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  1. #21
    BPnet Veteran Moose84's Avatar
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by KSballer View Post
    Brand new breeder here. We just picked up a breeding size male and female a few days ago. Should we go ahead and pair them up or wait a bit, get them settled in and get a couple meals? The girl hasn’t taken food yet and we haven’t offered to the male yet. Female was paired for the first time last year but didn’t go. Male just got up to size this year.
    The ONLY and I mean ONLY time I would ever do what you are thinking about doing is if:

    1.) It was someone within my current network of breeders (when I say this I mean people whom I have been in their facilities and have purchased MULTIPLE animals off them) and BOTH animals came from them. I also wouldn't buy them right as the season starts either.. This screams "lets not miss out on this season.. Thats 500 dollars a snake..." Unfortunately it doesn't work like that.

    2.) They were properly QT'd together in the same space and were both on food for a couple months.. Buying females and males this time of the year, changing their environments completely and then pairing them would be terrible for the animal and would more than likely not produce you anything anyway.

    Now with the honesty out of the way I would say 100% NO. Do you understand the environment that hatchlings have to be kept in and how finicky they can be? I would probably learn how to keep adults and sub-adults before you jump into hatchlings. You will more than likely end up killing them if you were lucky enough to get a clutch.

    Facebook messenger for a vet recommendation at the last minute will more than likely be a waste of money as you will get a vet who probably knows as much or less than you do about the animal after keeping them for 3 months. Yes. I know that sounds scary but it's true.

    Just curious, how big is the female you are looking to breed?(grams) When was she hatched?

  2. #22
    BPnet Veteran Moose84's Avatar
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by DandD View Post
    I think you may have seen prices of snakes and immediately thought your average joe would pay that price for your snakes. Even if you can produce high end morphs, people are not going to buy them from a no name breeder. Just hop on Craigslist and see how many thousand hobby breeders trying to make a quick buck there are. Do yourself a favor, save yourself the time and the money and enjoy your snakes.

    This post is loaded with truth. Making money on snakes your first 2 months ranks up there with winning the lottery. One of the best breeders I know has been doing this for 10 years and he is barely profitable. Now you would probably say.. "How the hell is he not profitable after ten years?" Because he is doing it RIGHT in my opinion. Never rushes things, builds his brand and focuses on EXCELLENT customers service. When you go to a show he has the best set up there and he is constantly re-investing in his business. Soon he will take off and I will be happy to say I have purchased a lot of my collection from him.

    I got my first BP when I was 12.. I had no clue what I was doing and had to end up surrendering it. 4 years ago my son wanted one and I pulled the trigger. I had learned from the mistakes I made years prior and really dedicated myself to learning about the animals and the proper ways of housing them and caring for them. I will make my first pairing THIS DECEMBER if that tells you anything and its only one pairing.. Both of them I have raised since juveniles or hatchlings..

    I'll finish by saying it's normal progression to want to breed the animals, i get it.. But there is a lot you probably don't know at this point and I can spend an hour listing out things you will run into. You will end up severely frustrated and the animal will suffer the consequences..

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to Moose84 For This Useful Post:

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  4. #23
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by KSballer View Post
    Guess I’d better make a good name then. There seems to be an awful lot of beginner info here to be telling hobby breeders to go away just because they aren’t VPI or NERD. Solid advice though. I’ll definitely consider your opinion.
    No one is saying that. What we are saying is that the herp world is very small and if you start off with pairing critters you just purchased before they have cleared QT, word will get around very quickly and you will torpedo your reputation before you hatch out your first clutch.

    Before you start pairing your snakes you should have already have in place:
    Incubator + high quality proportional thermostat, tested
    Hatchling rack + thermostat, tested
    Contact info for an exotics vet, hopefully one with 24/7 emergency hours so when you find your female is egg bound on Saturday night you don't have to wait until Monday morning to get treatment for her.

  5. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to bcr229 For This Useful Post:

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  6. #24
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by Moose84 View Post
    The ONLY and I mean ONLY time I would ever do what you are thinking about doing is if:

    1.) It was someone within my current network of breeders (when I say this I mean people whom I have been in their facilities and have purchased MULTIPLE animals off them) and BOTH animals came from them. I also wouldn't buy them right as the season starts either.. This screams "lets not miss out on this season.. Thats 500 dollars a snake..." Unfortunately it doesn't work like that.

    2.) They were properly QT'd together in the same space and were both on food for a couple months.. Buying females and males this time of the year, changing their environments completely and then pairing them would be terrible for the animal and would more than likely not produce you anything anyway.

    Now with the honesty out of the way I would say 100% NO. Do you understand the environment that hatchlings have to be kept in and how finicky they can be? I would probably learn how to keep adults and sub-adults before you jump into hatchlings. You will more than likely end up killing them if you were lucky enough to get a clutch.

    Facebook messenger for a vet recommendation at the last minute will more than likely be a waste of money as you will get a vet who probably knows as much or less than you do about the animal after keeping them for 3 months. Yes. I know that sounds scary but it's true.

    Just curious, how big is the female you are looking to breed?(grams) When was she hatched?
    I meant a Facebook message away from finding a vet in that there are a few trustworthy local breeders I can contact and ask for a recommendation. They have been super helpful so far in telling me who to avoid and who they recommend as far as where to get hatchlings.

    The female we have is around 1460g. I can’t remember when the breeder said she was hatched but said he paired her up for the first time last year but she didn’t go. I want to say she was a ‘15 hatchling. I’ll have to message him again.

