Breeder Loans and Other Terrible Partnering Ideas

You nailed it, Colin. I usually agree with your articles. I admit that this looked so long that I used Narrator for the first time ever, and had the computer voice read the post to me while I was working on an incubator.

I have done a breeding loan before, and we both walked away from it happy. With that said, it did take a lot of planning, a two page contract, two months of quarantine here and cleared vet visits for all snakes involved before any snakes were introduced, and it had to involve animals that were fairly evenly valued. It also helped that the other person and I are both pretty laid back, and also smart enough to understand and accept a certain amount of risk.

Had we not put so much effort into planning and writing up a detailed contract, or had one of us not been as easy to deal with or as fair in the process, I can see how any number of little details could quickly become a problem when doing any breeding loan. It is risky, and I would not recommend it to any pair of good friends. I would also not recommend it to anyone who is not completely laid back, nor to anyone who is not prepared to take a risk on all of the things you mentioned. It can be done, and with good planning and a thorough contract, and a little bit of luck, it can be beneficial for both parties, but it is definitely not for everyone, and I think it's more likely for a breeder loan to end sourly than it is to end positively for both parties. What it isn't, is something to be entered into hastily or casually. Anyone who does will learn that by the end of it.

I don't know how to ask but this looks like a sticky :gj::gj::gj:

AWSOME post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent article! I have done said breeder partnerships with dogs. And you are absolutely right it can become quite a quagmire! I think that some people can handle breeding partner ships and others can't and should'nt! It really depends on the people involved. BUT EVEN FRIENDS, should have a WRITTEN CONTRACT, and discuss all of the topics covered in your article. Snakes don't breed like dogs and cats so it is much more detailed and complicated when doing breeder loans. Especially when sending out big females! And, like you I am a FREAK about mites and I am just a newbie soon to be hobby breeder, with a couple of normals 2:1 and my mojave boy, and my corns and hogs.
Mike Kelly

"Consideration #5: The Silent Investor and the Swoop-In

"It's like it's both of ours, we'll just keep it at your house." You feed it, you clean it, you keep it warm and make sure it is grows into a big snake so we can make baby snakes. After you do all the work I will take my cut. What's my cut? We worked that out years ago. When you made the deal did you account for the time an effort required to take care of the animal during the last few years? If you are like many of us you didn't put sufficient value on your time on the front-end. We seldom do. Taking care of snakes in the future is always worth less to you than the snakes you just took care of. Call it sentiment for life spent (life is a currency and the balance is always heading toward zero), call it a sense of value for efforts put forth. If you put years of time into raising a snake from a hatchling to a successful breeder you are going to be mentally more invested at the end than you were at the beginning. That sense of being vested is worth money in your mind. It is not likely to be worth money in the mind of your partner. He/She was outta' sight, outta' mind for the past several years and will do little else than swoop in to collect the return on their investment when the babies hatch. This is certain to leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Neither party can de-value the time invested by the person holding the animals, especially if the loan is going to be long-term."

Yep-
Nothing says screwed over like raising up someone else's animals as an agreement to breeding loans... only to have that person sell/trade out all their animals months before the fateful arrival of that breeding season.

Was 3 years & a hard learned lesson for me.

Nice write up Colin.

I have done breeder loans in the past with friends and after the experiences I had will never do them again. It's not worth ruining friendships over. If I can't make the desired morph myself I'll just buy the ingredients for it or if I already have them just wait the extra year or two to make them myself.

I agree with you for the most part. I thought of exactly what you stated about all the problems, but sometimes it might be worth the trouble. Or not trouble, if you have no problems doing it, it could be a great gain for both people. The main thing I thought about was the fact that not all snakes are priced the same, like you said. Whos to say who should get what. Each snake is needed 50/50 but the initial cost is not equal.


It wont let me +rep you again. :gj: