you stated, your family is in a hard time and you need to come up with some money so I can only assume it is a financial situation that you are in.

One of the most important things when it comes to breeding and selling not just ball pythons but any animal is your reputation. If you do not have a good reputation then it will be hard to sell your animals regardless of what price tag you put on them. So first you need to ask yourself, do you have a good reputation in the ball python breeding scene? From the sounds of it, this will be your first go at breeding which would mean that you do not have a reputation in the ball python breeding scene established yet so you may have a struggle selling your ball pythons for that reason alone.

With that said, you also need to justify the costs of breeding before you even get to the point of selling. Some things you will have to consider are you will need an incubation setup, more housing for when the babies arrive, and also more food for feeding the babies while they are in your possession. All of these are going to cost you additional money before you even get to the selling point. Can you justify these extra costs while you are in the financial situation you are currently in?

Then once you finally are at the selling point you have to make another consideration. What I am talking about are the snakes you are pairing. You said you will be pairing two het piebald snakes together. With that said, you will have a ¼ shot at a normal python, a 2/4 shot at het piebald, and a ¼ shot at an actual piebald. Because of the possibility of a normal python you would have to advertise your snakes that are not piebald as 66% het piebald because you could not be sure that they are het piebald unless your held them back to prove them out which would take a significant time. When advertising your snakes at a 66% het piebald you will get less money for them simply for the fact that there is a chance that when someone buys it, it ends up a normal and not a het piebald. This reason alone could potentially have you stuck with some snakes that won’t sell. Are you prepared financially to take care of these snakes if that does happen?


After reading everything above if you are still adamant about breeding and selling your ball pythons then you really have many options for selling your snakes. You can utilize forums such as this one that have a classifieds section (this option is where your reputation will probably be questioned and matter the most), you could use Facebook, you could create your own website, and many other options.

I hope you look at this as useful advice and not criticism. Good luck with whatever you decide on and I hope your hard times turn around.

Thank you for your advice, I am prepared to take care of the snakes (actually a few of my friends want another snake, and one, wants his first snake, so i would find a home for them " But i am prepared for them if i get ones that wont sell, thanks for the feed back