How many clutches for 1st time breeder?

First of all, I'm looking in to the future here. I definitely will not be breeding this coming season, so I have over a year to research & prepare, before I even attempt breeding. Basically my question is: how many clutches would you recommend a person try for in their first year breeding BPs?

Matthew has finally caught up to me in how excited & interested he is in the snakes, so suddenly it has become a realistic possibility to expand our collection by quite a bit all within this year. The upper limit of what we are looking at acquiring this year would leave us with a total of 2.10, although I think we'll probably stop a little short of that. I know it is unlikely that they will all get ready to breed the same year, and even if they do, it is likely they won't all actually lay eggs. But I wonder if I am insane to even consider the possibility of 10 clutches in our first year breeding.

What do you all think?

I think 10 clutches might be a little overwhelming your first year - let's say they "just" have 4 eggs each (being VERY conservative). Will you be prepared to house and feed 40 babies?

I just bred three clutches this year, my first year, and I'll have 14 babies, not counting babies from a couple of loans and I've got my hands full (but I am in just a one bedroom apartment). Most are already spoken for, but....I also won't let any leave until they are consistently feeding - and I've got some stubborn hold outs right now.

I would think four to five clutches would be a manageable number, maybe even less if you're just interested in getting your feet wet the first year.

It's great that you're taking time to get everything ready - and next year will sneak up on you before you know it!

Last year was my first year breeding. I bred 3 males to 10 females. I have viable clutches from 9 of them. I am looking at around 50 babies. It is a lot of work, but it totally worth it. I would just think about what you believe that you will be able to handle, and go with that.

Hope this helps.

the numbers go up quick qith each female bred. i tried to do one clutch this year but had no luck with it.

mouths to feed........thats definitely the biggest concern. If you have the rodents,space, and time, then go for it!

We did five females this year, usually 2 males. Of that 5, 3 laid eggs (a total of 18 eggs) and 1 more appears to be gravid from a late breeding, leaving 1 that did not take this year.

For us, being our first year with our own hatchlings, this was a nice manageable number. We had some previous experience with very young CH hatchlings last year so had faced some issues with non-feeders and having to assist and so forth. Just because a hatchling makes it out of the egg doesn't mean it's going to automatically eat and do well, so having these 18 hatchlings this year has been a nice, smaller introduction to breeding for our family.

Next year we are looking at having between 10 and 13 females ready to breed (and a number of male morphs) and I can tell you I'm already slightly hyperventilating about that number already LOL.

This year was my first year, I had 4 clutches (24 eggs) and to me that was enough, it gave me time to really enjoy it without being overloaded with work, in the same time it was not to overwhelming or stressful.

This was my first year. I bred 8 females, and got 6 good clutches. Plus I also bought 10 unstarted normal girls. I think that was good for me. If you know what your doing, 10 is do-able.:gj:

I say start with 2 or 3. Do what you feel comfortable with, and Expect MORE than what you want! you never know if those females are going to give you more than you bargained for :)

You can always add a few on each year after, until you feel comfy.

My advice would be to start with rodents and work backwards. Figuring in how many rats/mice you'll need to keep to feed the hatchlings and then determine how many females to breed to produce that many hatchlings (figuring 6 eggs per female).

I know for me that has been a determining factor year to year. It seems the number of females I decide to breed is usually based on the number of rodents I can/want to maintain to get the hatchlings started :)

If rat pinks and hoppers are a non-issue (commercially accessible) then I'd say 3-6 females is around where to start. You can usually figure 1/2 will produce for sure but sometimes more.

Bottomline is to do whatever you are comfortable with and go from there. Just try not to over extend yourself.

Hope that helps!

I was a first time breeder this year. Just one clutch for me, 9 babies is quite enough to worry about for my first time around. Yet, I'm not on any fast track to become a big time breeder or anything.

If you get ten girls who throw big clutches like my girl did this year... you might be a little overwhelmed.

I did 6 my first season and didn't have any issues but then again I produce my rodents and had the space.

I produced 3 clutches my first season. It was a good amount to learn with, without being overwelming. I advise you don't jump in too deep to fast. You might burn out!

