new interest in snakes, trying to learn.

[smoothnobody]

It sounds like you have no idea or care what you own/breed as long as you can make a profit. That sounds like a recipe for disaster. I'd say you need to own a few different species of reptiles and keep them for awhile to see what this is all about. Plus it takes time to gain a reputation to be able to sell reptiles and I think you'll need some time to show you have the experience before you can successfully sell the offspring.

a fair assumption. there is a little truth to your assumption, but to believe money is my only interest would be a gross misunderstanding. it's true that i won't buy something that doesn't command a high price. but my personal interest will be a the biggest factor. i was originally calling the different colors/patterns sub-species. i believe they are called morphs. so many of them are striking and beautiful. i can totally see myself getting carried away with the collection. more than i am concerned about the money, i want to make sure i am properly caring for them. in my mind i feel like i have to give them some one on one time or find ways to enrich their lives. i'm not sure how well i can do that with dozens of snakes. anyways, the point that i am trying to make is money is a factor, but it's not the only factor. i want to give them a good life too.

[smoothnobody]

You have to feed what the animal will eat. Fish, eggs, rabbits etc....)

Why not start out with a corn snake or king snake?

(As a new beginner why would you be thinking about breeding yet. You might get the animals and decide keeping them is not for you? You would not be ready to deal with bitey babies.

Summery. Don't breed yet! Learn and grow. GTP (green tree pythons) are not for beginners. Get an established adult and learn a few years with 1 animal before grabbing a few animals.

haven't heard about fish and eggs yet. thanks.

i have seen some super high priced corn snakes, but to be honest they haven't really caught my attention like the balls and trees have. i didn't know corns can get 6FT. was assuming they are all little tiny things.

to be honest, i see dollar signs. i know that sounds terrible. but that's honestly the main reason i am thinking about breeding so early. i've listened to people talk about how rewarding it is to have your animals produce a healthy clutch and to see them push their way out of their shell. these aspects interest me as well. seeing them come to life sounds awesome. i can totally see myself being infatuated with the tiny things. i'm not going to jump in recklessly only thinking about dollar signs. but i am trying to look a few steps ahead and consider if this can be a viable business.

kinda bummed to hear you tell me tree pythons are not for beginners. the red green and yellow morphs are awesome. i really want them. if you don't mind, can you elaborate a little more on why you don't recommend trees? i can deal with attitude. to be frank i would respect a little attitude. as far as biting i'm pretty sure i can handle it. i'm pretty rough with my cat and she tears the heck out of my hand. i'm sure i'll be a little scary getting bit the first few times but i doubt it would be a deterrent. i'm not made of paper.

[Skyrivers]

How long is it OK to handle them? I do shows and some of mine are out almost 5 hours at a time but are established and well known for being easy. I did the research and put in the time.

Sent from my N9560 using Tapatalk

[Skyrivers]

haven't heard about fish and eggs yet. thanks.

i have seen some super high priced corn snakes, but to be honest they haven't really caught my attention like the balls and trees have. i didn't know corns can get 6FT. was assuming they are all little tiny things.

It is not about the money here. It is about you getting experience and gaining knowledge. You need both.

to be honest, i see dollar signs. i know that sounds terrible. but that's honestly the main reason i am thinking about breeding so early. i've listened to people talk about how rewarding it is to have your animals produce a healthy clutch and to see them push their way out of their shell. these aspects interest me as well. seeing them come to life sounds awesome. i can totally see myself being infatuated with the tiny things. i'm not going to jump in recklessly only thinking about dollar signs. but i am trying to look a few steps ahead and consider if this can be a viable business.

At the end of the day they are living animals and should be treated as such. Having a plan for their health or emergency plan for heat or cooling etc is vital and they deserve to be treated as an animal not as a pair of shoes.

kinda bummed to hear you tell me tree pythons are not for beginners. the red green and yellow morphs are awesome. i really want them. if you don't mind, can you elaborate a little more on why you don't recommend trees? i can deal with attitude. to be frank i would respect a little attitude. as far as biting i'm pretty sure i can handle it. i'm pretty rough with my cat and she tears the heck out of my hand. i'm sure i'll be a little scary getting bit the first few times but i doubt it would be a deterrent. i'm not made of paper.

