Breeding start up issues , Housing , wife etc

Hello all,

My first post since being a member.

I want to start breeding for extra income, but I have a few bumps in the road that you guys might be able to help me with(hopefully)

My wife doesn't like the idea of dedicating our spare room, upstairs or downstairs to breeding. She made the proposition to keep them in the garage or on the lanai(or screened porch for you northerners).

I live in Florida and summer temperatures are pretty brutal in the garage, as well as having moderate temp fluctuations (120 high to 90 low)

I'm very handy building racks and things, but I really don't know how to overcome these issues. The Garage is not heated or cooled, fairly ok insulation.

Maybe a self contained, air conditioned enclosure in the garage?

any and all help would be appreciated!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jlescisin

Hello all,

My first post since being a member.

I want to start breeding for extra income, but I have a few bumps in the road that you guys might be able to help me with(hopefully)

My wife doesn't like the idea of dedicating our spare room, upstairs or downstairs to breeding. She made the proposition to keep them in the garage or on the lanai(or screened porch for you northerners).

I live in Florida and summer temperatures are pretty brutal in the garage, as well as having moderate temp fluctuations (120 high to 90 low)

I'm very handy building racks and things, but I really don't know how to overcome these issues. The Garage is not heated or cooled, fairly ok insulation.

Maybe a self contained, air conditioned enclosure in the garage?

any and all help would be appreciated!

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That might not ever happen...Not a great reason to start breeding...Especially in this over saturated market!

if you go the air conditioned route, you'll have to keep a close eye on the humidity.

edit: and I agree with cold blooded addict, trying to make a name for yourself in this market will be tough. I'm facing the same obstacle, but for me its not solely about the money and its more about the love for the animals and the living art factor that draws me into the world of ball pythons. if you plan on breeding for money, then be prepared for about a 5 year span at least before you see a return on your investment.

With a lot of hard work, no mistakes, and a bit of luck, you might start seeing a return in 5 or so years. So if that's the only reason you want to breed, you really might want to consider just enjoying the snakes you have for what they are, and skip all the hassles and headaches that go with breeding. Now if you still really want to breed, I would suggest building a small insulated room in your garage to house your collection. It would be cheaper in the long run to control conditions in a smaller area rather than trying to heat and AC the entire garage. And yes, if the inside of the garage ever sees temps bellw 75 you'll probably need supplemental heating. Not sure how far south in florida you are, but I know some areas get relatively cool in winter.

No way would I keep them in the garage, as a power outage or AC failure on a hot day will kill off everything in no time flat.

You say you want to breed for extra income, but you're starting with a massive cash outlay for overhead (garage remodel & HVAC install) plus a huge additional monthly nut for power consumption. As a small biz owner (no not a breeding biz, I do this for a hobby) I can tell you that's just foolish. You're set to dig a hole that you'll never get out of.

You need a room inside. In fact, not just any room - pick one on the south side of the house. Keep the house HVAC at about 72*F, with the door to that room closed it should run 75-78*F, perfect for BP'ers, and with minimal concerns about ambient temperature fluctuations. Plus, it costs you nothing except whatever you need to get for your wife's permission to use the room, but that's between you two. ;)

You would probably make more monthly income if you found a few hours of work at your local McDonalds. With breeding you'll likely be working longer hours for less pay.

I had the same issue with the wife so I was forced to go the garage. I live in So. Cal so summers are HOT!! And winters are mild only dipping to low 40’s at times. None the less the garage is hot and colder then my house a times. As I was researching ball pythons on you tube I came across a you tube poster “ball python” and saw his video – Ball Python Collection “Reptile Room” - where he used a grow tent to keep his heat and temps where he needed them. Check it out. I bought a light house grow tent and put my rack inside along with fans and oil heater. My first summer on extreme hot days I just cut off my herp stat and maintained a steady 88 during the day. Now as cooler temps creep up I maintain ambient tempts at 75 with the heater and herp stat at around 90. Humidity stays at around 70 with larger water bowls in the racks even with the fans circulating the air in the summer time. Hope this helps.

I would pay close attention to what these folks are saying. I would suggest taking the lanai, depending on how big it is dividing it in half, and replacing the screen with actual walls to make it a reptile room. It would be a bit cheaper (I'm assuming) than building another addition to the house. But that's just what *I* would do.

My opinion (whether you want it or not);
If you want to breed to make $$... you'd be better off getting a part time job somewhere. (Costco has good benefits or so I've heard.) Breeding animals is not the way to make bucks. I've heard that from folks breeding horses, dogs, cats, chickens, rodents and reptiles. (my mother played the 'breed animals for $$ game' wow was THAT a bad idea!) Do it cause you love the animal, the morphs, not because you want to make some pocket change.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ajmreptiles

if you go the air conditioned route, you'll have to keep a close eye on the humidity.

edit: and I agree with cold blooded addict, trying to make a name for yourself in this market will be tough. I'm facing the same obstacle, but for me its not solely about the money and its more about the love for the animals and the living art factor that draws me into the world of ball pythons. if you plan on breeding for money, then be prepared for about a 5 year span at least before you see a return on your investment.

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Ok, with all honesty, my decision to breed is more self-serving than "Extra income" I am very much motivated by the hobby as a keeper and collector, rather than the potential income that may come from it.(but the reason to my wife is "extra income")

Addressing the remodel concerns, while valid, not really an issue for me as I'm a contractor and can do the remodel for much much less than most people can. I also have experience in Heating/Air. While I appreciate the concern, Its not an obstacle for me.

On the upside...its very possible that I may be able to claim a walk in closet to house my rack controlled by my new Herpstat :-)

I would work on convincing your wife to let you use a spare bedroom. Outside temps aren't steady enough for a breeding setup, and you're going to throw a lot of money at building a proper area in your garage.

As mentioned, breeding for extra income is going to take a while to see any return. Some factors to consider; Breeding size animals come with a hefty premium, even normal females of breeding size are hard to find for less than 100$ (normals and het adults are also likely to be all you'll find as far as breeding-sized females, as most breeders don't give up their girls easily, with the possible exceptions of pins, pastels, and spiders). You can find anything you want as a hatchling for fair prices, of course, but it'll be between 3 and 5 years before your girls are up to weight. You can occupy that time by purchasing those ready-to-go females and a yearling male, which are fairly common, but even having two snakes ready to produce eggs, you'll need to factor in quarantine time (you don't want to build a collection only to watch it come down with parasites, do you?), and the lengthy process of the female actually ovulating and laying, which she very well may decide not to do (best laid plans and all that). Besides time, there's of course the cost of the enclosures (I build a nice 7 slot rack for around 200), The cost of materials (bedding, thermometers, thermostats, scales, cleaners, little things you don't think about until you realize you don't have them), the cost of feeding (you can buy bulk frozen or raise food yourself, which is surprisingly pricey to start up but pretty cheap to maintain), and of course the cost of the snakes themselves (doesn't have to be too much, I have 8 snakes in my group and I didn't pay more than 100 for any snake before shipping).

Love of the animals should be your first reason for getting into breeding. If you're willing to spend the time and money and adjust to the learning curve, I'm sure you'll see a profit eventually, but I wouldn't count on extra income right away. I recommend getting your wife involved and interested; show her what your wanting to do, ask for her input (and value it!), and make her feel like part of what your doing (but don't ask her to help you clean, as this is counter-productive). I've taken to letting my husband name the snakes, which makes him more involved and therefore interested in what I'm doing upstairs.