How many clutches for 1st time breeder?

I was a first time breeder this year. Just one clutch for me, 9 babies is quite enough to worry about for my first time around. Yet, I'm not on any fast track to become a big time breeder or anything.

If you get ten girls who throw big clutches like my girl did this year... you might be a little overwhelmed.

I did 6 my first season and didn't have any issues but then again I produce my rodents and had the space.

I produced 3 clutches my first season. It was a good amount to learn with, without being overwelming. I advise you don't jump in too deep to fast. You might burn out!

Justin

I tried three this year, and told my self from the start it was a "practice" year. 2 of my 3 produced a total of 9 babies. It was plenty of work trying to keep track of there sheds and locks and follicles and seemed like plenty of work at the time. Probably could have handled more but think I did just enough to be completely stoked about this coming year and learned enough that I shouldn't have to be on the phone to my 3 favorite breeders begging for some reassurance that everything is going okay.

I just realized I never replied to this thread. Oops. That isn't because I haven't been reading all the replies multiple times and thinking about it. It is probably safe to say that I'm way to close to obsessing about it for something that is still more than a year away! :oops:

I really appreciate all the input everyone gave! You all definitely gave me plenty to think about on both sides of the fence, which is perfect for helping us come to the conclusion that is right for us.

I'm going to respond to a few of the posts that were most useful to me and/or pointed out things I hadn't already thought of.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

This year was my first year, I had 4 clutches (24 eggs) and to me that was enough, it gave me time to really enjoy it without being overloaded with work, in the same time it was not to overwhelming or stressful.

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The wording here, "time to enjoy it without being overloaded", really hit me. I think that by the time I start breeding, I probably could handle 10 clutches, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it more if I start with a smaller number. Thanks for pointing that out.

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Originally Posted by jkobylka

I produced 3 clutches my first season. It was a good amount to learn with, without being overwelming. I advise you don't jump in too deep to fast. You might burn out!

Justin

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A different angle on what Deborah said, but just as important. Again, I think I probably will be able to handle 10 clutches by the time I start breeding, but that doesn't mean it won't be stressful to attempt it. No need to burn myself out!

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Originally Posted by jonf

mouths to feed........thats definitely the biggest concern. If you have the rodents,space, and time, then go for it!

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Rodents, space, time. That pretty much sums it up, I think. Breeding 10 females will require a lot of all 3. By then I expect to have moved in to a bigger house with a dedicated snake room, have my own rodent colony, and since I'm a stay-at-home mom I do have a reasonable amount of time. Plus by then my kids who already help with the animals will be more mature and able to help quite a bit. Stuff to think about.

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Originally Posted by jpman78

My advice would be to start with rodents and work backwards. Figuring in how many rats/mice you'll need to keep to feed the hatchlings and then determine how many females to breed to produce that many hatchlings (figuring 6 eggs per female).

I know for me that has been a determining factor year to year. It seems the number of females I decide to breed is usually based on the number of rodents I can/want to maintain to get the hatchlings started :)

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I love this "do the math backwards" approach. Instead of planning on breeding a bunch of females and then trying to figure out how to get the rodent colony big enough to support it and/or finding outside sources to pick up the slack, it does make a lot of sense to figure out how many hatchlings you can handle with the number of rodents you have/will have/want to have. Thanks for suggesting this approach!

Thanks again to everyone for all the input!

its all about time, space and $$. the sky is the limit.

it was my first year this year and i had 2 clutches. 11 hatchlings. i think from here on out i would like to average 4-5 clutches.

We tried one this year and actually witnessed several locks. We saw signs that looked like follical growth, but no luck on any eggs. :( Next year it looks we will have 2 virgin normals, 1 proven breeder normal, an Albino, and a het Axanthic up to age and size to breed. Possibly our bee, a blond pastel, and a het albino might make it as well. We should be trying 5 to 8 girls this time around and hopefully we get to go through the whole thing. On a side note the rat breeding is going wild. We are having litters of babies several times a week and my wife and I want to expand, but we are waiting until we get moved to the location of my new job before we start building more rat racks and snake enclosures. We did get to experience new borns this year when we got 2 at a reptile show. The breeder said they had eaten, but we doubted it considering one was 50 some grams and the other 46 grams. The smaller of the two ended up needing force fed to get her going, but now she is another weed in the garden! :D

I would say that 2.10 is not too difficult to handle. I would expect about 80% of the girls to lay eggs each year but the first year will likely be lower due to the stress of being re-homed.

Just remember to quarantine them for 3-6 months. Have lots of rack and incubator space available and cross your fingers.

Richard

When I intend to breed my corns this upcoming season, it will hopefully be a max of 2 clutches.
When I breed ball pythons for the first time, no more than 2-3 clutches at all.