been thinking about starting a breeding business

I been thinking of starting a ball python breeding business for a while and have been doing research into breeding balls for last six or seven months to make sure I am well informed of everything that entails, but as I do my research I've realized there are so many other people that are trying to do the same and are already breeding the animals, I've been wondering if itd even be worth trying to turn my passion into a business and job id love. I still intend on breeding snakes as a hobby because I have an extreme passion for the animals and had always had a passion for them since I was a child. But with so many others out there I've become a little discouraged to really try. I think I probably will though because thats my dream job is to work with animals. I know I have a long road ahead of me and a lot of work as well, but in the end I hope it all pays off for the effort I intend to put into everything. I also hope that everyone who can make it happen for themselves becomes successful in what they love.

Chances are, from my understanding anyway, the business will be supplemental to a day job. But that shouldn't take away from the sheer satisfaction of it... (I want to breed once I'm done wit college)


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I've been breeding and selling snakes for about 25 years now, I started out with colubrids and switched to ball pythons and boas about 15 years ago. I'm one of the lucky ones that gets to do this for a living. Most people think that I make my living selling ball pythons and boas. I do make a profit at the end of each year selling snakes, but what really pays my bills are the hundreds of educational presentations I do with reptiles every year. So realistically if you want to do this for a living keep the breeding of the snakes as a hobby and push the presentation side of your business. I can answer any questions you have about starting a successful reptile business, but remember that if you want to pay your bills think a little outside the box, it sure has worked for me.

Best of luck

Brian Gundy
For Goodness Snakes
fgsnakes@sbcglobal.net
408-981-6694

Keep it as a hobby for a few years until you know if you like it or not. Running a business brings in additional stress - you have to show a profit two years out of five - and takes more time for things like collecting and remitting sales taxes.

Also, I hate to say it, but as a business you have to weigh each animal's replacement value against how much it would cost to treat it, should it need a vet visit. As a hobbyist no one cares if I spend $200 at the vet to treat a $25 normal.

I am at that point myself.
Though I know and never plan to try to depend on my reptiles for my sole income.

Well, what I really want to do is have it as a morning business and then have a night job for my other income so I'm entirely dependant on selling them for main income. But for now I'm just going to breeding the morphs I really like, like bumblebees and super pastels and then maybe add a little axanthic into the mix and then try to get into the higher end morphs as I can afford it.

I have talk about this before yes it is possible to make money there are 3 levels

1/ Having your collection pay for itself
2/ Making a supplemental income
3/ Making a living

The question is where do you see yourself? Do you have a plan? How much will you be investing?

If you want to make a profit you will need to treat this like any other business and have a solid business plan, you will also need to invest (it takes money to make money). As the market evolves you will need to be able to evolve to as well be smart about what you buy and pair.

If you expect to make a profit or start a business out of Axanthics, Bees and Super Pastels this will just not happen, between the money you will have to invest and your overhead you will be in the red and will not even break even and that sadly is a reality.

I decided to breed 10 years ago my goal at the time was simple, I wanted to produce a Pied, at the time they were 7.5K to 10K and I just could not justify spending that much on a pet so I bought a pair of hets (1.2K at the time) and a few other side projects. I was lucky to have my collection paying for itself within 2 years and by year 3 I started making a profit.

I chose to keep this as a hobby and this hobby has been making a nice profit over the years, I never wanted to make a living out of this but I know people who do and it is a lot of work and things do not always work the way you want them too.

This is not an easy and fast way to make money and a lot of people fail to understand that, they are not willing to invest or put in the work, they don’t have a plan and most importantly they lack the passion, patience and dedication, look around every year at collection sales and this will give you an idea on how many people try and fail.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

This is not an easy and fast way to make money and a lot of people fail to understand that, they are not willing to invest or put in the work, they don’t have a plan and most importantly they lack the passion, patience and dedication, look around every year at collection sales and this will give you an idea on how many people try and fail.

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This right here.
There are so many people that are in it for a minute and don't realize how low the lows can be.

Have patience!
I mean I want to breed and collect ball pythons for a hobby, but I have been waiting a while just to breed?
Patience!:taz:

If you expect to make a profit or start a business out of Axanthics, Bees and Super Pastels


I think you miss understood what I meant, thats not what I only want to sell, thats just what I want to start with as far as hobby breeding goes. Those are just a couple of my favorite morphs and so i want to start breeding those.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scottman

If you expect to make a profit or start a business out of Axanthics, Bees and Super Pastels


I think you miss understood what I meant, thats not what I only want to sell, thats just what I want to start with as far as hobby breeding goes. Those are just a couple of my favorite morphs and so i want to start breeding those.