Once again, you need to do research. They have large teeth. Most are display animals only. Some calm as they age. The Red and Yellows are babies. They turn mostly green as they age.

http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care...n-Tree-Python/

Good read here. Please be smart about the things you choose.

[smoothnobody]

It is not about the money here. It is about you getting experience and gaining knowledge. You need both.
i know, but mr snakes was mentioning my motivation being money and i wanted to respond honestly. it's not my sole interest, but it is an interest.

At the end of the day they are living animals and should be treated as such. Having a plan for their health or emergency plan for heat or cooling etc is vital and they deserve to be treated as an animal not as a pair of shoes.
100% agreed. "emergency" heating or cooling isn't something i have thought about yet. how does that work?

http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care...n-Tree-Python/
thanks for the link.

[MR Snakes]

haven't heard about fish and eggs yet. thanks.

i have seen some super high priced corn snakes, but to be honest they haven't really caught my attention like the balls and trees have. i didn't know corns can get 6FT. was assuming they are all little tiny things.

to be honest, i see dollar signs. i know that sounds terrible. but that's honestly the main reason i am thinking about breeding so early. i've listened to people talk about how rewarding it is to have your animals produce a healthy clutch and to see them push their way out of their shell. these aspects interest me as well. seeing them come to life sounds awesome. i can totally see myself being infatuated with the tiny things. i'm not going to jump in recklessly only thinking about dollar signs. but i am trying to look a few steps ahead and consider if this can be a viable business.

kinda bummed to hear you tell me tree pythons are not for beginners. the red green and yellow morphs are awesome. i really want them. if you don't mind, can you elaborate a little more on why you don't recommend trees? i can deal with attitude. to be frank i would respect a little attitude. as far as biting i'm pretty sure i can handle it. i'm pretty rough with my cat and she tears the heck out of my hand. i'm sure i'll be a little scary getting bit the first few times but i doubt it would be a deterrent. i'm not made of paper.

Just this post is evidence that when it comes to breeding you need to, "Wo the wagon train down" a bit. I joined here 7 weeks ago. Have been all over this place, attended a show and am on my second book about BP's and I feel like I've just scratched the surface. I've just started reading about genetics in snakes and if that's not enough to make your head spin then I don't what is! I don't plan on buying our first 3 snakes (for me and my 2 boys) until the Fall. I'm probably waaaaay overboard with this research but I'm the kind of person that wants to avoid 98% of the problems that can occur with snake ownership, or at least know what to do. To me it is not a long time when you consider how long your snake(s) will live (20+ years). It bothers me to see so many new threads here that basically say, "Just got a new snake, now what do I do???".

As best as I can see so far, this snake and breeding thing is a marathon, not a sprint. With how long snakes live, and with the 10,000 things that can go wrong and things to watch for with breeding, one must proceed cautiously or not be surprised and panic when problems occur.

So my advice.....go get a nice coffee pot, maybe a Barc-a Lounger or Lazy Boy and a nice end table. Scour these useful threads, then ask questions....all the while playing Word Association and Add One, Drop One and call me in the morning. Let me know where to send the bill.

[smoothnobody]

when it comes to breeding you need to, "Wo the wagon train down" a bit.
i'm not sure what this means exactly, i'm assuming you mean slow down. i'm not going to lose my head. probably gonna start with 2 female balls. give them 1-2 years of growth. if i took good care of them and still interested in breeding i will buy 1 male.

It bothers me to see so many new threads here that basically say, "Just got a new snake, now what do I do???".
that won't be me.

Let me know where to send the bill.
a rookie sending bills? how cute.

