I have $20k to spend and I need help!!!

Whatever you decide---No regrets! IMO
Hard work pays off! Work ethics!!!
I think you started this thread off with a positive out look on the idea of breeding BPs in a new business or expanding the already established business.
If it were me, I'd have something to offer to the whole BP community. Some high end, some low end, and some middle priced snakes.

Investment morph right now: corals, deserts -both dominant
traits, so you would get more in your first breeding attempts. Also these are some of the most desired morphs today. If I was buying investment BPs right now I'd get a male coral and a male desert and breed them both to several morph females every season to make the combos like coral spiders, desert pinstripes, .....the list goes on!

Pieds, lav albinos, combos---be diversified.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ralphdp21

Well as far as reputation goes I don't think I'll have a problem. I work with a highly reputable breeder.

We've already been working on ball python plan, we just need the right morphs. Our current breeders, Phantom, Spider, Pastel, Mojave, Normals, and a few undisclosed morphs.

Now with $20k we want to get a nice project going. Would be nice to maybe produce a new designer morph.

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I don´t understand a thing of your story....It´s a highly reputated breeder and the most interesting animal he has is the Phantom and the undisclosed morphs. You found an investor and He, the highly reputated breeder, asks you to do research to find some ¨high end¨ morphs? If ¨he¨ is so well known in the market he can make some calls to the other well known reputable breeders and buy or just exchange some animals no?

Soulpied

I don't think someone who is contemplating a 'dream business' wants to hear how there are better investments. lol
I invested in this as a business. 3 years later? No regrets. It has ups and downs, and yes--I could have made more money investing in something else, but if I had, I wouldn't have a growing reptile business, and that's what I wanted.

My advice--invest heavily in visual recessive males and adult female hets. Focus on the high-end, since you have so much to invest. Choose a small number of morphs to focus on, as well as a small number of combos to aim for, so that you have an immediate goal.

Example: Lavender albino poss het Genetic Stripe male. Het Lav females, Het G stripe females. Genetic Stripe male (in case your lav doesn't prove).

Wait. It's not hatchling season yet. You want the best of the best available, so hold off until you have more to choose from. Breeders will evaluate their collections, and sell what they don't need once they see what they have from their clutches.

Saw This Ad On Fauna. Good Deal
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ghlight=spider

I hate to be a party pooper but this thread smells like fish to me.

Congrats if you really have someone to invest 20K. but I find it hard to believe that someone is willing to give 20k to a guy who knows nothing much about BPs...to invest in BPs!

:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mmca

I hate to be a party pooper but this thread smells like fish to me.

Congrats if you really have someone to invest 20K. but I find it hard to believe that someone is willing to give 20k to a guy who knows nothing much about BPs...to invest in BPs!

:rolleyes:

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DITTO.

However, if it were me... I'd invest a chunk of that money into setting up properly. Fully outfitted racks for both adults and babies, incubators for the eggs, and I wouldn't skimp on quality.

As others have mentioned I would also hold back some of the money to both market the new venture as well as have a fund for feeders, possible vet bills, etc.

In the end I probably would only spend $10k on the animals themselves. Morphs that I would personally pick are all based on what I personally like. So I'd look at deserts, clowns, pieds, lessers/butters, pins, enchis, possible super pastels. I would be sure to be discerning about the quality of the animals though. There's a huge variance in the quality of pastels out there, for instance. If you're setting this up for success, start with the best stock. For the recessives I would try and get some slightly older female hets and then grab the younger males. This way at least everything is 100% het, and you have a chance to produce the homozygous form. Or even some stuff like pastel hets. Pastel het clown would be a big one for me, personally, since I love the killer clowns.

I wouldn't go too high end with my morphs. What if you spend $6000 on a snake and it dies? Or never produces? Too many eggs in one basket if you ask me... I wouldn't spend more than $2000 on a single animal. And even then I would try and get it a bit lower.

If you're a gambling man you can always look for some interesting deals on possible hets from reputable breeders, as well. I saw a batch of possible het clown females for sale recently here in Canada for a reasonable price. Pair them with a male clown in a couple years and see who proves out. It is a gamble, but if it's from a reputable breeder at least you know you can trust them. And if they prove out you're laughing. Imagine proving out even just 3 of the 5 in a case like this? Gold.