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Working with your favorites is fine having a business and making a profit (original question.) will require to know the market and invest smartly in animals.....all of them.

Bees, Super Pastels are hard to move and usually by the time you sell them if you do (the market is flooded) you will have spent more in overhead than what the animal will sell for.

If you want to start a busness (original question) you will need to make a major investment in much higher end animals.

Investments in this market pretty much mean cutting edge morphs... Clown morphs, Pied morphs, etc- all which could potentially run you $4-$5K+ each. Then you need to come up with some good pairings for them :)

Profits generated in year #3 here. Pretty much because I was investing $20- $25K a year in breeding stock. I am pretty much self sufficient on producing what I need for the future on my own now.

Consider breeding rats as well. If you don't, your rat bill will be $400-$500 a month easily. I have 165 breeder female rats and still had to spend $3000+ on rats I could not produce this season to feed my entire breeding stock and hatchlings.

Advertising, shows, website, etc, all add to the expenses.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the networking.

If people don't like you, and the general population don't have a good image of you, then it doesn't matter how carefully you've spelled out your business plan. You need to do a lot of meet-and-greet and be a decent sort of person EVEN WHEN someone is rude or says something you disagree with.

Your public image, and your contacts in the industry/hobby are almost as important as your animals. You already know that there are many other breeders, so you've got to stand out.

Also, I will double-down on the business plan. You need to KNOW what you will be doing next year, in two years, and even in five years. You can't just get some cool snakes and figure you'll breed some later on. You've got to KNOW, so that in 2 years when that prized female is big enough, you have the male ready to make the precise clutch you intended to make. You should have an idea what that female will produce for you each year for the next 4-5 years, because it might not be the same clutch each time. What will you hold back? Why? What purpose will it serve in the breeding program in 2 years?

Keep really precise records too. Have things written out and filed correctly. This is an area that I fail on ALL the time, but my pythons are a hobby. When I owned a business, I struggled all the time with the record-keeping end of it. I still struggle with it. Don't follow my example, because I can tell you it makes everything a royal pain.

I don't know a whole lot about the business myself, but I do try to get to know the market and especially the cost of production. A good website I found for just that is this: http://reptilestartup.com/cost-of-pr...ding-business/ now, this is for a hobby and not for a business, but I suspect some of the things can be put to good use.

I'm in the number 1 slot myself. I want to breed ball pythons but mainly so that I can get more snakes that I want to keep with the money from the snakes that I intend to sell. Work at a level that is comfortable and rewarding for you personally, and if you want to take it to the next level later you can always do so.

I think the best way to start up any business is to start small, figure out what is costing the most, then figure out ways to cut expenses. Better to do it on a small scale before scaling up to full blown production.

I'm actually just recently getting into breeding snakes, not just ball pythons but all snakes. I think it can be done and if you are thinking about it I'd say number one is don't get discouraged. The best place to start is to get a few snakes and work with them, grow the business slowly and get some experience under your belt.

I've been raising animals for profit for a long time, just recently got into snakes. From what I've done I've found that you have to be creative and think outside of the box, and typically most of my profits don't come from selling the animals. For example, some people will breed and sell rats as pets on the side, I don't do it but just that one revenue stream can pay for all of your snake supplies when starting up. Some people will buy a few snakes in bulk to get discounts, then resell them at shows to make a few bucks. Or maybe set up a booth at a show selling bedding and reptile supplies. There's all kinds of way to make extra money to support the business. You can also do education and presentations, but that takes a special outgoing social personality LOL.

With a rack of 20 tubs for 20 snakes I've learned a lot already. I'm always looking for ways to do things better and cut costs, it's really a part of the business. For me the thing that comes first is the health and welfare of the animals, I don't sacrifice that for saving a buck or two. In fact I usually will spend the extra money to keep the animals in the best shape I can. Then instead of looking for ways to cut costs I'll spend my time looking for ways to generate extra money, most people focus more on cutting costs than finding creative ways to generate revenue. You have to have a good balance of both approaches.

Something else to consider is that you REALLY have to be passionate about something to turn it into a successful business. Lot's of people try to make a hobby a business and once they see how much work is involved it's no longer fun as a hobby or a business. You can end up losing money big time and being turned off to something you used to love. It's a gamble. This is a small community when you think about it and it's already flooded with breeders. There are so many keepers that just want the best deal and don't even consider higher end animals. You really need to set yourself apart from everyone else that's providing the same thing you are.

Bump it!

Grace digging