I need some reassurance here..

I love this Ball Python Expert guy.....he has a great imagination. Also everytime I have seen him Post, I laugh at the 100 responses I wanna give him....but I just let it slide. Luckily you all are Evil enough to chime in on him so I dont have too. Gawd I love you all BP.net, Including Ball Python Expert......you all have an education or entertainment value to yourselves.
:salute::salute::salute::salute::banana:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ball Python Expert

Listen what you did in my opinion was dumb. What you shoulda dun was....
Start of small maybe a pastel male with a normal female or 100% Somthing. You should not be going Ooer 375 with this. Thats what I did. I started with a male spider to a female Pastel. Now I got 2 females out of thar clutch:D I got this year the rest were norms and pastels and spiders. I'm keeping the Spiders and Bees and selling Pastels and norms. This will get me around 2500
dollars because I got 12 eggs and 6 were Pastel and 1 was a norm:D. Now what I'm planning to do is by a Lesser male to breed with the females in a couple of years and breed with my honey bee girl next year. Then once or if I get a QueenBee then I'll work on projects for then. Your just like give me Ball Pythons I don't care all I want to do is make money off it. Well Ya gotta start small and move your way up like I'm doing. I've been breeding basics bike Fire to Fire or Pastel to Pastel for the past 7 years now I'm moving up and around with different morphs. In my opinion if your not like BHB Or Ralph Davis or any other person you gotta live with it and do it just for fun.

Now I think i'm done here. hopefully you learn something from this theard.

Daniel~:snake:

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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

And you are how old!? 15. At least if I need a smile I can read one of your posts. ahhhhhh to be young & know everything.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Wow, people are really getting on their high horses and jumping to conclusions in this thread. Though I agree one should never go into the business for the money, the OP never said that was the only reason he was in the business.

Also, a lot of people waste a lot of money on expenses that are not always required. $4 and $6 dollars for rats are ridiculous, and your own choice. You can easily order frozen from an online company in bulk for much less pricing than that.

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I think I have only 3-4 snakes out of 30+ that will willingly take frozen rodents. If I buy 30+ frozen rodents, thaw them out only have the snake not eat them, then I am really wasting money. At least if my snakes refuse a live meal, I can continue to feed it and try again another day or it will go into becoming one of my future breeders.

I wish all of my animals ate FT... Be a lot less work!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AjBalls

I think I have only 3-4 snakes out of 30+ that will willingly take frozen rodents. If I buy 30+ frozen rodents, thaw them out only have the snake not eat them, then I am really wasting money. At least if my snakes refuse a live meal, I can continue to feed it and try again another day or it will go into becoming one of my future breeders.

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Or you go to feed only to realize the snake is Blue and doesnt get fed anyway. I had 3 this week, so i just put my rats back in with the other feeders. :gj:

I have 3 that are like garbage disposals... they'll eat anything. :banana:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ball Python Expert

Listen what you did in my opinion was dumb. What you shoulda dun was....
Start of small maybe a pastel male with a normal female or 100% Somthing. You should not be going Ooer 375 with this. Thats what I did. I started with a male spider to a female Pastel. Now I got 2 females out of thar clutch:D I got this year the rest were norms and pastels and spiders. I'm keeping the Spiders and Bees and selling Pastels and norms. This will get me around 2500
dollars because I got 12 eggs and 6 were Pastel and 1 was a norm:D. Now what I'm planning to do is by a Lesser male to breed with the females in a couple of years and breed with my honey bee girl next year. Then once or if I get a QueenBee then I'll work on projects for then. Your just like give me Ball Pythons I don't care all I want to do is make money off it. Well Ya gotta start small and move your way up like I'm doing. I've been breeding basics bike Fire to Fire or Pastel to Pastel for the past 7 years now I'm moving up and around with different morphs. In my opinion if your not like BHB Or Ralph Davis or any other person you gotta live with it and do it just for fun.

Now I think i'm done here. hopefully you learn something from this theard.

