I'd like to start breeding.

I'd go with a mojave and a lesser to make BELs. Also you should build a snake rack, it is much cheaper. There are instructions and plans/designs on the forum and it will cost you about $100 to build a nice snake rack, not including heat tape which is inexpensive. To buy one would cost much more. Good luck! :)

Good luck with that

Breeding Season is right around the corner so I am not sure if you will find any females available until June/July 2012. Best case scenario you will find a young female yellow belly for less than a grand.

I saw a 2300g Mojave on KS for $2200 a couple of weeks ago.

It will also help spread the costs out, can be customized to fit my room, and can hold more snakes. The only thing I'm worried about with building my own would be installing the heat tape. Could I get a normal bookcase and put tubs with lids on them in it? Seems easiest that way.

Holy crap! Now I think I'll get subadults(if possible) or babies. I'm patient.

You also wanna think about food. Thats my biggest expense i spend roughly $320 a year on food for 9 snakes. And I'm getting cheap feeders (.95 per small rat) just something to remember and budget for

My dad pays for food ( ; Plus, they more than make up for that. 300 a year isn't really that bad, that's around 25$ a month. Way cheaper than dog food. I'm pretty sure there's a rodent breeder near us(Cary, NC) and if I'm getting a really large amount, I'll order them online. He doesn't mind them in the freezer(already have some for Lily and the geckos), so no problem with that.

I would suggest If you get babies get all female and then wait a year and pick your male that way they will be ready at about the same time plus it will spread your cost out. So you could get a mojave and a fire female for 500 to 700 and spend the rest on a nice thermostat and building a rack, then save up for a year and get a two gene male or somthing along those lines

~ Karl

Sounds good. I may just do that. It will be fun building a rack.

Have you thought of purchasing one or two double gene males and breeding them to a few or more adult normal females? You can still hatch out many different morphs and you can test the waters of breeding without having to spend thousands on proven breeder female morphs.

If you hatch out any females, just raise them up to adulthood, then sell the males you don't require. I think it's a good idea to start slow with this hobby. It's a lot of fun and will be around for years, there's no point in rushing. Have fun with it.

Some people rush into this hobby and spend a lot at the start, get overwhelmed and either sell everything off or overlook the well being of there animals.

I'd buy 1-2 females at first, lesser and either yellowbelly or fire. Build a 4-5 rack setup. Test the waters for a year then look for a male or 2. In 2-3 years you'll have 2 pairs to breed and 2 clutches, which is enough for a first timer.