BP breeders "price" of fame

[Ladydragon]

Okay.. we all know them.. the well known large BP breeders. Even quite a few smaller scale breeders are acquiring fame status. Famous in their own right for the quality of animals they produce and their sparkling reputation that they worked hard to achieve and now maintain. A comment that was made to me today was "fame has its price".

So, what exactly is that price? We all have a small idea of what the price could be.. the work that goes into the hobby. We've been given a glimpse into the behind the scenes with Brian's (BHB) weekly videos, seen some of it on Ralph's (RDR) site and Adam (8ball pythons) has spoken about it on reptile radio. But do we really know? I don't think so.

But I'd like to hear from all the "famous" well known breeders, large and small scale.. what is the price of your fame? If your not sure if you are getting that fame.. here's an example.. Heather Wong (LadyOhh), yes you are achieving fame... what is your price? Brock.. your on that list as well. Albey too. Lets go... lets here from you please. Lots of newbies see the glam side without fully realizing the work involved. Not that I'm discouraging anybody from trying to be a breeder or acquire their own fame... but we all need to know all the aspects involved.. all the dirt to make knowledgeable decisions.

I know I will eventually breed my snakes, but I'm breeding them for myself first.. everything else is secondary and a bonus. Do I have a website set up for that eventual future.. you betcha I do. Am I putting a lot of hope into that future? Not the "I'm gonna get rich on this" hope, but the hope that someday I will have beautiful quality snakes that somebody will want to purchase.. even get on a waiting list for. Do I hope to get as big as Adam or Nerd or RDR... no but thats okay.. even a small scale breeder has its place in this hobby and I'm okay with that.

Is it realistic? I think so.. but only time will truly tell if I'm doing this for the right reason.

So, please all you famous breeders.. speak up please and share. All the good and the ugly aspects. Thanx.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I am not a breeder but here is what I see

I don’t see glam, I see hard work and long days year round with very little spare time, as for the fame it is a double edge sword the higher you get the more enemies you get because a lot of people are bitter and jealous of where you are.

It is a tough industry.

[Morphie]

I am soooo tired of signing autographs

[LadyOhh]

LOL!!!!!

I missed this thread so badly, I'm sorry.

First of all... I am NOT famous. I am just an ordinary lady with a hobby that is GREAT!

The side that people don't see is the expense and time involved.

It takes a LOT of effort to have more than 100 snakes and eggs and babies.

Food for rats, food for snakes (counting leftovers, making sure you have space), space in general, the housing of your animals, the temperatures and care of your animals, the time it takes to do ALL of that, and cleaning!!!!

Sometimes there is not enough time for other things...

So, with that being said, on top of answering e-mails and putting up ads and taking photos, and all that other stuff, you need to be 100% DEDICATED.

That's all.

As the old adage goes,

Do it if you love it, and everything else will work itself out.

[Brock Wagner]

This is a great business but I wouldn't call it easy. It takes lots of hard work and dedication to make it work. People see you don't get any sleep because you work a job and then work on your animals keeping them clean and working on them trying to get them to breed. It is hard sometimes. I think that the money is great but you have to love working with the animals also otherwise you won't be successful.
I have seen many people come and go in this business who had big bank and invested large then found out that this is a lot of work. Also they found out that this business is very cut throat and people don't want you for competition so they will do anything to bring you down. My advice just work hard and try to produce the best animals that you can and keep your wits to you and everything will be fine.

Brock

[Ladydragon]

thanx Heather and Brock. Those are some of the responses I was looking for. The behind the scenes stuff. I have a small collection, a modest 9 bp's and 2 corns. Someday I hope to breed, but I already know the kind of work that goes into taking care of my small collection, so I can only imagine (probably poorly at that) the scope and magnitude of work that goes into larger collections. thanx again for posting.

Come on other big breeders, lets here your "price" for being in this hobby.

ps: Heather you are famous, even if its on a small scale. You have already achieved reputation and recognition for the care and animals you produce. We all have to start somewhere.

[nixer]

id like to ad some things

while some smaller breeders have another job. personally i have 51 snakes right now and breed both rats and mice. im also a union ironworker and work tons of hours i dont think in the past 2 years i wasnt working less that 5 10hour days a week and there was months i working 7 12hour days and came home to care for animals, spend a little time with the girlfriend and my family just to do it all over again the next day. this doesnt include any of the forementioned photos, phone calls,shows and all that. guys laugh at me at work because im always on the phone for something at lunch and break. its funny though once you see those little heads poking out of the egg you just forget all of the work for a few moments.