how much money does it cost

to start a breeding company?


how much did u guys/girls spend on your breeding rooms.

A BUNCH! And the spending ya it never ends:)

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Originally Posted by andrewrks123

to start a breeding company?


how much did u guys/girls spend on your breeding rooms.

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This question is way too vague.

Well I only have 2 snakes and haven't even started breeding yet (nor will I for about 3 years) and have well over couple of thousand invested once I make the new rack purchase. Not to mention we are planning on dropping another grand in a week at the convention. UGH........imagine what the breeders are dropping. Thank goodness I have a hubby that I keep telling....Oh sweetie...eventually it will pay for itself...lol. For now he is buying it!

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

Well I only have 2 snakes and haven't even started breeding yet (nor will I for about 3 years) and have well over couple of thousand invested once I make the new rack purchase. Not to mention we are planning on dropping another grand in a week at the convention. UGH........imagine what the breeders are dropping. Thank goodness I have a hubby that I keep telling....Oh sweetie...eventually it will pay for itself...lol. For now he is buying it!

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Man thats a rough lie to tell your hubby. I used to tell that one to my wife until I learned what I learned. Now I just tell her, "Hey, we might always be in the red. But were gonna produce some cool loooking animals, I promise."

How many snakes do you want? Are you looking at normals? Doms/co-doms/hets/recessives? How old do you want these snakes to be? Immediately breedable or are you willing to wait?

How are you going to be housing them? Do you plan to go the rack route? Buy one or diy one? Use some other method?

Where are you going to house the snakes? Will the room have supplemental heating? Do you pay for all your utilities?

How are you going to house the babies? Another rack? Again, buy or diy?

Where are you going to incubate the eggs? Buy one? Make one?

Where are you going to purchase your feeder rodents from? Are you going to breed them yourself? If so how and where do you plan to house them? If no, are you going to get a separate freezer for your feeders or is your current one big enough to handle a large amount of frozen feeders?

There are so many variables. If you started small and slow - which is the smart way for anyone just starting so they don't become overwhelmed - then it will be a lot less than if you transform your spare bedroom into a mini-facility and pack it full of double doms/co-doms and double or triple recessives. You could spend $1000 or you could spend $100,000 or you could spend even more...

The money is only part of the cost of doing business. The part that people tend to forget is the time and effort. Cost is relative the part that you can't budget for is time.

Example we have around 100+/- animals not including the hundreds of rats. It takes me (going full tilt with no interruptions) a good 2-3 hours to clean and water every one. That's once a week. Then it takes two guys the same amount of time for rats not counting the daily flood checks and what not. Then it takes about 2-3 hours a week to feed and update records. Add in the amount of time needed to answer emails, phone calls, update the web site ect, dealing with shipping and ordering supply's, even with our few animals we're looking at between 10-15 hours a week.

Add in the tens of thousands of dollars in animals and equipment, the cost of power, heat, give away's..

the cost is directly proportional to how active in the market you are.

I didn't even cover travel cost, shows, show supply's, vet visits, ware and tear on personal vehicles. All of that is a cost of doing business.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

The money is only part of the cost of doing business. The part that people tend to forget is the time and effort. Cost is relative the part that you can't budget for is time.

Example we have around 100+/- animals not including the hundreds of rats. It takes me (going full tilt with no interruptions) a good 2-3 hours to clean and water every one. That's once a week. Then it takes two guys the same amount of time for rats not counting the daily flood checks and what not. Then it takes about 2-3 hours a week to feed and update records. Add in the amount of time needed to answer emails, phone calls, update the web site ect, dealing with shipping and ordering supply's, even with our few animals we're looking at between 10-15 hours a week.

Add in the tens of thousands of dollars in animals and equipment, the cost of power, heat, give away's..

the cost is directly proportional to how active in the market you are.

I didn't even cover travel cost, shows, show supply's, vet visits, ware and tear on personal vehicles. All of that is a cost of doing business.

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Great post! Lots of good information there!

I would also like to add in a few things. First, you must also consider how difficult it will be to sell your babies at first, before you have established a well known reputation. This is especially troublesome for someone like myself, who only has a few clutches a year. I would classify mine more as a self sustaining hobby than a business, and I still have a few thousand dollars and countless hours invested in animals and supplies and care. There is a certainly a lot to think about!

Hi,

I have put in about 15K over 2 years but my wife and I make very good money. Anyone that knows me knows I spent this money so I could breed out snakes I wanted to have in my own collection. I remember spending 130.00 dollars on my first thermostat and I spent two weeks trying to find the right one, than I spent 100 bucks on hides. That expense killed me just because it was about 3 pounds of molded black plastic. Now when I have to spend money, if it is 200 dollars or less it is a piece of cake. I have not cut many corners and I have put a lot of time and money into about a 25 snake collection and it will pay off soon. I have some really nice ball pythons and 10 of my females are breedable this season. I have decided to try and build my own racks now. Some friends have shown me theirs and they are very nice, and will not cost me 100 dollars per bin. I can do it now for about 25.00 per bin. Hope this info helps. But before you get into balls and you want to breed out the double recessives you have to think long term. We went into this with a 5 year plan, and we are in year 3 and it is tough. These animals require weekly feedings and daily care. It can take a lot out of you when you get over 20 snakes. I also breed my own rats and that is more time consuming than the snakes. So be prepared for a long period of hard work before you see any reward of babies.

Good Luck,
Bill

Everyone here has great points and i am pretty sure everything is covered. I honestly hate a thread where someone asks how much this and that. If all you are looking at is price tags then you are in the very wrong business. Example last year I purchases an 07 pastle male beautiful animal and would not trade him for the world right but now this year I have seen to many adds to count in various places with a 07 pastel male for about 3/4 of what I paid for mine. But the cost of rats has gone up as well lucky for me I breed my own but then again the cost of rat food has gone up. We could all break it down to the penny including every tiny little detail to attempt to scare you away and next week it could be half that or double that. If you are going to do this do it for the love of animals not love of money.