In the mean time...For new breeders and hobbyists

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to the forums here, but have held a long time interest in all reptiles since I can remember. Time has finally come, for myself and many others, where they are able to start a small time breeding project or business. That being said this isn't intended to be another one of those posts about how to run a ball python breeding business, what I would like to possibly do for the community of newer breeders and even older breeders looking to branch out a bit, is have a thread where we can post our current projects/collections and where we are wanting to go. From this hopefully other members may reach out and offer help, which may come in various forms.

I'm sure most if not all of us have been snake crazy and want tons of cool morphs we can't always afford. And of course we are rarely ever gonna catch the tails of the big name breeders in the industry just out of their sheer stock and capital they have. Wouldn't it be helpful though if lets say new breeders could build up enough trust, reputation and respect that we may be willing to work with each others stock to possibly speed up each others own projects rather than having to wait til you can afford/breed/hit odds then move onto others...

I may not have explained myself as well as I think I have, it's all sort of rough around the edges but an idea I was working on. What do y'all think?

I could see a lot of issues with this, and considering how expensive some of these morphs are, I bet there would still be some scammers out there.

If I can't afford a snake, then I'll save up. I mean, Id love a pied, but they're a bit out of my price range. So I got a het girl instead. Luckily enough, the breeder I bought her from is willing to allow me to bring her back when she is of weight and breed her to their pied and split the clutch. I'm sure it's much more satisfying to actually hatch out a snake instead of buying It

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Wouldn't it be helpful though if lets say new breeders could build up enough trust, reputation and respect that we may be willing to work with each others stock to possibly speed up each others own projects rather than having to wait til you can afford/breed/hit odds then move onto others...

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You mean a breeder loan?

No offense but people are not likely to do a breeder loan with a stranger, I have done a few loans and there are only a handful of people I would do loan with (those people are friends that I have know for several years).

Loans can be very rewarding but can also be a lot of trouble.

It take time to get a nice collection takes money too but anyone can do it, save money set up goals and with time you can achieve those goals.

heh, sounds like a general no. Guess it was just optimism from a newbie. Understood though.

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Originally Posted by Ryan Chin

heh, sounds like a general no. Guess it was just optimism from a newbie. Understood though.

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Breeding loan can be beneficial however not always a good idea and something that can be tricky.

Trust me I stated of dreaming of owning specific morphs that I knew I could not afford, years back I wanted a pied at the time they were pricey, I ended up buying a pair of het which still ended up costing more money than I ever thought I would spend on 2 animals, but ultimately I build up my collection little by little.

If you don't have the $$$ you can achieve your dream morph with patience, there are still many things out there that I dream to own and I am now confident that they are within my reach will a little patience and work.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Breeding loan can be beneficial however not always a good idea and something that can be tricky.

Trust me I stated of dreaming of owning specific morphs that I knew I could not afford, years back I wanted a pied at the time they were pricey, I ended up buying a pair of het which still ended up costing more money than I ever thought I would spend on 2 animals, but ultimately I build up my collection little by little.

If you don't have the $$$ you can achieve your dream morph with patience, there are still many things out there that I dream to own and I am now confident that they are within my reach will a little patience and work.

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It is great to hear success like yours, me being no where close to breeding just was kinda wondering how you get acquainted with other breeders and things like that when you really have not much to offer them in terms of business. I guess it really is a whole different perspective from my angle since I haven't really got to jump into the breeding part yet.

I'm a hobby breeder. Only breeding to get the animals I want. I sell off the offspring to ad money to my nest egg for the next animal I want. But I hit all the expos I can and talk to the same venders that I see there every time. That alone has gotten me some excellent deals to help me move toward my next goal. As for breeding loans on with everyone else. It would have to be someone I trusted and known for years. I also buy animals from CL and the pet store cork board cheap and trade them to people that have things I want but are out of my cash range. But in the end get to know the right people and remember how you started when you are successful be sure to throw us little guys a bone once in a while. I sold a spider male to a friend for $75 just because I know he will return the favor when he produces his first bee next year. What comes around goes around.

