So where did you get your start?

Everyone has to start with no fauna rep or sales. Where was your first sale made? Have you given someone their first chance to start making a name for themselves?

I've been wondering how difficult it is to sell babies when you first get started breeding. I imagine if your an active forum member that will help when it comes time to sell because people get a sense of how and who you are from your posts (after a while and depending on what you post). I would think that if I could get a few sales from forum people, and they are willing to leave me feedback, that that would get the ball rolling for fauna, kingsnake, and sales from my own (future) website.

I can't breed for a few years still but just something I've been wondering. Reputation is everything in the business after all.

I think this is a great idea!! Unfortunately I don't have anything to contribute, but I'll be looking forward to these posts :)

I really really hope my sales dont depend on my forum activity as I am kind of a ghost most of the time. This is the first year I will be planning on selling and I was really hoping that as long as I am honest I will be able to sell some of my snakes. Hopefully if you provide enough pictures to leave no doubt of the quality you should be fine (atleast I hope that is true). Always provide more than what the buyer wants and you should be off to a great start.

I have a suspicion that I prompted this thread xD

My first sale was actually a trade with coredelong here on the forums. He was kind enough to give me a try. Everything went smoothly! I've done a lot of sales locally too. Most of my feedback came from non-snake selling things like buying feeders or selling cornsnakes to local families. I just built it up from there. Clearly I'm still new with my first babies just now getting their first meals so I've got a long road ahead of me. My hope is that my reputation as well as my appearance here on the forums will help in some way. Most importantly, customer service. It goes a long way if you can make the buyer feel confident that your animal is the BEST. Answer questions (no matter how annoying/dumb they may be), show pictures, go above and beyond!

As far as helping someone out, I'd love to be that person to give them a push in the right direction. But, in order for me to do that, you have to embelish many of the same qualities of a seller that I think are important. If you are a first time seller and you don't answer my questions or send me pictures, then no, I won't buy from you. But if you take the time to make me feel confident in my purchase, then chances are I'm going to buy from you.

There are a lot of factors that came come into play here. Some are factors that we are aware of and some are more subtle and subconscious. My true test will be when I put my babies up for sale. I can't say for sure how easy/hard it will be until I've really tried.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

I have a suspicion that I prompted this thread xD

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lol actually yes. I've been meaning to ask but your post reminded me. Thank you for the reply! Makes perfect sense and good luck selling your babies. :)

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Originally Posted by Marrissa

lol actually yes. I've been meaning to ask but your post reminded me. Thank you for the reply! Makes perfect sense and good luck selling your babies. :)

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I'm a very logical person and I like to trust my gut instincts. If things make sense and my gut doesn't tell me to flee, I'll buy. If something tells me to steer clear, I do.

I like this thread as I'll be hoping to produce babies in a couple of years from now. I kinda feel as a no name new breeder I'll have to sell any snake for cheaper then the reputable breeders are selling for to even get noticed by people/ think to buy from me. Maybe that's just me though

Another way to start building rep is through trades. As initiator, it's proper for you to ship first. It's an easier way to get your foot in the door as the risk lies almost solely on you. When using this method it's important to find someone already with a good reputation so you can feel more at ease. Hopefully they will post up some positive feedback on your packing and reliability and coming from a reputable person it'll carry even more weight. I'm a stickler for quarantine, long ones at that, so I wouldn't personally do this more than once a year or nothing would ever escape the quarantine room - I'm picky about where my animals come from and how many are introduced to my collection.

I do think consistent activity on the various forums/communities helps. I was introduced to my local breeders fb group through someone I met as I went flying into my local reptile store in a blind panic when I finally saw Bubbles sitting on eggs (a swear my brain just went right out the window). This person happens to be very active locally and was impressed with my husbandry, so when I proposed a trade for one of my babies to someone else, he actually vouched for me (unbeknownst to me at the time). And the person who did the trade happens to be on Fauna and left me a good guy thread. If I wasn't both meticiculous with my husbandry and active in the local community things wouldn't have worked out so well I think.