[Cheesenugget]

I do not recommend Underground Reptiles. I was a repeating customer of theirs for a year or so but no more. I had visited their shop almost weekly. Their feeders look terrible, animals are overpriced, and the staff is incompetent to the point where I had to step in numerous times to correct their husbandry advice given to a naive customer.

I highly recommend Dynasty Reptiles. I have looked into BHB but never purchased one from him. I have heard his facility has improved in terms of ridding of mites and staff is more responsive. I like Manhattan Reptiles/Olympus Reptiles. The owner makes a lot of YouTube vids as well so you can see his snakes and how they are kept. I like his way of caring for his snakes, the quality of his snakes and how blunt honest he is as well.

With that said, if you want to breed ball pythons, check out Olympus Reptiles video on breeding. If I recall correctly, he mentioned the start up costs can be about $10k if you want to do this seriously and correctly. It is not for someone who wants to dabble into lightly.

Breeding holds a high responsibility on your part. You are adding more to a market filled to the brim with ball pythons. You are adding more to those who are already trying to re home their current bp. It has nothing to do with love for animals if one is to breed just cause. I don't believe in unnecessary suffering. Your lack of experience can count into your inability to know how to and when to feed babies who won't eat, cut the eggs only when absolutely needed to or incubate in the correct temps using the right substrate. Many of these things are learned trial and error but many learn them by knowing what to look for to begin with. Thus, your lack of experience can hurt the animals you claim to love, and no book or forum or WebMD will cure that.

[55fingers]

Do know that a lot of breeders don't end up making much or any money back. A lot of them just lose money by becoming breeders.

I definetly recommend getting a baby BP and when it's old enough to breed then make your decision.

You say you love animals so much, but also consider would you have the heart to cull deformed snakes or pre-kill your own rats for picky eaters? This is why I would have a hard time being a breeder.

[JRLongton]

to be honest, i see dollar signs. i know that sounds terrible. but that's honestly the main reason i am thinking about breeding so early ... but i am trying to look a few steps ahead and consider if this can be a viable business.

Allow this humble novice to respectfully suggest that breeding snakes is not a viable business at all, and for a number of reasons.

I know there are those four and even five figure animals out there. Those animals are rare and difficult to produce. Breeders are working with genetics, which is a just a numbers game. As in any numbers game, you lose a lot more often than you win but hope that the wins will balance out the losses.

In order to produce those few with highly desirable traits, you would need to maintain a fairly large number of animals, meaning anywhere from 30 (at a base minimum) to hundreds. Think of the cost of buying racks to house even 30 pythons, then the cost to feed them. With my local prices, I estimate it costing $45 per week to feed 30 animals, that's $180 per month. And, that's a smaller breeding operation.

That's just the cost side of the equation. Then there's the upkeep and maintenance, the real snake keeping. How do you feel about spending your days cleaning poop, scrubbing water bowels, and occasionally getting bitten?

We haven't even gotten to experience. Not just anyone can breed snakes and there is more to snake keeping than most people realize. To actually breed the animals, incubate their eggs and have a successful hatching of live snakelets, that takes skill and talent that can only be acquired from experience.

Can you make money breeding snakes, sure. But, there are a lot of easier, less stressful, less time consuming, and more lucrative hobbies out there!

Snake breeding is best for people who are passionate about the animals. People who can get pooped on, bitten, and then move to the next rack with a smile on their face. You don't know if you're that person yet. I hope you find out, and I sincerely hope that you are.

I'm just an amateur and I don't breed. But I would suggest you start small. Get yourself one female BP, or corn snake, king snake, or hognose (they seem up and coming). Get one with desirable traits, something that can be bred to produce desirable offspring. Spend some time in the hobby, learn through experience. Snake keeping is a practice.

If you enjoy the hobby you can get more and then maybe start breeding. If on the other hand you find that teeth hurt and snake poop stinks, you can easily sell a desirable female to a hobby breeder.

I hope you do enjoy it though, cause I love it. Good luck in all things.