Economics of Breeding Questions

How did most of you get started with breeding? I started out by just getting snakes I liked. I had my snow corn, then almost a year later, I got two ball pythons with no true intention of breeding, but once I started looking into all the morphs, I started to get interested.

What is the typical start-up cost of a breeding project for a new breeder? It can be anything. My first pair of ball pythons were a 100% het pied male and a normal female. Total cost for the pair $125. Then you had the cost of the tanks we kept them in. Few months later, we invested in our first morph, a pair of pastels, totaling around $325. I eventually got rack systems and totaled, my snakes (including the corns and boa) and enclosures (if you don't count the tanks and only the racks) is valued at almost $3000. This does not include the cost of driving to get the snakes, shipping for the racks, water bowls, heat lamps, hides, bedding, or the monthly cost of feeding everyone.

What sort of day jobs do breeders have? I work in retail as a bookseller. I'm hoping to get a 2nd job.

How does one start out as a breeder - which is to say where do you start selling at? I haven't sold anything yet, but I plan on selling online and at shows.

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)? I hope to break even. I just want my hobby to pay for itself so that my husband isn't wondering where all of our money is going. As long as I break even or come close to breaking even, I'll be happy financially.

Is this more of a hobby than an actual money-making process for most breeders? It depends on the breeder. Some are in it for just the money, and some are in it for the snakes. Some are somewhere between. I am personally in this as a hobby. I love my snakes as pets first and breeders second.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

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)? I hope to break even. I just want my hobby to pay for itself so that my husband isn't wondering where all of our money is going. As long as I break even or come close to breaking even, I'll be happy financially.

Is this more of a hobby than an actual money-making process for most breeders? It depends on the breeder. Some are in it for just the money, and some are in it for the snakes. Some are somewhere between. I am personally in this as a hobby. I love my snakes as pets first and breeders second.

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That is exactly the approach I have taken as well. Very well put.:gj::gj:

I have to agree that for the majority of breeders this is a hobby and not a business. The reason is because most(if not all) morphs get sold to other breeders, and not as single pets.

This means that money and snakes are just exchanging hands between breeders, and there is no financial gain in the system without most breeders being hobbyists with other jobs they work to make the real dough to spend on snakes

This also means that most breeders at this point in time have not seen profit on snake investment. That is NOT to say that they won't see profit years down the road, hopefully as the hobby grows with more and more people, those who are in it the longest see a return on their initial investments, financially supported by newcomers to the hobby who in turn spend money on new snakes.

Or at least that's my understanding of the economics of the ball python morph business in North America.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

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)? I hope to break even. I just want my hobby to pay for itself so that my husband isn't wondering where all of our money is going. As long as I break even or come close to breaking even, I'll be happy financially.

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That's the goal for just about everyone except the top 5%? 1%? of breeders(by volume/quality of snakes).

Here's some more personal finances and economics just to give you an idea: I'm just beginning to be on my way to making my crested geckos pay for themselves. I doubt I'll see much profit, but after crunching the numbers and assuming I can find buyers, there will be some money left over to put back into the reptile hobby for new animals/cages. I will however only have two breeding pairs of cresties, so not likely a ton of money.

They are cheaper to feed than ball pythons and don't need expensive heat sources. My total investment for one pair of adults and another pair who will be able to breed later this year, three cages, and food to date(with enough to last another few months) has been under $600. That's probably a good estimate for my initial investment.

Lets say I spend $100 a year on food(haven't actually calculated my food cost per month yet, but it looks like I'll buy between $50-100 worth of food this year, I'm just guessing on the high end) and another $200 of misc. spending. These are VERY rough numbers and I'll have a better idea 12 months from now what my yearly spending looks like.

If both pairs produce 5 good clutches(2 eggs per clutch) each season, good potential for more clutches, that's 20 geckos a season to sell.

At $40 a gecko I'd bring in $800 a season. Could very well be able to sell the geckos for more, however.

Even if my yearly expenses double due to added costs of taking care of hatchlings, that's still under the value of selling 20 geckos a year at $40 a piece. I'd eventually make back my initial investment and start making a profit.

Of course this doesn't factor in holdbacks, buying new geckos, likelihood of expensive vet bills if something goes wrong, among other possible expenses.

I don't care about making a profit, I just enjoy having these pets and breeding them and taking care of hatchlings to find new homes for. If I'm able to get someone to pay me a bit of money here and there for a new scaly friend, that would be fantastic. If I do it well enough to break even and have the hobby pay for itself, even including acquiring new animals, that would just be heaven.

The tricky part with ball pythons is that they are more expensive on initial investments, don't produce as many animals as crested geckos do, and are quite possibly more time consuming once you are raising enough snakes that you might want to raise your own feeders as well.

I'm raising up one 08 female normal with plans to breed her to a nice co-dom morph probably during winter '10. If that goes well I might expand to more BPs. I don't ever expect to see a return on snake costs, I just enjoy them so much!