Justin

I tried three this year, and told my self from the start it was a "practice" year. 2 of my 3 produced a total of 9 babies. It was plenty of work trying to keep track of there sheds and locks and follicles and seemed like plenty of work at the time. Probably could have handled more but think I did just enough to be completely stoked about this coming year and learned enough that I shouldn't have to be on the phone to my 3 favorite breeders begging for some reassurance that everything is going okay.

I just realized I never replied to this thread. Oops. That isn't because I haven't been reading all the replies multiple times and thinking about it. It is probably safe to say that I'm way to close to obsessing about it for something that is still more than a year away! :oops:

I really appreciate all the input everyone gave! You all definitely gave me plenty to think about on both sides of the fence, which is perfect for helping us come to the conclusion that is right for us.

I'm going to respond to a few of the posts that were most useful to me and/or pointed out things I hadn't already thought of.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

This year was my first year, I had 4 clutches (24 eggs) and to me that was enough, it gave me time to really enjoy it without being overloaded with work, in the same time it was not to overwhelming or stressful.

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The wording here, "time to enjoy it without being overloaded", really hit me. I think that by the time I start breeding, I probably could handle 10 clutches, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it more if I start with a smaller number. Thanks for pointing that out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jkobylka

I produced 3 clutches my first season. It was a good amount to learn with, without being overwelming. I advise you don't jump in too deep to fast. You might burn out!

Justin

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A different angle on what Deborah said, but just as important. Again, I think I probably will be able to handle 10 clutches by the time I start breeding, but that doesn't mean it won't be stressful to attempt it. No need to burn myself out!

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Originally Posted by jonf

mouths to feed........thats definitely the biggest concern. If you have the rodents,space, and time, then go for it!

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Rodents, space, time. That pretty much sums it up, I think. Breeding 10 females will require a lot of all 3. By then I expect to have moved in to a bigger house with a dedicated snake room, have my own rodent colony, and since I'm a stay-at-home mom I do have a reasonable amount of time. Plus by then my kids who already help with the animals will be more mature and able to help quite a bit. Stuff to think about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jpman78

My advice would be to start with rodents and work backwards. Figuring in how many rats/mice you'll need to keep to feed the hatchlings and then determine how many females to breed to produce that many hatchlings (figuring 6 eggs per female).

I know for me that has been a determining factor year to year. It seems the number of females I decide to breed is usually based on the number of rodents I can/want to maintain to get the hatchlings started :)

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I love this "do the math backwards" approach. Instead of planning on breeding a bunch of females and then trying to figure out how to get the rodent colony big enough to support it and/or finding outside sources to pick up the slack, it does make a lot of sense to figure out how many hatchlings you can handle with the number of rodents you have/will have/want to have. Thanks for suggesting this approach!

Thanks again to everyone for all the input!

its all about time, space and $$. the sky is the limit.

it was my first year this year and i had 2 clutches. 11 hatchlings. i think from here on out i would like to average 4-5 clutches.

We tried one this year and actually witnessed several locks. We saw signs that looked like follical growth, but no luck on any eggs. :( Next year it looks we will have 2 virgin normals, 1 proven breeder normal, an Albino, and a het Axanthic up to age and size to breed. Possibly our bee, a blond pastel, and a het albino might make it as well. We should be trying 5 to 8 girls this time around and hopefully we get to go through the whole thing. On a side note the rat breeding is going wild. We are having litters of babies several times a week and my wife and I want to expand, but we are waiting until we get moved to the location of my new job before we start building more rat racks and snake enclosures. We did get to experience new borns this year when we got 2 at a reptile show. The breeder said they had eaten, but we doubted it considering one was 50 some grams and the other 46 grams. The smaller of the two ended up needing force fed to get her going, but now she is another weed in the garden! :D

I would say that 2.10 is not too difficult to handle. I would expect about 80% of the girls to lay eggs each year but the first year will likely be lower due to the stress of being re-homed.

Just remember to quarantine them for 3-6 months. Have lots of rack and incubator space available and cross your fingers.

Richard

When I intend to breed my corns this upcoming season, it will hopefully be a max of 2 clutches.
When I breed ball pythons for the first time, no more than 2-3 clutches at all.