I don't want to be a breeder anymore

Well, considering the rats smell, almost as bad as me then... 😁

I also have projects that I have not proven out yet. How should I at least document them if I quit? I may just ppst some of them here as there are definitely something going on with those.

Well I haven't "been there" but for reasons that I won't get into I didn't pair anything and I closed my collection for a year a few seasons ago. What I discovered during that year was that when I wasn't worried about pairings, getting females up to weight, eggs in the incubator, imperfect pippers, advertising, dealing with customers, etc. I was a lot less stressed and thus more free to enjoy the animals I had.

In addition to the 200+ snakes you have other species to deal with, plus (I'm assuming) a day job. That is a lot of responsibility for just one person.

My advice is to scale way back to where keeping (not breeding) becomes fun again.

For the breeding programs, figure out the top two or three projects you want to focus on across all of the species you have, keep a dozen of the critters that will best advance it, and sell everything else.

Pets are trickier with the emotional investment, especially with all of the flippers out there. If you can send them to a good local home with a first right of refusal contract, that may help you deal with the rehoming.

Equipment can be sold or set aside in case something breaks, it's nice to have a backup readily available.

I hope this helps, I have a some serious health issues. Recently I got rid of two of my six. The resulting cut back reignited my passion for the remaining four. Due what's best/right for you. And I've been keeping over thirty years. Good Luck

I agree with Albert on the vacation, but with your burnout, you need a looonng vacation, like 4-6 Wk's. Double that would be even better, but may be hard to pull off. Then make the decision when you come back.

As as far as getting help; I know a breeder that has high school and college kids that come a few times a week to clean cages and help with feeding for free. In exchange he teaches them and lets them handle the snakes. He gives them killer deals on rats and snakes as well. The kids are always eager to help.

It sounds like you have already made your decision. That is sad, as many people who turn any hobby into a business find out. The fun just slowly melts away.

Yeah you could probably hire some kid for like $10/ hour for like 4 days a week, 3 hours a dsy to come and take care of them. Just put an ad on craigslist. Day 1 clean, 2 clean, 3 feed day 4 feed. I donno just a thought.


Reptilering.com is great way to auction off your stuff.

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It's all about the passion. If the passion has turned into just an annoying daily grind then it's time to let go. And I know that is hard to do. I am still in the process of doing it. I didn't breed at all in the last year and this past summer I decided to start by selling my hatchling racks. Now it's just a matter of bringing myself to part with the animals themselves. The hardest part for me is that the market is such crap for last 2 years that I don't want to except lowball prices for what I have. But that is just a matter of price that I need to get past.

I've seen people in the same position as you. I would suggest scaling back, having too much turns it into a nonstop chore. Maybe keep a handful of your favorite projects and see what happens. You can always keep cutting back.

I'm not a breeder but I do see where you are coming from. When a passion grows into a job it can def be a big time source of stress and become less and less fun over time. Even if it's not your primary source of income, it's def a job when you have that any animals with nobody else to take some of the load off. Maybe scaling back will make it fun again. I've been in the same situation before with other hobbies and it can def be a burden. I decided to do it right this time (right for me) and not jump in head over heals and get tons of animals right off the bat. I just want to produce a clutch or two a year and just have fun with it.

To be successful you do not have to have a huge facility with employees, many people make money or even a living without infrastructure like BHB or NERD
Scaling down and restructuring to a more manageable, lower maintenance (eliminating everything but snakes) yet profitable collection can be an option however it will not change the part where you can just go away on long vacations (we all make that sacrifice) or the heartbreaks (will all experience it as well)

After that if you still want to pursue it and make it profitable it’s about marketing yourself and finding your niche. For the last 10 years the sky has been falling and people complain that the market is awful but more often than not it’s their inability to adjust to that market that is the real issue. Adjusting to the market is a necessity like in any business and to do that you must have specific goals and let go of animals that no longer fit projects or no longer make sense to keep financially, you have to constantly evolve.

I have scaled down and restructured to 3 main BP projects, select Hypo, Clown and Pied combos now it’s about less animals but much higher end ones which took time since I first started from scratch. I still however have some diversity as well but those side projects are very small in numbers.

Having employee trust me is not making it easier, first it is very hard in this industry to trust someone (let alone a stranger that will make minimum wage), the job might be done well for a while than not up to your standard, and dealing with employees is often a big headache, there is a HUGE turn around in facilities like NERD and BHB from employees quitting, to those not doing their job or those caught stealing.

It’s not an easy business there is a lot of sacrifices to be made and if the passion is not there it’s either restructuring and getting that passion back or quitting it all and keeping one or two pets. But passion has to be there because even with small manageable number if the passion is not there there is no point.

Ultimately only you can decide what the best decision is for yourself.

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Originally Posted by Reinz

It sounds like you have already made your decision. That is sad, as many people who turn any hobby into a business find out. The fun just slowly melts away.

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As an aside, a lot of "gun guys" get FFL's because they like guns - and if you like shooting guns then dealing in them must be great too, right?

WRONG! After a year or so they realize that they 1) hate running a business, 2) they don't know how to run a business, and 3) all the free time they used to spend on the range is now tied up with paperwork, invoicing, bookkeeping, accounting, filing taxes, dealing with customers, advertising, etc. etc. etc., and the time spent on it would have been more profitable with less stress working as a greeter at WalMart, so they get out.

OP if you are not enjoying what you are doing now, as a hobbyist, you will really hate doing it as a business.