Question about breeding/selling BPs

[Gerardo]

I am currently in the (slow) process of building my collection for small time breeding projects. I plan on working with clown and pied combos. My concern is when its time to sell my first snakes i might have a tough time having people send over $1,000+ to somebody with no reputation.I dont plan on being a "breeder" I just cant keep every snake i produce. Should i start by breeding something a little less expensive so I can slowly build a reputation? What have been your experiences with this type of situation?

[DVirginiana]

Hm... It doesn't count as much as having a reputation for being a good breeder, but the fact that you've been on this forum and clearly active in the BP community for several years now based on your profile makes me trust you a lot more (and be willing to pay a bit more) than someone who I just saw putting up for-sale ads. Of course this is in some magical land where I have money for clown-pied BPs.

[Daigga]

My plans were to start fairly cheap. My first clutch is going to be a lesser bee x normal, and the next two females I'll have ready are a het albino and a cinnamon. I have some nice males and some bigger plans for the future, but it will be some time before I can produce anything that clears the 500$ range. I had the same thought you did about gaining reputation, but I'd be lying if I said my own budget didn't factor into the decision

I also decided to steer away from recessive projects for my start up (I do have the het female, but I haven't got a male to put with her). Mostly a personal choice, but I also had the thought of being an unknown breeder with a group of snakes I'm calling het or poss het and just not being able to get rid of them.

But hey, we all start somewhere, right? I'm taking a cautious route, but any way you go is up to you.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The way it is done is not by lowering your price but by earning a reputation. Earning a reputation starts by being knowledgeable, getting involved in the heel community and giving sound advice. This will help people to get know and respect you and once you start breeding it will help you with your sales.

How do I know? That is how I got started , I got involved in various online communities back in 2006 and when I hatched my first animals in 2008 people knew who I was already, it helped generate my first sales, and once I had few successful sales it only got easier from the point to build my reputation. I also never had issues selling hets even when I first got started.

Do bottom line get involved NOW

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[Eric Alan]

Very much agree with Deborah. I would sooner buy from a number of members on this site simply based on reputation alone (regardless of their perceived popularity elsewhere). Coming up on my two year anniversary here and working towards producing my first clutches this year, I'm hoping there are others that share my feelings.

[Mr. Misha]

Good question OP!

I've been wondering about that myself since I'm going to be focusing on breeding Pieds and will be getting 100% hets out of my clutch. From what I learned so far from the wonderful folks on this forum, I'll provide my buyers with a card that will have a picture of both parents as well the bought snake. If it's a het, then I'll provide a het guarantee.

I think it's very important to be professional and knowledgeable when selling any product so as long as you can do that it shouldn't matter what you're selling.

[JMBall's]

My plans were to start fairly cheap. My first clutch is going to be a lesser bee x normal, and the next two females I'll have ready are a het albino and a cinnamon. I have some nice males and some bigger plans for the future, but it will be some time before I can produce anything that clears the 500$ range. I had the same thought you did about gaining reputation, but I'd be lying if I said my own budget didn't factor into the decision

I also decided to steer away from recessive projects for my start up (I do have the het female, but I haven't got a male to put with her). Mostly a personal choice, but I also had the thought of being an unknown breeder with a group of snakes I'm calling het or poss het and just not being able to get rid of them.

But hey, we all start somewhere, right? I'm taking a cautious route, but any way you go is up to you.

If you do decide to ever fork out the money on even just a single visual recessive...everything you produce from non het pairings will be 100% het. No guess work. It really cuts down on your odds too. With a visual/het pair you can easily hit a visual your first season as you have a 50% chance instead of a 25% chance. With a visual/2 het trio if you don't hit one visual you have horrible luck. Haha

[JMBall's]

The way it is done is not by lowering your price but by earning a reputation. Earning a reputation starts by being knowledgeable, getting involved in the heel community and giving sound advice. This will help people to get know and respect you and once you start breeding it will help you with your sales.

How do I know? That is how I got started , I got involved in various online communities back in 2006 and when I hatched my first animals in 2008 people knew who I was already, it helped generate my first sales, and once I had few successful sales it only got easier from the point to build my reputation. I also never had issues selling hets even when I first got started.

Do bottom line get involved NOW

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Great advice. Try talking to some well respected breeders too. Most of them will readily answere your questions. If they see you have a passion for what you're doing many of these guys and gals will give you their shirt off their backs to help you out. They may offer you the chance of a lifetime too. Transparency is big in this business I think. Be up front about your genetics, take accurate records, keep your animals healthy (no "maintenance" feeding).

[Gerardo]

Thanks for the replies. I currently have a fire 66% het pied female and a clown female. I plan on getting another female clown and a visual pied combo female later this year. When the time comes to get some males they will both be visuals so the only hets i will produce will be from the fire female. I wouldnt feel very comfortable having to many hets starting off. I also have a yellowbelly female that i will be putting with my fire yellowbelly male when she is ready.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Also spend some time at your local reptile shows, just loiter and talk to people.
AND keep your close circle in mind, is one of them is viewed as the "bad guy" it can rub off on you too.