Daniel~:snake:

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THE EXPERT HAS SPOKEN!
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Way OT here and I dont want any more infractions but...
What is up with your shift key son? You've got some mad capitalization skills yo.

Breed what you love. Love what you breed.


The rest will fall into place.


Chris

I have invested thousands over a four year period, this will be my first year producing offspring. I will never make up my lost money, but to me it is not lost. It went to something i love doing. I could of spent it on something else, for example drugs or alchohol, etc.. then the money would be lost. In time maybe my hobby will pay for itself, but for now I am happy with just doing what i do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simpson Balls

Listen what you did in my opinion was dumb. What you shoulda dun was....
Start of small maybe a pastel male with a normal female or 100% Somthing. You should not be going Ooer 375 with this. Thats what I did. I started with a male spider to a female Pastel. Now I got 2 females out of thar clutch:D I got this year the rest were norms and pastels and spiders. I'm keeping the Spiders and Bees and selling Pastels and norms. This will get me around 2500
dollars because I got 12 eggs and 6 were Pastel and 1 was a norm:D. Now what I'm planning to do is by a Lesser male to breed with the females in a couple of years and breed with my honey bee girl next year. Then once or if I get a QueenBee then I'll work on projects for then. Your just like give me Ball Pythons I don't care all I want to do is make money off it. Well Ya gotta start small and move your way up like I'm doing. I've been breeding basics bike Fire to Fire or Pastel to Pastel for the past 7 years now I'm moving up and around with different morphs. In my opinion if your not like BHB Or Ralph Davis or any other person you gotta live with it and do it just for fun.

Now I think i'm done here. hopefully you learn something from this theard.

Daniel~:snake:

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wow and can you belive i havnt even touched this kid yet!!! im staying away from this one its just to hilarious!!!!!!!!

just enjoy the snakes, if u make money than you're lucky. just breed them for youre own satisfaction, u make money than so be it, i love my snakes so much i dont sell. down the road try to sell em......in the mean time just love them and care for them!!! the healthier the snake, more money, especially if its a morph...

I have spent around $3,000 since 2007, and that does not include the feeding costs, vet visits, ect. One day, I hope to make this my source of income. These animals are my passion. They are my children. This is my first year breeding and I only bred one female. Out of 6 eggs dropped, only two babies remain and my plan was to sell any males. Now I'm keeping both of these babies since they are my "miracle babies" if they hatch. So even in my first breeding season, I spent close to $50 getting the incubator set up and such, so I lost money this year.

I sold one of my pastels this year. I purchased her last year for $225. Because she's not a high quality pastel, her value has actually dropped and I sold her for $150.

You can make money in this hobby, but it takes a long time and a lot of patience and hard work. I'm only just beginning my "reptile journey" and I don't expect to make money for several more years.

Like everyone else has said, it just depends on why you started investing $ in reptiles. Is it a hobby that you would like to expand or just trying to make some extra money?

I can relate to you in that, I have invested a huge chunk of money in hopes of breeding and I have no idea if it will work. BUT if thing don't work out, I will still have an awesome snake collection. I'm fine either way. Snakes hold their value pretty well so you could always sell your collection and make back most of the $ you spent.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevenphoenix

Like everyone else has said, it just depends on why you started investing $ in reptiles. Is it a hobby that you would like to expand or just trying to make some extra money?

I can relate to you in that, I have invested a huge chunk of money in hopes of breeding and I have no idea if it will work. BUT if thing don't work out, I will still have an awesome snake collection. I'm fine either way. Snakes hold their value pretty well so you could always sell your collection and make back most of the $ you spent.

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True

I think if you choose your initial snakes wisely, then you are much more likely to make your money back faster and eventually make income. Obviously if you buy some normals and hets to breed with, it will take years to see any type of profit. I am trying to buy only adult morphs so when/if they breed, they will be much more likely to sell than a bunch of normal hatchlings.