It's also a good idea to set up contacts with a whole saler who you can sell lower valued animals and normals to so that you don't have them "hanging around" occupying space, time and funds for longer than necessary. Sometimes it's better to whole sale off a batch of normals and male a third of what you would selling them individually if you consider how much your time is worth as well as the food costs associated with keeping these animals for another half a year until they sell.

Also keep in mind that you need a good space to do this. A single dedicated room is probably enough for something small like what you're contemplating doing. But it's also something to think about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

As you can see from BG's first post on this thread, he did not "forget".



BG has got to call you out. BG is gonna be mean here, but he feels it needs to be said. Big Gunns has seen many of these threads over the years and he has seen this same answer over and over by people who shouldn't be giving it. Unfortunately for you Jimmy, you listed the snakes you have in your signature. Now BG doubts you just sold off you large breeding collection, so how can you possibly be any way shape or form qualified to give any good advice on this thread? Maybe you have a good friend that's lost money, but BG doubts it. Sorry Jimmy, BG is kinda tired and cranky and your reply is a pet peeve of his. If you want a free male Pastel for BG picking on yah...he owes yah one.:gj:

Here's the deal people. Ball Python breeding is nowhere near what it was just a few short years ago, but there is still money to be made if you invest wisely. BG doesn't think many people are gonna get rich in this business anymore, but you can make money. A lot more money than collecting "dividend checks". You may need a leeetle luck though. You just never know if someone is gonna go Joey Bananas(Morph King) with the project you invested in. This is always a possibility.

There is a saying that most people have heard. "The greater the risk, the greater the reward". This is very true with snake breeding. It is no coincidence that the people who have invested the most(first), are making the most money in this business. You must invest wisely though(more than ever now), and you really need to do your homework and do things right. However, even an idiot can breed Balls which is fully evident by some of the people BG meets in this business, so most of you are in luck.:D

You really need to decide when you need to see a return on your investment also. If you need it quickly, you probably want to invest in a different snake than if you don't. This may mean you make less money in the long term. BG will admit though. This business is very volatile right now and there are many variables that can decide whether or not you make money. This list includes the jealous weasel(Joey Bananas and his ilk) that wants revenge on the big breeder, or the broke Banker that needs to pay his mortgage. You just never know what can hurt your investment. BG does believe there are many "safe" investments that you will make a lot more money than those "dividend checks" though. You'll just need to decide what kind of risk you want to take.

One last tip. Don't listen to any advice on this thread.:D Talk to people who are not trying to sell you anything like some of us may be;), and make a pros and cons list of everything you've learned....then go out and buy.....wisely.:gj: If you just go out and spend that money on the first thing that somebody has sold you on as a "good investment"....chances are it's not gonna be.

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Alright Big Gunns, I'm gonna try to be civil here because I have no intentions of getting into some kind of cat fight with you...but just a couple thoughts and I'll put this thing to rest.

-People talking in 3rd person is a pet peeve of mine, but have I ever "called you out" or ridiculed you with some self righteous soap box speech?
-My name is not Jimmy and I don't appreciate the snide tone of your reply.
-No, I don't have a friend who lost a bunch of money on ball pythons.
-I don't personally know you, and you don't know anything about me (besides your earth shattering analysis of my signature) ... so why make assumptions on my level of intelligence, knowledge of financial investments, ball pythons, etc? I'd be happy to discuss any of the above with you though if you want to send me a PM.
-I never said that its impossible to make more money on ball pythons than on other investments, I never said that investing in stocks was the only way to invest your money, and I didn't say that "dividend checks" were the primary return on any investment in the stock market. I agree with you that there are many other safe, intelligent, and lucrative ways to handle your money.
-Your whole "risk vs. reward" schpeal was very enlightening but once again...completely irrelevant considering neither you nor I know anything about the motivation and level of comfort with risk that this guy has.
-Why write multiple paragraphs of advice on this thread, only to have your punch line be "don't listen to any advice on this thread"? ...surely you don't think your own ideas are useless, do you?
-And no, I don't want a male Pastel from you; but I would be more than happy to give you my address if you would like to send a male Lesser

Sorry to everyone else, I would have sent this in a PM but apparently Big Gunns doesn't allow them to be sent.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jimbus

Alright Big Gunns, I'm gonna try to be civil here because I have no intentions of getting into some kind of cat fight with you...but just a couple thoughts and I'll put this thing to rest.

