SD retic

[Sauzo]

I'd be surprised if you could get $750 for a hatchling as a new retic breeder in a very saturated market. Especially a couple years from now as prices will continue to drop for single gene morphs. Sure, that's what vital exotics roughly prices theirs at, but they are a very well established retic breeding operation with years of experience in breeding a variety of reptiles.
Also, your math is off. The babies will be 18.75% SD, 50% dwarf, 31.25% mainland with the parents percentages where they are. That's still got some serious growth potential and should be expected.
$3/large or xl rat is a freaking bargain price. And that's provided the OP has access to a rat breeder locally. Expect it to be at least double or even triple that price from a pet store which is a more likely scenario for most keepers. I pay $7-8 large and xl and where I'm moving an xl frozen rat is $8.99. Could order online but then there is the issue of having to order in large quantities and have a place to store a couple hundred dollars worth of feeders.
Not trying to knock ya, just being realistic about things.



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I'd be more surprised if he got $750 for a low percentage SD lavender albino not het anything. My guess on the price would be $300. Most people that buy SD want 50% or better. Caesar is 37.5% SD white albino tiger het snow and i got him for $400 but it was kind of a deal as the original snake i purchased had a pushed up nose so Kris didnt want to sell me it and it was his last one. So he upgraded me to Caesar for the same price. And Caesar is 31% mainland and he is 7' and 14 months old. He seems to have slowed down growing now as he hasnt shed in awhile.

Heck, you get a better deal on rats than me. I pay $10 for my jumbos. It costs me around $100 a month to feed my crew and thats not counting Harley the beardie who is a freakin hornworm junkie lol.

[jmcrook]

I'd be more surprised if he got $750 for a low percentage SD lavender albino not het anything. My guess on the price would be $300. Most people that buy SD want 50% or better. Caesar is 37.5% SD white albino tiger het snow and i got him for $400 but it was kind of a deal as the original snake i purchased had a pushed up nose so Kris didnt want to sell me it and it was his last one. So he upgraded me to Caesar for the same price. And Caesar is 31% mainland and he is 7' and 14 months old. He seems to have slowed down growing now as he hasnt shed in awhile.

Heck, you get a better deal on rats than me. I pay $10 for my jumbos. It costs me around $100 a month to feed my crew and thats not counting Harley the beardie who is a freakin hornworm junkie lol.

Turns out I was wrong about my jumbo rat price. $7.04 after tax. Not terrible for pet store prices but I think with prices being $9/xl where I'm moving to I'll spring for a small chest freezer and order in bulk several months worth of feeders. Will cut my feeding expenses at least in half if not down to 1/3 as much


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[Sauzo]

Turns out I was wrong about my jumbo rat price. $7.04 after tax. Not terrible for pet store prices but I think with prices being $9/xl where I'm moving to I'll spring for a small chest freezer and order in bulk several months worth of feeders. Will cut my feeding expenses at least in half if not down to 1/3 as much


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I keep saying I'm going to buy a small freezer chest too.....and i end up buying more snakes lol. Heck now i need to save up for my Gila. One day though, i will get a freezer chest haha.

[ShaneSilva]

Holy cow some of your feeding expenses would almost put me out of the hobby! I'm sure you already know but you could get a small 3-5 cu ft freezer brand new for $100-$150 if you have the space. Large/Xlarge rats are a lot cheaper in bulk I get them for about $1.70 each.

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[Zincubus]

Here's my SD Purple Albino Retic ... up in the branches as usual

For what it's worth Royals will also make the most of any branches . I get all mine from the local woods ..


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[cchardwick]

I bought my purple albino SD male from a guy that paid $950 for him. He gave me the original receipt. He bought it about 2 years ago. I don't see many SD retics for sale anywhere. I wouldn't mind getting another female with some more genes, I'm really excited about moving this project forward.

i also have an ARS rat breeder rack and have hundreds of rats in there. Takes me about an hour to clean all 20 tubs once or twice a week and I crank out hundreds of rats. It takes me only two minutes to top off the water and feeder trays every couple days. I have way more than I can use, I just threw 100 rats in the freezer last week and still have at least 100 more in the rack. I'd say I go through about $25 a month in rat food, and all the bedding is free shredded paper I get from work. That price also includes all my mouse breeding too, most snakes eat 1-4 rodents per week, some eat none LOL. some of my long thin King snakes prefer multiple pinky mice, and some I feed twice a week, especially when the come off of a fast.