I work full time and don't expect to make a lot of $, but it would be nice to make some extra $ within the next few years. Assuming I can get my snakes to breed this winter, I should make back a good chunk of what I've invested. If that doesn't work out, there's always next year :)

I love animals though and don't mind all the work involved in caring for them. I'm also not stressing over money at the moment, I'm an overpaid teacher ;)

This thread's life is RIDIC.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

This thread's life is RIDIC.

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It shall live on:banana:

i plan on spending a ton of money on snakes in the future and im going to play around with the dif morphs and what not but im not going to be after the money. ive fallin in love with these animals and dont think it will ever go away. its turning into an extreme passion for me.
but if i am able to sell a snake for several thousand dollars, i wont be complaining lol. intresting thread though, i have no hard feelings for the OP. good question, just odd wording. goodluck to you and i hope you love snakes the same way i do! :salute:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

I just got done spending a bunch of money on snakes, racks, and supplies. Of course I'm not going to make it rich off this thing, but, will these snakes pay for themselves after time(through sales of offspring you sell). How many of you have snakes that pay for themselves? How many of you have snakes that pay for themselves with a little contribution? How many of you have snakes that don't pay for themselves and definately need a big contribution? How many of you are losing you butt do to your darn snakes? Does anybody know how I make this into a poll? I'm new to this site:confused: Thanks all!

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Well dude to be honest, I don't expect to make a damn thing doing this. I'm in it for the cool animals and for the love of them. Granted money would be nice and it would be great if my animals could pay for themselves. If you need some reassurance and your even having second thought about everything maybe you need to reevaluate and decided if it's something your willing to sink a ton of money into and not see much back other than the satisfaction of taking care of your animals then maybe snake breeding is not for you.

I was like you when I first started, I thought it would be cool to make a bunch of money selling snakes but the more I thought about it and the more I discussed with my girlfriend and other reptile friends I realized I shouldn't think about the money. If I worried about the money all the time I wouldn't have the animals I have. Not that they were super expensive or anything but If I thought about the cost to care for an additional animal and the amount of money I'm putting out and not making back I would never buy animals. I would just keep my first snake and be a single snake pet owner.

I'm not trying to talk down to you or start anything, I just think that if you really want to get into breeding and selling you should really think about it first.

That's my take on this whole thread... Yup.:)

I have spent about 7K on animals and a few racks and so far not a single dime of profit. But I am not in it for that. Making a bit of money off of my hobby is just an added bonus. The real payoff is from getting to raise and be around these awesome animals.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sg1trogdor

I have spent about 7K on animals and a few racks and so far not a single dime of profit. But I am not in it for that. Making a bit of money off of my hobby is just an added bonus. The real payoff is from getting to raise and be around these awesome animals.

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Indeed sir.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lewdogg3

Well dude to be honest, I don't expect to make a damn thing doing this. I'm in it for the cool animals and for the love of them. Granted money would be nice and it would be great if my animals could pay for themselves. If you need some reassurance and your even having second thought about everything maybe you need to reevaluate and decided if it's something your willing to sink a ton of money into and not see much back other than the satisfaction of taking care of your animals then maybe snake breeding is not for you.

I was like you when I first started, I thought it would be cool to make a bunch of money selling snakes but the more I thought about it and the more I discussed with my girlfriend and other reptile friends I realized I shouldn't think about the money. If I worried about the money all the time I wouldn't have the animals I have. Not that they were super expensive or anything but If I thought about the cost to care for an additional animal and the amount of money I'm putting out and not making back I would never buy animals. I would just keep my first snake and be a single snake pet owner.

I'm not trying to talk down to you or start anything, I just think that if you really want to get into breeding and selling you should really think about it first.

