The joys of breedng season

[llovelace]

I have noticed alot of posts about people wanting to begin breeding. While it is an exciting & joyous time, it's can also be a time of frustration & disappointment.

Last season I only had 4 clutches and bred my own asf feeders, this season I look to finish with 8 clutches. I currently have 13 new hatchlings along with another 7 in the incubator. that's 20 babies that will be on a 5 day feed schedule. Not to mention adding more rows to my hatchling rack.

I also have 11 holdback babies from the end of last season that are on weaners. Then there are the 32 adults to feed weekly.

I started breeding regular rats to keep up with the starting demand, and to cut down costs, but it looks like I will have to purchase more female breeders (the 12 I have aren't enough) .

Then there is the issue with your problem feeders, my 2 female bees would rather have a cuddle buddy than a meal.




and 2 other hatclings haven't quite figured out that they must strike & coil, before eating the prey, they just start to nom nom on the pinkie lol.

Then there are the older babies who like to do things like this




Did I mention that I Love every aspect of keeping these animals! even tub cleaning day, which seems daily with hatchlings.

I found something to help all you guys that are new to palpating

It works great, so if you are in a thrift store see if you can find a satin pair of gloves .

any whohow, I don't want to discourage anyone by any means, just want you to know what may lie ahead.

[Homegrownscales]

Yes the frustration can be overwhelming at times. I just had a clutch go bad at day 35 for no apparent reason. It was one of those I'm going to have a drink before I have a breakdown days.
But that's all part of the game we love to play.

Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

[llovelace]

I love the tokays!! Site looks good, I have been piddling with mine here & there for 6 months, and I'm still not finished lol

[RichsBallPythons]

This is why i aways Over breed to keep freezer full and then some.

I have few babies going on a month since hatching ot yet take a meal. Some are slowly coming around but it can be irritating since they are babies and need to eat.

One reason why people need to stop jumping into breeding like its cool. Its not something that is easy to take on like litters of rats,mice,dogs.

I feed roughly 160 rats a month, 50 mice a month and this is not including the extra food from babies hatching. I currently have 42 breeding female rats that are doing great job keeping freezer full, but the mice are up and down and constantly starting new groups hurts feeding schedules.

If your going to breed snakes, then you need to know what your getting into,have a established rodent colony that can support what your doing. Im not impressed with all the new wannabe breeders popping up like its a first way ticket to money. i dont accept the excuse i wanna do it for the experience.

My rant is over as its a irritating subject with all the fly by breeders coming around.

[adamjeffery]

nice tip about the gloves!!!!

[Shawnfireball]

im not gunna lie... the pic with the bees are pretty darn cute. but goodluck with everything else!