And I would buy from people who I regularly see posting on here as well if they didn't have any fauna feedback, but it makes a difference when you see past posts of them getting/raising/breeding the animals. I would be more hesitant to buy from someone who isn't a regular poster and has no feedback elsewhere.

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Originally Posted by Badgemash

And I would buy from people who I regularly see posting on here as well if they didn't have any fauna feedback, but it makes a difference when you see past posts of them getting/raising/breeding the animals. I would be more hesitant to buy from someone who isn't a regular poster and has no feedback elsewhere.

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lol...I think I have every new addition and every clutch I've ever hatched documented here. :P This forum was one of the very first places I landed when I first got interested in bp's...in fact, I think this place is responsible for my addiction...;)

Feedback on Fauna is not everything, being part of the community, being knowledgeable and helpful will really helps too, the key is to be involved in this community, participate on forum or do shows.

If someone comes out of nowhere all of the sudden, and no one has never heard of that person from either forums or shows it not gonna be easy for them to sell their animals, regardless of the animal they sell (who is gonna hand out several thousands of dollars to a stranger no one knows)

My presence on forums since 2006 is what helped me get started, then the first customers help be build my rep and I made contact in this industry that probably would not hesitate to vouch for me.

Again be involved, produce quality animals and the rest will come.

This is a good post I plan on the next coming year to produce my first clutch and making a name for myself and even producing some new breeds and set some standards to establish myself! It's time for me to make some major investments for my BPs future!


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Originally Posted by Markajordan

This is a good post I plan on the next coming year to produce my first clutch and making a name for myself and even producing some new breeds and set some standards to establish myself! It's time for me to make some major investments for my BPs future!


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You and I are in the same boat :) I'll be producing my first clutch this upcoming year too. What will you be pairing up? Mine is just going to be a simple Bumble bee to normal pairing but it will get me enough to fuel my next investment. But bumble bees are my favorite and they are what got me into the morphs and breeding in the first place so I'm really excited to be able to produce them soon. I wish us both the best of luck for our breeding futures! We can do it :D


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Originally Posted by AlexisFitzy

You and I are in the same boat :) I'll be producing my first clutch this upcoming year too. What will you be pairing up? Mine is just going to be a simple Bumble bee to normal pairing but it will get me enough to fuel my next investment. But bumble bees are my favorite and they are what got me into the morphs and breeding in the first place so I'm really excited to be able to produce them soon. I wish us both the best of luck for our breeding futures! We can do it :D

It depends on my pairing this year my females sent quite ready but I'm looking for a morph or het that I can purchase as of now female to pair with any of my males or even willing to co-op with someone this year thru the whole process to get some use out the equipment I just bought. So eager to breed this year.
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I think this forum is KEY to success in the community. Ive sold and purchased animals and supplies from here a few times over the years. Every little transaction matters and even if it was just a sale for ASFs, that does help. The buyer will notice the quality of your animals, the speediness of your communication, and your willingness and friendliness. They will tell everyone about how it went. And they wont forget it. People will notice those things. They say that word of mouth is the best most trusted source of advertisement. I believe that. It also really helps if you were a good buyer first, because the way you made purchases does reflect a bit upon how trusted you can be as a seller.

sent from my incubator

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Feedback on Fauna is not everything, being part of the community, being knowledgeable and helpful will really helps too, the key is to be involved in this community, participate on forum or do shows.

If someone comes out of nowhere all of the sudden, and no one has never heard of that person from either forums or shows it not gonna be easy for them to sell their animals, regardless of the animal they sell (who is gonna hand out several thousands of dollars to a stranger no one knows)

My presence on forums since 2006 is what helped me get started, then the first customers help be build my rep and I made contact in this industry that probably would not hesitate to vouch for me.

Again be involved, produce quality animals and the rest will come.