That's my take on this whole thread... Yup.:)

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When I originally posted this thread a few months back I was kinda worried about money. In the last few months my collection has grown on me. I really don't care if these animals pay for themselves anymore. The other day when I bought my het pieds I realised that even if I produced a snake worth a million dollars I don't think I would sell it(it being a new line of my own). Don't get me wrong I'm obviously going to sell snake along the line, but, this whole breeding idea regardless of the work has become too much fun to put down.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

When I originally posted this thread a few months back I was kinda worried about money. In the last few months my collection has grown on me. I really don't care if these animals pay for themselves anymore. The other day when I bought my het pieds I realised that even if I produced a snake worth a million dollars I don't think I would sell it(it being a new line of my own). Don't get me wrong I'm obviously going to sell snake along the line, but, this whole breeding idea regardless of the work has become too much fun to put down.

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I'm glad to hear you came to that conclusion, There are plenty of people out there that only do it for the money and don't enjoy it has a hobby. I hate to see you be another victim of that

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

True

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Well i would say thats not true ! The prices have fallen on there butt :(

I don't think the prices this year are really bad at all compared with last years. There are a lot of people lowballing and bailing out, but that's because sales are so slow, they panic. Ironically, they're selling any faster that way, lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I don't think the prices this year are really bad at all compared with last years. There are a lot of people lowballing and bailing out, but that's because sales are so slow, they panic. Ironically, they're selling any faster that way, lol.

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Lower prices always sale faster..Difference is that while one breeder may sale 5 snakes for 250.00 for a total of 1250.00 another breeder willing to hang on and sale them at market value might sale them for 500.00 for a total of 2500.00. Me personally I'm in no hurry I'll sale at market value so that I get the most out of every sale.. Plus it cuts down on impulse buying somewhat

i'm into this coz i love my pets,
also becoz i love the very rare kind of morphs , the only way getting it is to start rock bottem with the classic morphs and morph them till u got that special ur $'rs cant buy,

eg, i'm loving the faded albino spiders, so i have spider and faded albino, hoping next year spiders het albino and som years later the the beauty,

while on the quest for the morph i will sell some snakes but then i would just buy some other morphs wich i like, not to pay my bills.

I cant believe this thread is STILL GOING ON!!! What a hit babe. Good One!

I think all my husband was trying to do is get me more involved, trust me everyones input on this thread has made "US"successful in breeding. We are not only in this to make money, he just wanted to convince me that this is a hobby we can both enjoy, and poss make some money off of it. He wanted to get peoples input to make me side with him and agree to invest in some fun loving creatures thats all!:D

Thanks to all!

I think if you take it slow you can definately have a hobby that pays for itself. You may even profit eventually but you definately need to be doing it for the fun of it. If you go out and spend thousands off the bat on lots of racks and lots of pricey snakes you are probably spending more then you will make, What I have done is started by getting a few animals and a couple of cheap morphs. The way I work it is if I make some money I put that back into the snakes and if there is enough made to do so than I get a new morph.
I have done this in the past with hamsters and they payed for themselves so hopefully the snakes do too, If not at least I can work my way to the morphs I really want by making them myself and in a way that is saving you money, and is alot more fun.

I have a decent leopard gecko collection..and I wouldnt say i broke even..but all the money I invested over the past few years came back to me this year..I hence reinvested in some really nice Ball pythons HAHAH So long story short you will never make money at this hobby If you love the animals..Your collection will only grow. Wich Is the way it should be :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakecharmer3638

Depends on a lot of different factors. But generally speaking if you are in this to get rich quick then you would be better off going to Vegas and trying your odds there. :gj:

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Naw you'd just lose $$$ quicker- how do you think the casinos pay their electric bill? :rofl:

This can be gradual in gain, but it depends on you. You have to have a balance of expansion without over-reaching your abilities to care for your animals- that level is different for each person. Also how much fun do you want to have?

For me, it's about each snake having a name & they get time to interact as pets that also happen to breed. I'd rather produce a few stunners than a bunch of average animals. I also try to narrow down what I will work with because there's so many morphs.

I been building up for almost 10 years... with a small budget & thankfully understanding sellers who do payment plans, or swaps. If you count the money only it's not a profit, but they do pay for their keep & I'm happy with that. I love keeping them so, profit is secondary (but would be NICE).

