My First Year Breeding Recap and Rant

[MasonC2K]

So last year was my first year breeding. And I was excited. I was initially only going to have 3 clutches tops. But through some unexpected circumstances I ended up with 7. Which yielded over 50 babies.

Now I was super dupers excited every time a snake poked it's head out an egg. Especially the first clutch! I had glorious odds resulting is the 1/32 chance Pewter Albino hitting! I felt like I won the lottery with that one. But once it hits you that you have 50+ new mouths to feed, reality kicks you in the nuts. It was a PITA to feed and clean them all on top of all the adults. And on top of that, some of them wouldn't eat. I can deal with adults not eating. But babies are frustrating! Even with assist feeding some never ate or hardly ate and about 7 died to just not eating enough. It seriously turned from a fun little hobby to overwhelming not fun work.

And on top of that, I learned that hard way that the prices people post, for the most part, are nowhere even near what they will actually sell for. For example, I have a female kingpin still. KS over the months has had equivalent aged and sized Kingpins for anywhere from $700-1400! What kind of absurd range is that?! And my policy was always to undercut the lowest price I saw because I wasn't in this strictly for the money. I just wanted to move them out without being low balled. But that only led to sells twice.

I sold a few through Craigslist oddly enough. About 8 that way.

I really really just lucked out with a chance encounter with a guy who over heard me talking about my babies who ended up buying about 30 of them which put me down to the 10 babies I now have. 8 of which I am for sure keeping.

I have just recently started to feel like this isn't a second job I don't get paid for again. And I am not actually contemplating breeding this year. Just on a much smaller scale.

So if you take anything from this, don't dive head first even if you think you know where the bottom is. The waters can distort the truth.

[ClarkT]

Good input. People getting in to breeding really should listen to all the advice there is about preparing for babies. So far, I've had 8 clutches to deal with personally, and in breeder loan/trade I've had 5 clutches I've dealt with some babies from. I've had to assist feed 3 babies. I don't have mice available, just rats. Maybe mice would have helped...but we've been fortunate to have gotten them eating rats.

Babies are cute and fun. They can also take a lot of time and be a lot of work. It's definitely something a new breeder needs to gear up for.

I have a friend that has about 30 breeding females and 5 males. This is his first year. I keep telling him to get ready for babies. Hopefully he handles it all well.

Good luck this time around!

[nimblykimbly]

Very good point! I'm glad I only have one female that seems to be going this year so far... as this is my first year. I can only imagine how overwhelming it was for you!

Good input. People getting in to breeding really should listen to all the advice there is about preparing for babies. So far, I've had 8 clutches to deal with personally, and in breeder loan/trade I've had 5 clutches I've dealt with some babies from. I've had to assist feed 3 babies. I don't have mice available, just rats. Maybe mice would have helped...but we've been fortunate to have gotten them eating rats.

Babies are cute and fun. They can also take a lot of time and be a lot of work. It's definitely something a new breeder needs to gear up for.

I have a friend that has about 30 breeding females and 5 males. This is his first year. I keep telling him to get ready for babies. Hopefully he handles it all well.

Good luck this time around!

Oh my gosh!!!

[TJ_Burton]

My one piece of advise for anyone who is breeding for their first time: Predict the number of babies you could possibly end up with and purchase necessary housing, f/t rats and all the necessary bedding to sustain them for at least 3 months.

I have seen people hatch snakes and then scramble to try and find food for them, or afford food for them all because they didn't plan ahead.

[angllady2]

How very true this is!

My first year breeding, I had one clutch. So feeding and caring for 6 babies was no big deal. This past season I had 4 females going. One had 12 eggs. I ended up with 25 babies from just 4 females, and even with my own breeding mice, I still scrambled to keep them all fed. And here is another thing: Babies mess. A LOT. Sometimes it felt like I was changing baby tubs 3 and 4 times a day while they were on paper towels.

Now this year, I have the potential to have 9 females produce. I am not entirely sure I can deal with that many babies. And my husband does not seem to comprehend my reluctance to pair that many. He seems to think it will be no big deal, and it means more money. Time will tell I suppose.

Bottom line is, think carefully about how you will handle babies BEFORE you start pairing every female you can get your hands on.