I'd say it costs me about $1 per month per snake to feed them (50 pounds of food). Of course my rack was about $1,800 to buy new with shipping, but it pays off quick. I'd come out ahead selling rats at $3. I'd say overall it costs me about $25 to produce 100 rodents of various sizes, that includes at least 15 large or jumbo rats.

[Sauzo]

Holy cow some of your feeding expenses would almost put me out of the hobby! I'm sure you already know but you could get a small 3-5 cu ft freezer brand new for $100-$150 if you have the space. Large/Xlarge rats are a lot cheaper in bulk I get them for about $1.70 each.

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Haha tell me about it. Like i said, i got through about $100 a month for snake food. Then factor in Harley with her silk and horn worms at about $16 per 25 worms which she can easily polish off in 3 days....my pets cost more than me

[Sauzo]

I bought my purple albino SD male from a guy that paid $950 for him. He gave me the original receipt. He bought it about 2 years ago. I don't see many SD retics for sale anywhere. I wouldn't mind getting another female with some more genes, I'm really excited about moving this project forward.

i also have an ARS rat breeder rack and have hundreds of rats in there. Takes me about an hour to clean all 20 tubs once or twice a week and I crank out hundreds of rats. It takes me only two minutes to top off the water and feeder trays every couple days. I have way more than I can use, I just threw 100 rats in the freezer last week and still have at least 100 more in the rack. I'd say I go through about $25 a month in rat food, and all the bedding is free shredded paper I get from work. That price also includes all my mouse breeding too, most snakes eat 1-4 rodents per week, some eat none LOL. some of my long thin King snakes prefer multiple pinky mice, and some I feed twice a week, especially when the come off of a fast.

I'd say it costs me about $1 per month per snake to feed them (50 pounds of food). Of course my rack was about $1,800 to buy new with shipping, but it pays off quick. I'd come out ahead selling rats at $3. I'd say overall it costs me about $25 to produce 100 rodents of various sizes, that includes at least 15 large or jumbo rats.

You need to check the reptile classifieds or SD facebook pages. There are tons for sale. Bob Clark, Shannon Roepke, Vital Exotics(he is done for awhile atm), Reptile Ave with Daniel Solis and lots of others. SDs are far from rare. Just certain morphs are rare like there are no Cows or pied SDs yet but i have talked to a few people who have them planned for this year or next year.

The guy who paid $950 was 2 years ago. They have come down A LOT. Its like how pied BPs used to be 10k but now you can find male normal pieds for $350 all day long. Look at Scoria Boas. They were $20k from Henry Piorun a few years ago. Now you can get them for 7k. No one would pay $950 for a SD purple albino male that is het nothing nowadays. Heck i was going to buy a Platinum tiger 50% SD female off Shannon Roepke last year for $600. And thats a 2 gene animal.

Again, SDs arent rare. You just got to know where to look.

[cchardwick]

My SD purple albino retic male actually originated from Vital Exotics. And my female SD white albino retic came from Monster cages.com.

I figured the prices would drop like a rock, just like a lot of the ball pythons. Probably even more so since the retics have more eggs and you can move projects along a lot faster.

I'm starting to think you can make more money breeding and selling rodents compared to breeding snakes LOL. It's the same with my cows, I make more money selling hay than breeding and selling the cows LOLOL. But I couldn't imagine my life without all of my animals, it's more of a passion for me. As long as I can come out ahead a little bit and it's not a burden on the family financially then I'm happy.

My substrate costs me the most, right now I spend about $100 every six weeks on coconut husk substrate. I'm thinking of ordering a pallet of 100 blocks, it will cut that cost in half.

[Sauzo]

My SD purple albino retic male actually originated from Vital Exotics. And my female SD white albino retic came from Monster cages.com.

I figured the prices would drop like a rock, just like a lot of the ball pythons. Probably even more so since the retics have more eggs and you can move projects along a lot faster.

I'm starting to think you can make more money breeding and selling rodents compared to breeding snakes LOL. It's the same with my cows, I make more money selling hay than breeding and selling the cows LOLOL. But I couldn't imagine my life without all of my animals, it's more of a passion for me. As long as I can come out ahead a little bit and it's not a burden on the family financially then I'm happy.

My substrate costs me the most, right now I spend about $100 every six weeks on coconut husk substrate. I'm thinking of ordering a pallet of 100 blocks, it will cut that cost in half.

Thats pretty much true with any pet though. And something a lot of people dont realize. Buying the pet is a one time monetary payment but feeding said pet over 20-30 years is a 20-30 year payment lol. And that doesnt include all the other stuff it needs like toys, clothing, substrate/litter and vet bills.

As for substrate, i hear you. I now have three 6x3 and six 4x2 cages to keep clean and changed.