Than again I've spent serious TIME doing this, the forums, learning not just about them, but how to take a nice photo, networking with suppliers, buyers... even my hokey little web-site. So it's still about the love of this- if I didn't love these snakes I wouldn't have made it this far.

Is it worth it? If value is only found in profit margins- no.

But if you love these creatures, caring for them, raising them up & producing quality offspring. If you could talk snakes for hours; if the thought of producing a designer morph from animals you raise up & 20+ year lifespans & 2 or 3 generation projects excite you... if pipping eggs always feels like Christmas did when you were a kid- it is worth it.

Hi,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NorthernRegius

But if you love these creatures, caring for them, raising them up & producing quality offspring. If you could talk snakes for hours; if the thought of producing a designer morph from animals you raise up & 20+ year lifespans & 2 or 3 generation projects excite you... if pipping eggs always feels like Christmas did when you were a kid- it is worth it.

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This is probably the clearest way I have seen this explained. :bow:


dr del

I know this is an older thread that has recently resurfaced but I have something to add. I am good friends with a medium size breeder that has his own website where he blogs. He is a very intelligent man that has a true passion for these animals but also has a strong desire to make money at this. Anyone looking to eventually make money at this hobby should read and heed his words. Click the link to get to to the blog I am refering to.
Todd


http://ballpythonbreeder.com/2009/07...-for-a-payday/

Very well said. I had to reply to the blog. lol

I fit somewhere in the middle, and hope I'm keeping my objectivity well enough to make a go of it in the future.

Hey,

It seems to me like BPs are like computers. There is never a good time to buy one, because the new ones are expensive and the old ones are cheap and out dated. When you see a snake you want buy it. Who cares what it ends up costing. Just go with your gut and plan properly for the future. Think about all the combo morphs that where cheap individually and than their babies cost thousands. A little luck is always needed in life and with balls it seems like you need a lot of luck with the odds. Stick with it and you will succeed.

Bill

lol, but there was never computer built that appreciated for the first 3 years, then depreciated slowly but spawned other less expensive computers in batches of 6 or more.

This thread was interesting to say the least.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by toddmbecker1234

I know this is an older thread that has recently resurfaced but I have something to add. I am good friends with a medium size breeder that has his own website where he blogs. He is a very intelligent man that has a true passion for these animals but also has a strong desire to make money at this. Anyone looking to eventually make money at this hobby should read and heed his words. Click the link to get to to the blog I am refering to.
Todd


http://ballpythonbreeder.com/2009/07...-for-a-payday/

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That link was a great read.

I hit the wrong button, but I don't break anywhere near even but I'm not losing a ton of money either.

I'm into these snakes for the snakes. Last season I was breeding two of my snakes for the first time. Someone said when you see those little snakey heads pop out of those eggs, its like Christmas, and it will be like Christmas every time you see it. The morning I woke up to a single tiny hatchling in the egg tub, I was overjoyed. He was a little normal (thought he was female for a bit but had him properly sexed) and I couldn't be happier. I ran to my bedroom and bounced on the bed, squealing at my husband to wake up and come see the new baby. :P I don't spend near as much as most of the big breeders do. I spend about $100 in food costs every month and I tend to buy a new snake every year. I don't ever even plan to break even in this hobby. It would be nice, but if I don't, I still have my snakes and they make me happy. :D

Wow I stayed away from this post but was bored and decided to read the WHOLE thing....oye we have some passionate ppl. So while I am here I might as well post my idea.

Will I ever make money...pffffffffff...:8: I love these snakes...totally fell in love. I am a completely emotional buyer...I see what I like...talk the hubby into it (with a little justifying)...and buy it. I am new to this therefore all the money is in the red. I want to breed for the experience....and to teach my son. My dream is to someday do a show with MY snakes and my son!! But I do not have dreams of grandor making money. I am 43 years old....it takes quite a while to get this off the ground. I do think that I can start this, get a company going down the road and teach my son economics with it as well as a passion for something we both love. I think by the time he is old enough I should have a killer collection and some great morphs going on. He can just take over!! Keep in mind...he is 9 and will have to finish college before I give them up to him.