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I agree that getting involved in the community and helping others goes a long way! I always try to help people out as much as I can and answer any questions they have about my collection or animal for sale and even questions about their own animals, husbandry and such. I've even met people to pop their unsexed BPs for them. I've also welcomed constructive criticism and advice I've been given, on this site and others. I've also made a I plan on one day vending at the two local shows here in Pittsburgh, but for now, I'm content just meeting and talking snakes with some great people at the shows like Don Lynch, Tim Koppenhofer and Demian Lewis among others. I also enjoy chatting with Brian Breikss and Jerry Robinson on FB from time to time among others.

I was just about to ask this line of questions myself, so I'm glad someone beat me to it. When I skim through classifieds and see dozens or hundreds of unanswered ad's, I wonder if I'll be able to sell my hatchlings in the coming years when I get the ball rolling (figuratively ;) ). I think I'll rely on local and friend sales until I've worked my way up the ladder a bit.

My first sales were the toughest because I didn't really know anyone. After about a year or so, I had personally met, purchased from, traded with or talked to some of the best guys and gals around. Networking and reaching out to as many people as you can will help in the beginning. As Deborah already stated, being helpful and knowledgeable (with much experience) is key. Get involved and get noticed. It's a very, very small community out there whether everyone realizes it or not. Show your face at shows and meet everyone there. Do everything you can as often as possible. Sometimes it just takes a while for people to sell their babies, but they will sell. Patience is an absolute must have with these creatures.

i guess excellent documentation also helps.

just put together a sheet with hatch date, genetics information, data on the parents, the first feedings, and a nice picture. and of course with your name, adress, logo, contact information, and signature. just print it in a copy shop if you dont have a good color printer.

that will forever remind the customer of you, and if the snake gets rehomed, it will most likely move with the snake. and store the digital version forever, with backups, for future reference. when someone calls you with a question about a snake and you go "wait, what ID number came with your BP? im pulling the data sheet for your BP from my database, got it, now lets see...", that looks really professional.

for dogs and horses they sometimes have real certificates with linages going back many generations and the animals are registered with online databases and stuff.

I have been here for a while but I don't ship so my sales are local.
I started with Craigs List and a couple forums based here in Texas.

That being said, the best thing you can do is be honest all the time. Even when people don't want to hear it.
If you stay open then a good reputation and sales will follow.
If you screw over one person and our community finds out then you might as well close shop.

Very interesting thread for me as I'm in the same boat as others here. expecting to produce my first clutches this year, mostly single gene to normal pairing, along with some visual to het albino pairings. My plan so far has been to just get a table at the local monthly show and see how it goes. Like others, I have a couple guys who are in the industry, so to speak, that are giving me some good advise.

The first clutch I produced all died, since I had absolutely no idea what I was doing back then. My second clutch I knew better and decided to use an incubator instead of letting the eggs stay with the female. Unfortunately the incubator wasn't setup properly, and only 1 egg hatched. the snake was very dehydrated, but after a couple days managed to plump up just fine :) I actually gave it away for free.

My first clutch I didn't use and incubator and I didn't leave the eggs with the momma. All 5 eggs hatched :). That said momma is locking up with a vanilla pastel as of right now then he will go to my other normal female. So I hopefully I'll have two clutches this year. :) I haven't messed with shipping yet but have taken a baby a few hours drive away before. I should probably look into shipping.


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My first clutch will be all 100% het pied. What's the best way to prove to a customer they are 100% and give them piece of mind?

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Originally Posted by futurebpowner

My first clutch will be all 100% het pied. What's the best way to prove to a customer they are 100% and give them piece of mind?

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Paperwork (though this is only good if it comes from someone you trust since paperwork can be fabricated), excellent customer service, and a great reputation.

It may be hard to sell hets without a good selling rep to back you up. All you can do is try.

I started wit receiving rescues ( locally) and trying to rehome them after a set time to make sure they were all healthy and eating well. (this led to me meeting my wife on here) But I also did a few trades when I produced my first clutch of Pieds and hets. I believe it all based on trust and such....