Breeding advice needed!

[diamond123]

Hi,
i was thinking of breeding ball pythons and leopard geckos, but im not sure what size tubs to keep them in and whether i should make the rack or buy one (im looking for cheapest things possible). I am getting 2 adult female ball pythons and 2 males (1 year old approx), what size tubs should i keep them in? Also when the babies hatch what size should i keep them in until they are sold? I was also wondering the same with the leopard geckos, what size, how many females and how many males and should i keep the females together or seperate? Thanks

[BHReptiles]

Hi,
i was thinking of breeding ball pythons and leopard geckos, but im not sure what size tubs to keep them in and whether i should make the rack or buy one (im looking for cheapest things possible). I am getting 2 adult female ball pythons and 2 males (1 year old approx), what size tubs should i keep them in? Also when the babies hatch what size should i keep them in until they are sold? I was also wondering the same with the leopard geckos, what size, how many females and how many males and should i keep the females together or seperate? Thanks

Okay. Before I start to be nice and answer these questions (because I have a feeling A LOT of people are avoiding you or will be making snide remarks because these can be answered by doing your OWN research using the "search" function), I want to start off by saying that breeding ball pythons (I don't own leopard geckos...so I can't answer for that species) is not cheap, it's quick, and if you're in it to take short cuts by being cheap in order to make a quick buck, this is NOT the place to do so. These are beautiful animals that deserve to be treated with knowledge and respect. I highly recommend you spend several months researching the species first and then purchase a baby. Then while you are raising it up, learn about the species and do more research. When you think you know the animal inside and out and have reached the nirvana of ball python research, then research some more.

Now to try to briefly answer your questions individually (but please...do a TON of research on each of these in not only the breeding, but also the general and husbandry subsection of this forum).

1. What size tub in what size rack? Here's how I break down my tub sizes: anything I plan on selling as a hatchling is in a 6qt tub, anything I plan on holding back from birth until they reach about 700-800g stays in a V18 tub, anything from 700-800g until 200g stays in a 28qt tub, and anything over 2000g is in a V70 tub. If you don't want to use vision tubs (the V18 and V70 tubs) you can substitute them for a 12qt tub and a 41 qt tub respectfully. As for whether or not you want to use a homemade rack or a commercial rack, that's completely up to you. I prefer the XPVC racks made by C-serpents (other suggest Animal Plastics as well). They are lightweight, look nice, and are very functional. They aren't cheap. You can probably build one for cheaper if you are skilled in that area. I am not and I like everything to be uniform, so all my racks are from C-Serpents.

2. Hatchling Care Questions/Concerns: First of all, before you even pair a male with a female, you need to make sure you can afford to feed up to 15 babies from a single clutch (most clutches are 4-8 eggs, but this varies). You need to have a rack for the hatchlings. As stated above, I like using a 6qt shoebox rack. You also need to have a steady supply of LIVE feeders. Most hatchlings need live feeders in order to jumpstart their feeding. You need to be prepared to take care of each baby for a year in case you don't sell them right away. You need to have a way to market them and sell them. This is not as easy as it sounds. You need to start off with quality parents. If you have low-quality parents, you will produce low-quality babies that are hard to sell. Before you even have hatchlings, you need to have an incubator. DO NOT SKIMP ON THE INCUBATOR. You need a quality thermostat that has a low degree of variance (I prefer Spyder Robotics Herpstat series thermostats). You need to decide if you want to build or buy one and how you want to set up the egg tub. There's a whole sticky on this page so I'm not going into detail. I've only glossed over this section. You really need to do your own research and then ask specific questions.

3. Other concerns: I'm trying to be informative to you, but there's a point where I have to say I honestly don't feel that you are ready to tackle this task. I don't know how else to tell you to do your own research. This forum is for you to ask questions, but if you make an effort to answer your own questions, you will learn more from it and you won't irritate quite so many people. In addition, you really need a chance to evaluate WHY you want to breed ball pythons and leopard geckos. If money is one of your biggest reasons, please don't! There are too many people getting out of the hobby because they buy a bunch of snakes, realize they aren't making money, then sell them all in collection sales. You are probably NOT going to make any money intitially. It takes a lot of time and dedication to get to a point where you break even.

Like I've stated before...this is a VERY brief response. Please do more research and learn how to properly care for ONE ball python before you jump into breeding.

[diamond123]

Look, you dont know how much research ive done, i have filled a huge notepad with information on them, and i want to breed them becuase it would be so lovely to hatch and care for those little snakes, then give them to good homes. I am not just doing it for the money! I have been researching for nearly a year and i just thought about breeding so i thought id ask a few questions on here. I have looked on the internet, but i got confused because different websites say dofferent things

[BHReptiles]

I only said those things because some of the questions were very basic, general questions. Take a peek around the site, see what other people are asking about and search other topics that may be interesting.

The reason I posted the way I did is because you made it sound like you hadn't researched enough. We get a lot of people who post similar questions who just want to make a quick buck or who just want to breed for the heck of it. I'm sorry if it came off harsh. It's pretty much a go-to response when we see threads like this.

I'm still learning new things every day. Yes , even I still have questions. The internet is going to give you a ton of ways to do things . It's all about picking a method that you feel comfortable with that provides your snake with the proper care. Even though you may think you've done enough research , these still so much to learn !

[Tigerhawk]

(YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.) quote from a few good men. I think it applies here.

[MrLang]

(im looking for cheapest things possible)Thanks

Breeding ball pythons is not cheap. Even to make a DIY rack for the snakes, hatchlings, heat costs, heating elements, cleaning costs, food, DIY incubator, and so many other things you're going to be in a couple thousand dollars to produce some eggs. To even make your initial money back you're looking at a substantial amount of money and 2-3 years of work and that's if you're very lucky and don't have your females slug out, die, require vet trips, hit the odds on your clutches, etc. You mentioned getting 2 females and one male - what kinds are they? A normal ball python costs quite a bit more than 20 dollars to produce, yet that is all you'll get when you sell it. If you're asking the questions you're asking I would strongly recommend holding off on buying the snakes and digging deeper into the topic first.