How about having fun!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ophis

How about having fun!

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OMG...my whole family has fun with the snakes. Everyday!! It is my hubby..my son...my 83 yr old mom and myself. We are bummed on the off days when we cannot handle our snakes due to feeding.

Well ....my mom doesn't handle them...but she talks to them and it is a crack up. She calls them by name and says...are you going to come out and see Grandma. She swears they really do come out....lol

Breeding animals of any kind really isnt a good way to get rich.

That depends on whether or not it's something you truly love. Saying it can't be done is implying no one has done it--and that most definitely is far from the truth.
It depends on what animals you're breeding (obviously, you won't get rich breeding cockapoos--but what about race horses, high end herp morphs, or massive numbers of feeder rodents or insects?).
Folks have gotten 'rich' breeding all of these things. It depends on how much capital you start with, how smart your business plan is, the quality of your stock and how well it holds its value, and more than a bit of luck.

You won't be looking at becoming a billionaire, but 3 figure annual incomes are within your reach. Just be prepared for the massive amount of work and space it will require.

Personally, I collect them because I am fascinated by snakes. I plan to breed my first pair this next season. Dont really care about making any money from breeding as I do well with my regular day job. Just want to get into breeding because I think it would be a fun next step. I dont really consider it losing money to my hobby either, as all the money I spend is well worth the enjoyment I get out of it!

this is just a hobby so i dont mind throwing money at it. thats what hobbies are for. but if i end up making some money when i start breeding then theres a plus!

Breeding snakes is much like a trip to vegas. You never get the percents. You may have good luck and you may not. I don't believe it's fair to say someone is in it for the wrong reasons just because they talk money. Your not really paying much attention to things if you think the big guys aren't thinking money. However.......... Thinking your going to get rich on ball pythons is probably going to get you broke.

Really? It's working out exactly as I projected so far. I'm not 'rich' yet, but then, I didn't expect to be at this point. I'm definitely not broke.

The problem is, folks are impatient, and they don't actually create any sort of business plan or breeding plan, and if they do, they don't stick to it. They expect to start making a living breeding snakes in just a couple of years, and it will take at least 6 or 7 before that's remotely possible--and then only if you have 20 or 30 grand to start it up in the first place.

In other words, if this is really what you want to do with your life, then by all means--go for it. You can make it. But do your research first, and don't expect to make money without spending money first. "You need money to make money" is 100% true in this business just as it is in most others. So, you have a big investment of both time and money before you can expect to see enough return to both expand your business, and live off of it. That means that for a number of years, you'll have two jobs, and toward the end of that time, it will two full-time jobs.

Passion isn't enough. You need education, discipline, and deep pockets to get started--and then you need patience, perseverance, and plenty of common sense to succeed.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying this as simply a great hobby--if you're planning for something more, though, then the key word is 'planning'. There's no sense in telling people that they can't do it. If other people have done it, then why not? It makes more sense to explain what's needed to do something like this, in a realistic way.

Plenty of people have tried this, and they failed. The reason why is extremely simple--they did it wrong. They didn't do their research in advance, they didn't have a plan, or the funds needed to get started, or the space needed to maintain biological security...all of those things contribute to that. The fact that they did not succeed doesn't mean success was impossible.

Sorry for the necropost, for some reason this wound up high up on the list, and I'm not sure why. Didn't notice the date. (Was a post removed, perhaps, that might have bumped it?) Oh, well, it's as relevant today as it was when it was posted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Sorry for the necropost, for some reason this wound up high up on the list, and I'm not sure why. Didn't notice the date. (Was a post removed, perhaps, that might have bumped it?) Oh, well, it's as relevant today as it was when it was posted.

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The post was bumped back to the top due to the fact that this is a poll and all it takes to bump a poll back to the top is to vote on it.

Polls get bumped to the top when someone votes.

Hi,

Given the age of the thread I have closed the poll to prevent it being bumped up again.


dr del