-People talking in 3rd person is a pet peeve of mine, but have I ever "called you out" or ridiculed you with some self righteous soap box speech?
-My name is not Jimmy and I don't appreciate the snide tone of your reply.
-No, I don't have a friend who lost a bunch of money on ball pythons.
-I don't personally know you, and you don't know anything about me (besides your earth shattering analysis of my signature) ... so why make assumptions on my level of intelligence, knowledge of financial investments, ball pythons, etc? I'd be happy to discuss any of the above with you though if you want to send me a PM.
-I never said that its impossible to make more money on ball pythons than on other investments, I never said that investing in stocks was the only way to invest your money, and I didn't say that "dividend checks" were the primary return on any investment in the stock market. I agree with you that there are many other safe, intelligent, and lucrative ways to handle your money.
-Your whole "risk vs. reward" schpeal was very enlightening but once again...completely irrelevant considering neither you nor I know anything about the motivation and level of comfort with risk that this guy has.
-Why write multiple paragraphs of advice on this thread, only to have your punch line be "don't listen to any advice on this thread"? ...surely you don't think your own ideas are useless, do you?
-And no, I don't want a male Pastel from you; but I would be more than happy to give you my address if you would like to send a male Lesser

Sorry to everyone else, I would have sent this in a PM but apparently Big Gunns doesn't allow them to be sent.

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Well BG did apologize to you.:P:D

BG "assumed" about you because he knows all.:D BG will bet you 1,000,000 rupiah that you have never bred Ball Pythons and made any money off them. So, you're not qualified to give your reply. You can give it, but because you have no experience making money breeding Balls, it's not worth as much as someone who has right? Kinda like BG giving advice on whatever you do for a living even though he has never done it(BG does do this though:D). BG could tell someone don't be a Doctor(although he obviously isn't a real one) you'll never make any money, you should become a train conductor and you'll make a better living. If you're a Doctor making a good living, you're gonna disagree right?

Yeah BG did "let yah have it" just a leeetle, but it's the same pet peeve BG has about people giving husbandry advice when they shouldn't. Although BG knows you're just trying to help this guy, and your advice is not wrong in some respects, you can't really compare both "investing" in stocks and "investing" in snakes because you haven't done the later have you?

Like BG said, he knows you were just trying to give this guy some good advice as you see it, but your advice isn't coming from experience now is it? That's all BG was trying to say. He may have been a leeetle bit of a meanie about it, but like BG said, it's a pet peeeve. Hopefully you forgive him and he's put you on his "Lesser" list.:D You pay shipping though....it will be more than the snake this year. HMMMMM...that may be why you said what you said.LOL

wheeee!

yeah boyeeeeeeeeee

Can you guys please stop filling my thread with spam.

Hi Ralph, There has been some good advise in this thread. I pretty sure I know who you are working with out of miami as I have been doing business with him. As far as what morphs to consider I would try some clowns/ pieds/ desert(co-dom)/ lavender albino/ mystics/ super stripes/ crystals or special ect... A good idea is to get some base morph females and some either double or triple morph males or (speacial morphs). You could also try and aquire a bananna or special gene woma. Its all up to you and which direction you want to go. If you want you can pm me with any questions or to chat.

Pat

That's true, some adult pastel or spider females could get you ahead quick when paired with the right males, and their price has come down quite a lot.

I also agree that at least half of that needs to go into quality infrastructure--good racks, GOOD thermostats, incubators, hatchling racks, and allotment for feed and bedding, and cleaning supplies. Don't forget the rodents. If you're going to have hatchlings, unless you know a local rodent breeder, you're probably going to have to breed your own, and that means a rat rack (Unless you want huge headaches). An automatic watering system for rodents will save your sanity.

Dealing with the rodents is my least favorite part of the biz, and I'll be looking for a rodent breeder nearby when we are ready to purchase a facility, lol.