Would like to get into breeding

I have the money to get into ball python breeding, its something im passionate about and have the space, time and energy to do. Please if theres anything i should know before i genuinely get into this let me know. As of now i have not made any significant investments outside of my only pet bp, buzz.

Buzz is a two year old male killer bee (super pastel spider). if you have any good ideas for girlfriends for him please let me know! :)

Im certainly not the most qualified to speak about this topic here, but I know a thing or two....

Things I think you should be aware of?....the market is flooded right now, so be careful to produce animals that are in demand and will sell. Lets pretend you produce a whole bunch more killer bees.....

A killer bee used to be an incredibly desirable and expensive snake. Now? They can be had for $175 on morph market, IF you can actually sell them. Then consider most people will try to negotiate on price as there's plenty of them to begin with. But it's not all about money, it's about being able to actually move the animals you produce so you aren't stuck with a million undesirable snakes.

Good breeders are those who REALLY understand what morphs are in demand and what morphs will be in demand by the time a clutch is produced. It's pretty easy to produce a clutch, it's not so easy to produce a clutch, make your money back, AND actually find homes for all of them.

Despite having a desire to produce amazing snakes, there is certainly an understanding of business/marketing required to be successful here with the current state of the industry.

I would definitely dial it back and plan on a few more years of research and consideration first. If I read correctly, you only have a 2 year old male BP so does that mean you've never owned or cared for a large adult? Sometimes pulling 3000g+ females off of eggs isnt as easy or fun as it looks in youtube videos. I feel like with only 2 years of ownership some people are still in the honey moon phase of ownership and (not saying you will) we see many people get excited to jump right in and breed, then get bored with their snakes when they realize how over saturated the market is and they arent able to move their babies and be rich in a month like they planned. Like the previous comment mentioned, you also really have to consider what actually sells. I disagree about only producing "in" morphs as I only work with ones I personally enjoy, but I do make sure theyre ones I enjoy but also know I can sell. I hope that made sense since I kept stopping midsentence to deal with kids lol

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First no one can tell you what to breed YOU must have a vision YOU must have a plan, if you don't YOU will fail.

Then there are the question you need to ask yourself.

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When it comes to breeding remember that it does not matter whether it's a hobby that pay for itself or a business making an extra income or allowing to live from it, the tought process before engaging into this venture is to ask yourself the right questions.

Am I ready?

How the animal I plan on pairing worth pairing or am I just add to a flooded market (when it comes to certain mutations) and be stuck with the animal I produce?

Do you have sufficient found if breeding lands one of your animals to the vet for surgery?

Can you properly house 6 to 12 additional animals per clutch?

If stuck with the aanimas you produce do you have the means to care for them for 3, 6 , 12 months or longer.

Do you have a reliable source of live feeder? Will you breed your own?

How well do you know the market, do you know where you will sell your animals? Do you know if those animals are thoughts for?


Breeding can be rewarding but it is a lot more than putting two animals together. It can be time consuming and heartbreaking no. to mention the financial burden if it does not pay for itself.

So there are many things to consider before jumping in and know that a lot of people give it a try, fail and lose the passion they once had.

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Lots of good points made above.

I'd like to reiterate that having one BP is nowhere near the experience needed to breed.

The BP market is already super over saturated. There are currently 9,858 (almost TEN THOUSAND) BPs currently listed for sale just one morphmarket.com!! That's just one platform.

Without a good reputation and some amazing animals you will have a hard time selling the animals at all, and will almost definitely lose money. You'll likely end up stuck with almost all of the babies for 6, 12, 18+ months.

Lastly, something that doesn't come up as often: are you willing and able to cull animals born with defects?