Gale

[MasonC2K]

My one piece of advise for anyone who is breeding for their first time: Predict the number of babies you could possibly end up with and purchase necessary housing, f/t rats and all the necessary bedding to sustain them for at least 3 months.

I have seen people hatch snakes and then scramble to try and find food for them, or afford food for them all because they didn't plan ahead.

All of this was fine. For me it was just the amount of time and effort involved as more and more babies hatched. It didn't help that I wasn't selling them in what I thought was a timely manner. I didn't expect to still have over 30 after 6 months.

[TJ_Burton]

All of this was fine. For me it was just the amount of time and effort involved as more and more babies hatched. It didn't help that I wasn't selling them in what I thought was a timely manner. I didn't expect to still have over 30 after 6 months.

I know what you mean; most do not consider that they will be holding on to a lot of these snakes for a while. The thinking goes along the lines of "oh, I just need to get 3 meals into them and I can post them for sale, and they will sell within a week or so" which is just not the case. Be prepared to watch at least half your babies hit 400-600 grams before you end up selling them. I plan to keep most females until they hit that size because it makes them easier to sell and worth more than a hatchling. Yes time, food, bedding, electrical etc. goes into that as well, but overall it is a better practice IMO.

My advice was a general statement on the topic - not directed at you at all.

[Kaorte]

This is my first year breeding and I have 3 females I have personally paired with my males, and two normals that were paired prior to shipping. I'm not entirely sure that all of my girls will go this year, and that is perfectly fine with me! I am prepared to take 3-4 clutches at a time in my incubator (maybe more if they are small clutches). Right now I've only seen one ovulation and only a little bit of building behavior in the other 4.

I have one 6qt, 12 slot hatchling rack and already I'm thinking I'll need another. I have plenty of room for adults and sub-adults.

As far as selling babies, I have been dedicating the past 6-8 months to my facebook page, Hugs and Hisses. Taking great photographs is key if you wish to move your animals quickly. Having a customer base is important, but if you have crappy pictures people will just skim right over your ads. We've been focusing a lot on photographing the animals we currently have so people know the quality of our breeding stock.

Also I believe that branding your "business" is a great idea. I really like doing graphic design on the side and I have made 4 or 5 logos for people and everyone seems to like them. A good logo, business card, banner, display, photographs, care sheets, and customer service can go a long way to helping you sell your babies in a reasonable amount of time. There are plenty of breeders out there who have offspring so sought after that they never have ANY animals on their available page.

I know I am going to hatch normals this year and I know I don't plan on keeping them. What I've decided to do is to sell them to people I know for a very reasonable price. I have quite a few friends that are interested in snakes and would make great owners. I've also considered making up "starter kits" to sell with the animal. A tub, substrate, hides, water bowl, thermostat, and thermometers that all come with the snake for a set price.

[satomi325]

Your experience has confirmed my decision.
This is my first year breeding. I only plan on doing 1-2 clutches a year for the reasons you listed in your OP.

[collrak]

Thank you for sharing your honest experience of being a small hobbyist breeder and i wish you good luck with your projects. It highlights the issue that selling babies in this economic environment is not easy, even if you have good marketing/networking and beautiful morphs at a competitive price. Often times people get into breeding, do some number crunching, but forget that selling babies is not guaranteed and then they severely undercut prices in order to sell them. Also, the babies will outgrow their hatchling bins relatively quickly if you do the right thing by feeding them normally, rather than underfeeding them. It saddens me when i see 2012 ball pythons for sale that still weigh under 200g. As they grow, you will need to move them to a larger rack, which is more expensive per cubic feet, and take up more space. They will need larger more expensive prey and pretty soon, you can find yourself being overwhelmed with the time commitment and cost involved with raising your babies that you cannot sell.

I only produced one clutch last season. I decided to hold back three and sell two. I managed to sell one so far, but if the other one doesn't sell, then i don't mind keeping her at all. This season, i'm hoping to produce two clutches because that is manageable for me even though i have more females that i could breed. I enjoy taking care of my balls and i clean them as soon as i notice they're dirty, but at the same time, it's a commitment that needs to be taken seriously and i want optimal flexibility in my day.

Again, thank you for sharing your honest experience. It's very much appreciated.