To breed or not to breed?

I know I'm going to get flamed for this and prolly receive a lot of neg comments but I know that going in so why even post one right? Well I've always been fascinated with snakes and Pythons in particular. So I'm getting my first one here shortly and was just kind of looking at a down the line type of thing but wasn't sure if it was worth it. Is there really any money to be made in breeding Ball Pythons? I know the different morphs will have different offspring and the more "rare" the morph the more u can charge for one. But even with the "rare" morphs is there money to be made or are you just going to be breaking even with all of it? Any POSITIVE answers are always appreciated and thanks for your time.

This is what a lot of people are going to tell you:

Breed because you love the animals, not because you want the next cash cow.

Remember, these are living animals. They need clean water, clean enclosures, food, etc. Unlike a product that can sit on a shelf for months (or years) without any additional maintenance cost, live animals are very expensive to take care of. People that get into the hobby for the wrong reasons get overwhelmed. They sacrifice things like feeding their animals or cleaning their cages, etc.

Many people are hobby breeders that breed their animals because the love them and want to produce more, have morph animals and want to make combos, etc. And sell them to help offset the cost of keeping them or make some money on the side. The breeders who make breeding animals their business take it on as a huge financial and time investment. I'd guarantee you that most full time breeders spend more than 40 hours a week tending to their animals in one way or another (be it cleaning and feeding, working with rodents, answering emails and sales questions, shipping out animals, etc).

For a lot of it, you get out what you put in. You aren't going to become rich by breeding sub-par examples of single morph animals. Even a lot of the double gene animals have become very affordable. If you want to make money breeding ball pythons you need to spend money first. Even then, while there are a TON of people who want deserts and ultramels in their collection, they aren't willing to pay premium price for them, they'll wait until they come down. If you want to "make money" i suppose that is where you would start. With those rarer morphs and triple gene animals. Of course you'll have to have money to buy those animals.

I think like any other business, it takes solid business plan.

It's very hard to turn a profit. Even if you're very good at it, and determined it will be years before you have the right number of morphs to make enough, and you'd still have to pay for fresh water every day, rats/mice, and heating of course. Even with all that, they're animals and not to be predictable. They don't always breed when you want, or produce the amount you hoped for.
Then there is vet costs if one were to get sick.

It's not an easy way to earn a living, and even the ones who make a living off it, usually don't make big bucks or have side-jobs or partners with side-jobs.


Now, I'd recommend having a couple as pets, if you really love them...But if you plan on going into a business expect a lot of hardship.

That's kind of what I was thinking and I knew it was a you put in what you get, I did some breeding with my beardies i had and it definately was a lot of work without a doubt. And that wasn't for a get rich quick or anything like that was just for enjoyment and I did look into expanding past what I had done and basically figured it was the same here... Can break even maybe make 200-300 a year but nothing huge.

hello man ! well i think you have to do this because you love this ! i am from argentina and we are years back of you with pets (in all but in pets is more) .... for as all is so expensive the last weeks i get a baby pastel i cant choose him i paid 225 dolares (baby stricly send it and it was in hes frist sheed but it that we have) but i am happy its not a good quality of animal ! but i love him that mony never get back. i work 11 /day have a family breed my rats and my snakes are not in my house !!! jajaj the are in my mothers house i have not the place.... i weak up at 5 am i back to house 8pm all days and when i can i go to wach my animal ! 3 times / weeks at lees ! if some one think this is a good business .... tell me please where is?? i cant find it !!!!
for me is more important to get my super pastel my bumbel bee my killer bee and my be in 10 years and axantic killer be.... jejje its more exiting for my get my oun combos !

sorry my english is not good !

ive just gotten into breeding snakes as a hobby and maybe for some money.... im gonna tell the truth, it will be nice to make some of the money ive spent back... i believe that for you to succeed you need to have a breeding plan, and your own supply of food...

if you can breed rats and or mice there is money for that and you can build a collection by trade and not out of pocket... i didnt do that, but its a good idea...

also when you think about it ppl spend thousands on a snake to breed with another snake that makes a snake worth thousands... ok cool,but not everyone has 2000 per snake to make a few 3500 dollar babies that might or might not sell.... when it comes down to it like any business you need a foundation this foundation needs to be built on quality first and foremost... but there are ppl out there who want reg morph's i.e. spider,pastels and what other ones there are.... and the more quality the colors the more theyll pay....

and it also depends on your ability to help ppl with there purchase... to be there for them at anytime they have a prob..... customer service is one thing herpers pride.. if you can provide excellent customer service your business will go far and all youd have to do is sell normals... lol...

when you sit down to juggle the idea... look at this... what do you want to produce? , how many snakes can you take care of, cleanin weekly,feedings,vets,heated racks, controllers,incubators, rat breeding equipment, do you have a basic knowledge of electricity.. these are all questions that you should ask yourself and be prepared to make time to do....

i thought it would be less work but im not overwhelmed yet.... and i have 15 snakes at the moment... i do have around 2500 in all my stuff.... but what you spend depends on what your goals are..... just my 2 pennies..... good luck... PEACE...

in my opinion youll never see the mony back !!!! ball pyton are like pokemons and you want to have all of them and all mony you see you will spend it in more balls !!!! jajajaj :D