If I were to hold back any BEL X BEL babies for about 3 years

(This is best case scenario, these aren't my breeding plans, my neighbor asked me how much a super fire would be, and it made me wonder why breeders just don't keep a huge BEL collection while working on other projects for cash flow)

For example

Let's say next year I buy a pair of BEL babies, I raise them, and when they're of size, I breed them.

They lay about 4 eggs, 2 males and 2 females, and I keep breeding the first pair until the babies are grown.
The first pair breeds for the next 2 years with the same egg and m/f rate.

Once all of the babies are grown how many eggs would they + the original pair lay per year.

Once again, these aren't my breeding plans, and they're best case scenario.
I know a lot of breeders are just in it for the money, but I haven't seen anyone mass produce them.

Because mass producing them floods the market and that brings prices down for everyone


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like said above high numbers of a certain morph brings prices down. and not all breeders are in it for the money.

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Originally Posted by JaGv

like said above high numbers of a certain morph brings prices down. and not all breeders are in it for the money.

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Never said most of them were, but our in our reptile club, all anyone ever talks about is numbers.
It's kind of disheartening.
I can see why they don't now, though.

Is that was BP prices are dropping?

that was the case with pastels and spiders. since there is alot of them being bred prices for them are low. same reason recessive gene bps hold their value

It is absolutely shocking to see how cheap pastel, spiders, and even mojaves have become. This is one big reason I spend a lot of effort with my recessive morphs. I still breed doms and codoms, but have started moving more into the multigene realm. Our BPs are pets first, business second!

First off, this whole "just breeding for money" thing is used way too much. People who start breeding for a BUSINESS started with a passion for reptiles, then started turning it into a business. When people say that people buy snakes "just to breed and make money", they normally don't understand how costly and difficult it really is. It's not like working a typical 9-5 JUST for money.. You have to enjoy cleaning, feeding, and raising the animals. If you don't like them, or don't care about them, you will become negligent... This means dirty cages, empty water dishes, thin snakes and cold snakes.. Good luck getting a healthy clutch from your ball python when your female is underweight with an RI, and your male breeders are slowly dying due to over-breeding.

I can't think of a breeder who is successfully BREEDING to make money. I've seen plenty of flippers and peope who try to sell their snakes for top dollar because they won't breed. I'm sure there are people who force-feed and cull normals to save money, but you won't ever hear about that. That's as low as it gets IMO, but I've never seen any hard evidence that this goes on... Just rumors like "i heard from a friend that he knows somebody who hangs out with a guy who does this..."

2nd, I'm not really interested in numbers because I'm more of a hobbiest. I haven't made the best "business decisions" when looking for snakes to add to my collection. I bought what I really like because I enjoy raising them up. When I'm at an expo, I like to talk to the breeders about what they're excited about. What did they bring, what their plans are, and what they like. I don't talk about prices unless I want to buy something..

I think just about all breeders are in it for the money. I haven't found one yet that would give me an animal without paying for it. ;)

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Originally Posted by catfish307

I think just about all breeders are in it for the money. I haven't found one yet that would give me an animal without paying for it. ;)

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Being in it for the money and trying to cover your costs for the hobby are two different things. I havent given away any of my morphs yet, but its because Im trying to break even, not make a living. If I wanted to be doing something "for the money" I would not be keeping ball pythons.

Honestly a while back I had thought about doing this with albinos. Not a mass scale but enough to fund other projects that wouldn't move as quickly. And I know some breeders out there that already do this as well. All in all though, like h00blah said, if that passion isn't there then you won't be successful.