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Originally Posted by H.o.F.R

I'm a hobby breeder. Only breeding to get the animals I want. I sell off the offspring to ad money to my nest egg for the next animal I want. But I hit all the expos I can and talk to the same venders that I see there every time. That alone has gotten me some excellent deals to help me move toward my next goal. As for breeding loans on with everyone else. It would have to be someone I trusted and known for years. I also buy animals from CL and the pet store cork board cheap and trade them to people that have things I want but are out of my cash range. But in the end get to know the right people and remember how you started when you are successful be sure to throw us little guys a bone once in a while. I sold a spider male to a friend for $75 just because I know he will return the favor when he produces his first bee next year. What comes around goes around.

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Exactly this, for example if we knew what projects we were working on we could maybe help each other out as far as trades/deals went when we know what people will have.

Here is a little game of chance a friend and I are going to play next season. Im pairing a mojave male to a lesser female and he is pairing a butter Female to a het Russo. When the clutches are laid I will pick an egg of his and mark it with a permanent marker and he will do the same with mine. At day 55 we cut and once out of the egg we trade. Could get a normal, a bel, or any one of the parental types. Lol I know it sounds retarded now but it was a great idea while we were drinking and we shook on it. Idk I do silly stuff to stay entertained sometimes. I bought a mojave male from him awhile ago for a dollar a gram. It was 176g. Anyhow I still think it all comes down to making friends and enjoying your animals. It's more of a culture/lifestyle than a job or hobby. If I had to do it for a living I don't think is enjoy it as much.

I like networking with other breeders and discussing what projects we're working on so if one of us produces something the other is looking for we can sell to each other or make trades before the animal(s) is listed for sale. Plus, I just like making friends that share my passion for reptiles.

I've been breeding since I was a teenager, just common stuff like balls, boas, corns, kings, leopard geckos, and beardies, but it was always just for fun and the experience of working with the animals. I never made much money doing it because my collection was pretty small and I wasn't working with any morphs, just normals. Recently my wife and I made the decision to start investing our money into expanding our collection and work towards the possibility of producing enough for her to be able to quit her job and go back to school. We've dedicated a bedroom to the snakes and we're focusing on balls, bloods, Brazilian rainbows, Honduran milk snakes, and western hognose. We still have a long way to go before we reach our goal, but we've starting acquiring some morphs, breeding our own feeders, building racks, etc., and we're on our way. I'm always more than interested in talking with other breeders and hobbyists, especially if they're local.

Sorry is this post is a little long. I started typing and couldn't stop...

Breeder loaning seems a little more common in the group im in here. But I do think its just in the small group of friends I have. We are loaning one our albino female to a breeder, he has loaned us snakes and if one of mine proves to be something then we will likely do more. But I think this is for a few reasons. One we have bought the majority of our animals from him, and one other 'partner' I guess you could say. They loan snakes all the time. Some of this I believe stems from the fact the the one breeder owns a reptile store, and we as well as the other breeder can have our animals sold in his store, for a small fee. I see nothing wrong with deals between breeders, and breeder loaning, but only if the trust is there. I dont see that ever working across state lines, only locally, I get to see my albino female every week and get updates on her. He also always shares his new pickups with us, we even find snakes for him sometimes, just got a het pied proven breeder for him last week.

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Originally Posted by JKPCONSTRICTORS

I like networking with other breeders and discussing what projects we're working on so if one of us produces something the other is looking for we can sell to each other or make trades before the animal(s) is listed for sale. Plus, I just like making friends that share my passion for reptiles.

I've been breeding since I was a teenager, just common stuff like balls, boas, corns, kings, leopard geckos, and beardies, but it was always just for fun and the experience of working with the animals. I never made much money doing it because my collection was pretty small and I wasn't working with any morphs, just normals. Recently my wife and I made the decision to start investing our money into expanding our collection and work towards the possibility of producing enough for her to be able to quit her job and go back to school. We've dedicated a bedroom to the snakes and we're focusing on balls, bloods, Brazilian rainbows, Honduran milk snakes, and western hognose. We still have a long way to go before we reach our goal, but we've starting acquiring some morphs, breeding our own feeders, building racks, etc., and we're on our way. I'm always more than interested in talking with other breeders and hobbyists, especially if they're local.

Sorry is this post is a little long. I started typing and couldn't stop...

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That's great to hear JKP, I wish I could say I was that far along into my projects! and of course we never want this to feel like a job but I for one once I get addicted to a hobby I just love to pour all my efforts into it to achieve the best possible results I can, I thought making friends would be beneficial for everyone if they were interested enough as the other people to stop by here. I love networking and meeting others in the culture if only to learn from their experiences.