Economics of Breeding Questions

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Originally Posted by fallupinreverse

How did most of you get started with breeding?

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My science teacher from 6th grade got me interested in snakes - I got one that year and when I was in the 8th grade, we bred mine to two of his. I was hooked since.

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What is the typical start-up cost of a breeding project for a new breeder?

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Depends. You could get a pair of proven normals for less than $200 and be breeding this year. Plus housing, incubator, food, etc. You could get a breedable pair, proper housing, food for a year, for less than $500. Now if you want to make fancier things it will cost more - at least the animals will.

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What sort of day jobs do breeders have?

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I'm in my last year of grad school. I teach an upper division biochemistry lab, as well as tutor.

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How does one start out as a breeder - which is to say where do you start selling at?

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I started selling locally to the mom & pop type shops before petsmart and petco invaded my home town. Once they were in I did it by word of mouth for several years, and recently have gotten to selling on the internet.

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How much money does one actually make with breeding that is profit (I understand this varies based on how much one spends on certain animals, but still general answers would be greatly appreciated)?

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Plan on not making any profit and losing money. For me all my money goes back into the hobby. i.e. towards food or purchase of new snakes.

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Is this more of a hobby than an actual money-making process for most breeders?

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Yup. The vast majority of people don't make money - they do it because they love it. I think many people, especially with the high prices of bps, think they'll make some quick money but are in for a rude awakening. You have to invest time and money into them. Snakes don't always breed, eggs don't always hatch, some die, etc. Nothing is guaranteed.

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How did most of you get started with breeding?

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I got started when I got my first het pied male.. LOL it got me hooked

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What is the typical start-up cost of a breeding project for a new breeder?

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This depends on what you looking to produce. If your looking to produce Pastels then your looking at far less than if your looking to produce like Super stripes.

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What sort of day jobs do breeders have?

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Some are full time breeders.. Most do regular every day jobs

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How does one start out as a breeder - which is to say where do you start selling at?

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To sale takes knowing how to market the animals for internet sales, but also being able to do some shows. Doing shows lends its self need professional display and sales tactics

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How much money does one actually make with breeding that is profit (I understand this varies based on how much one spends on certain animals, but still general answers would be greatly appreciated)?

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Zero so far. Even thought I've sold everything I produced this year. The need for new animals, vet bills, Rat food, more rat racks, more snake racks easily does away with any "profit"

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Is this more of a hobby than an actual money-making process for most breeders?

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It is both for many.. For me it started as a hobby but has advanced into a growing business.

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Having an entire rack full of reptiles would be so amazing, not to mention those who have entire rooms dedicated to breeding programs!

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Having a reptile building or room really makes things feel less like a hobby..At least it does for me.

The more money you want to make, the more money you have to invest. You will make the best profit off of rare animals / morphs / combos. It is also a good idea to invest in a few different projects. You should never put your eggs in one basket. Simple recessive morphs seem to be a more stable investment than codominant morphs.

I started breeding because I love snakes. I have always been fascinated with them. Personally, I would not breed them if I could not make money doing so. It is a lot of work. For example, I have to breed my own rodents to feed my snakes. Although rodents are not hard to take care of, they take time. The more snakes you have, the more rodents you have to breed.

I suggest investing $10k or more, but you do not have to invest this much to be a breeder.

One downfall to breeding is that normals do not sell well. I had to sell quite a few last season for approximately $10 - $20 each. You have to realize that you have to take care of these animals until they are sold. You also should wait until they have eaten at least three times before offering them for sell. This can take up to a month or more. IMO, it is not worth the time for $10. For this reason, I suggest investing in morphs that when bred will not produce any or many normals; for example, simple recessive morphs, or dominant forms of codominant morphs (supers.)

All of the above is just my opinion, and I hope that it helps.

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How did most of you get started with breeding?

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With one snake that turned up being a girl :) Then... the magic happened.

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What is the typical start-up cost of a breeding project for a new breeder?

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Depends on the breeding project in mind.

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What sort of day jobs do breeders have?

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I'm a research chemist/scientist.

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How does one start out as a breeder - which is to say where do you start selling at?

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Online, locally in advertisements, shows.. depends on how much you have to offer.

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How much money does one actually make with breeding that is profit (I understand this varies based on how much one spends on certain animals, but still general answers would be greatly appreciated)? Is this more of a hobby than an actual money-making process for most breeders?

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Depends again on the amount you put into it.

I started by mistake, I was cleaning a few corn snake tanks and just happened to put a male with a female without knowing it. Few months later I had some little corns so I kept a couple and sold the rest to a pet store and it happened to pay for the parents and their setups.....so I did it a few more times to buy my first ball python morphs and a few books on snakes.

I would say just take your time and learn as much as you can before attemping it. It's not rocket science like some people may think but it's not easy either lol. It can be nerve racking to say the least lol.

There are folks who breed for a living, there are folks who breed for the hobby and finaly there are folks who are on the fence wondering if they should venture down the business end of the hobby.

I enjoy my snakes. Its a hobby for me right now. I keep operating overhead in mind more so than what I'm about to spend on the next addition. I just read fantastic member posts that range from one end of the spectrum to the other. If you have a vision and your priorities are realistic and in check then you can have a blast with ball pythons without having to take out a second mortgage :P.

These are all great responses and I'm sure you can get some idea of what you're looking for as far as answers combined in all of them.

Basically, if you want to make big, you have to invest big. And also have to consider the economy and where it's going. I know that lots of breeders didn't even attend the National Reptile Expo in Daytona this past August because of various reasons and most related to financial issues (not worth paying the tables vs how much you would sell, and etc).

Personally, I'm starting this as a hobby. I fell in love with boas due to my ex not caring for his colombian rtb so I "rescued" him. I can't see myself housing tons of boas at the current moment, but do want to learn more about snakes and breed them. I have recently got the ball python "itch" as I just acquired my first one. My first is a female pastel and then I have a big big list of others that I will acquire at a slow pace. I plan to collect different normals/morphs and breed as a hobby and possibly selling some one day later. I don't have the $10K to invest in a large collection so I'm slowly investing and going to get the experience first.

Now some of you on here also know me from various other sites and do know that I have a plan for all of this as well. I'm working on ball pythons now and will move to boas then burmese pythons and then to reticulated pythons. That is my goal but it will always be more of a hobby/learning experience for me. Unless I win the lotto (yeah right lmao).

Anywho, hope all of the other responses and mine have given you more insight to your questions ;)

Wow, all of these stories are great to hear! I'm loving how many of you are willing to tell your stories. This is all very fascinating to me. Perhaps one day in the distant future I will have enough money to breed as a hobby. I think it would be absolutely amazing to pick up!

I'd also be interesting in more specific stories about how much actual loss there is in some of your experiences. I understand now that profit is not very likely at all, but when factoring in selling the snakes and all of that, how much are your actual "losses" generally? Obviously many people choose to reinvest that money towards new snakes, but you get the general idea hopefully.

Thanks again for all the feedback, and please keep it up! You guys are great :)

Death = Losses

That's all there is to it.

If you buy an $X animal and it dies, you are SOL.

In a nutshell, a sold boid = reinvest in current stock.:)