Big breeders

[ironpython]

Ive been on here almost a year and have gotten much useful information but I never thought of who you folks are. I know there is a mix of new small time hobbyist and very experienced breeders. So I was wondering which ones are established well known breeders, let's say ten or more years breeding and owning more than a hundred snakes and lizards. And what is the best advice for a new breeder like myself. I just want to say I'm just a hobby breeder and don't expect to get rich breeding snakes, I do it for the joy of producing beautiful balls and being a part of it happening.
1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

[ironpython]

I know you folks are being modest, but I'm sure some of you are big time breeders.

1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

[Annarose15]

I'll try to help the thread along. I have over 20 years of herp ownership, and 3 of those are in breeding BPs. I'm in the low 30s on breeders, and expect to stop around 50 (or buy a new house!).

[Mrl249]

I'm the same. Small time hobbyist just looking to produce some AMAZING morphs. we now have 35 Bp's and a female Albino Burmese.

[Freakie_frog]

I sort of meet that criteria, the best advise I can give is don't get overhelmed or discouraged when you see how and what others are doing with their animals (producing, selling ect). Focuse on your stuff and produce what you like. After all you're the one that has to feed, clean and care for it..till it sells.

[ironpython]

Thanks Anna for getting this thread started and thank you freakish frog for the good advice.

1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

[satomi325]

I don't have a lot of experience breeding. Just 1 season. But I have had snakes for a long time.

Breed what you want and what makes *you* happy. Breed and keep animals to a number *you* can manage. You don't need 100s of animals to become a great breeder. There's a difference between good breeders and big breeders. Pick quality stock to breed quality babies. This is the foundation that will make the difference in your breeding program. Have a handful of snakes but produce amazing hatchlings all the time vs have a ton of snakes and just hatch out a nice specimen every 50 babies. I find that to be the difference between big and great.

When it stops becoming fun and more like a chore, its time to sit down and consider if breeding is really for you still. Things happen. Goals and passion change.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[MarkS]

When I hear the term 'Big Breeder' I associate that with people who make their living breeding snakes and that's all they do. I've never been in that category nor will I ever be. However I do have over 30 years experience with reptiles, over 20 years experience breeding snakes (I used to be really big on corn snakes) and around 12-13 years experience breeding ball pythons. I've mainly been concentrating on the ball pythons for the last 10 years or so. All of which basically just makes me a dedicated hobbyist. If you want to talk to an expert, talk to somebody who's been breeding for about 2-3 years, they know everything. I on the other hand fully realized how little I actually know, but I'm still learning. Which is good, I'm one of those people who feels that if I'm not learning anything new, it's not worth doing.

I guess my advice would be to never keep more animals then you can easily clean and care for during the times that you REALLY REALLY don't want to. There are going to be times when you just don't even want to look at a snake, but you HAVE to because they're living animals and they depend on you for everything. Several years ago I had several life changing events come crashing down on my head all at the same time and my collection really suffered. In the end I ended up getting rid of many of my snakes, most of my rodents (this one thing cut my workload in half) and just not breeding anything, basically just maintenance feeding and cleaning. I think times like these are when a lot of people just get out of the hobby all together. I'm really glad I didn't throw in the towel, because I really enjoy working with these animals, but there are going to be times when it gets to be overwhelming and feeling overwhelmed is never fun.

[3skulls]

First year breeding but have been into animals all of my life.

Over 20 years experience with Reptiles and Tarantulas. Have done rescue and rehab, anything from Bats to Burms, all kinds of furry types.
For the past six years I have worked with well over 1500 dogs one on one.
I'm working with an animal from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed.

Now that I'm getting older and have settled down some, my collections have exploded. It helps that my girl is into animals just as much as I am.
I think we are close to around 400 mouths to feed :o (if not more)

Very small time breeder, very big time animal person :p

Best advice. Work with what you love. Never have more animals then you can afford to feed. Get out way before anyone suffers (if you go that path)
Have fun, learn and share.

[MootWorm]

Great posts guys!! Very insightful for those of us that are interested in breeding, or have just begun the process. Keep em coming!