  7. #25
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by bcr229 View Post
    No one is saying that. What we are saying is that the herp world is very small and if you start off with pairing critters you just purchased before they have cleared QT, word will get around very quickly and you will torpedo your reputation before you hatch out your first clutch.

    Before you start pairing your snakes you should have already have in place:
    Incubator + high quality proportional thermostat, tested
    Hatchling rack + thermostat, tested
    Contact info for an exotics vet, hopefully one with 24/7 emergency hours so when you find your female is egg bound on Saturday night you don't have to wait until Monday morning to get treatment for her.
    This was what was making me apprehensive. I didn’t want to rush putting everything together in a month and potentially run into issues with no time to troubleshoot. Especially because my router crapped out on me after I built our current rack. The title even shows my hesitation lol. I was glad to be reassured that we wait. I probably would have, regardless. I do appreciate al of the advice I have gotten in this thread. It felt like everyone went for the throat at first but I understand the reason to nip something in the bud before someone puts animals at risk.

    I spent an afternoon designing racks to be built that we can grow into, and we do already have an “incubator-to-be”. I feel much more comfortable waiting, learning, and acquiring space and experience.

  8. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to KSballer For This Useful Post:

    bcr229 (11-21-2019),Craiga 01453 (11-21-2019),dr del (11-23-2019),Gemini Pythons (12-30-2019),wnateg (11-21-2019)

  9. #26
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    This is my first year breeding and I've had ball pythons for 6 years and I still learn something new everyday.

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  11. #27
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    What other people have said about starting small is absolutely true. My boyfriend and I kept bps for two years before moving into breeding them, and even then, we started SMALL with just six high quality, single gene animals. We bought them all as hatchlings, so it wasn't until three years later that we could even being pairing. We found a respected local breeder willing to mentor us through the process so we could also learn from his experience, and I'd recommend everyone try to do something like that if they're able to.

    Interestingly, he was mentoring someone else around the same time. The other man he was mentoring went out and bought a TON of snakes, all with multiple genes, many as proven breeders so he could start right away. Four or five years down the road, and that guy has sold his collection for dirt cheap and is out of the hobby. Our mentor told us he wasn't surprised because he advised him against breeding too many snakes and/or more expensive morphs when starting out, but the guy went ahead and did it anyway. Our mentor was right. No one wanted to buy from him because he had no reputation (just a random guy suddenly appearing at our local reptile show selling expensive snakes).

    On the other hand, we're still going strong and growing every year! In the time that we were raising up our snakes, we were volunteering at our local expo to meet people, and learning more and more. It is hard being patient, but it really pays off! At this point, we basically sell every clutch within a month of their hatching, and have been able to invest in some of the fancier morphs we fell in love with with we got into the hobby! I'm glad to hear you're going to wait to breed your snakes. If you can wait longer than a year, I'd recommend it! There is so much to learn in this hobby and your customers will get more from it and be better keepers themselves when you have more experience to share :-)

  12. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Gemini Pythons For This Useful Post:

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  13. #28
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gemini Pythons View Post
    What other people have said about starting small is absolutely true. My boyfriend and I kept bps for two years before moving into breeding them, and even then, we started SMALL with just six high quality, single gene animals. We bought them all as hatchlings, so it wasn't until three years later that we could even being pairing. We found a respected local breeder willing to mentor us through the process so we could also learn from his experience, and I'd recommend everyone try to do something like that if they're able to.

    Interestingly, he was mentoring someone else around the same time. The other man he was mentoring went out and bought a TON of snakes, all with multiple genes, many as proven breeders so he could start right away. Four or five years down the road, and that guy has sold his collection for dirt cheap and is out of the hobby. Our mentor told us he wasn't surprised because he advised him against breeding too many snakes and/or more expensive morphs when starting out, but the guy went ahead and did it anyway. Our mentor was right. No one wanted to buy from him because he had no reputation (just a random guy suddenly appearing at our local reptile show selling expensive snakes).

    On the other hand, we're still going strong and growing every year! In the time that we were raising up our snakes, we were volunteering at our local expo to meet people, and learning more and more. It is hard being patient, but it really pays off! At this point, we basically sell every clutch within a month of their hatching, and have been able to invest in some of the fancier morphs we fell in love with with we got into the hobby! I'm glad to hear you're going to wait to breed your snakes. If you can wait longer than a year, I'd recommend it! There is so much to learn in this hobby and your customers will get more from it and be better keepers themselves when you have more experience to share :-)
    Great reply!!!

    If I'm being honest, I suggest people wait even longer than you did. But you certainly went about it the right way. Huge kudos to you!!!

    Thanks for sharing, that story truly points out what so many of us warn others about. Diving in head first may seem fun, but in the long run it's not good for anybody involved or the animals.

    Again, thanks for sharing and congrats on your success!!!

  14. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Craiga 01453 For This Useful Post:

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  15. #29
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by Craiga 01453 View Post
    Great reply!!!

    If I'm being honest, I suggest people wait even longer than you did. But you certainly went about it the right way. Huge kudos to you!!!

    Thanks for sharing, that story truly points out what so many of us warn others about. Diving in head first may seem fun, but in the long run it's not good for anybody involved or the animals.

    Again, thanks for sharing and congrats on your success!!!
    Thanks so much!! :-) Honestly, without a mentor I can't imagine getting into breeding. Maybe nowadays it's a bit different with youtube being so huge, but it's still not a substitute for getting to ask someone something directly. Sadly, he has since passed away, and there are still times we wish he was still around for a second opinion. You really never stop learning in this hobby!

    People jumping into breeding makes me so sad for the animals. We've met so many people who have no reptiles, but maybe just a little experience from a pet they had as a child, offering us money for our adults (who we don't sell. They're our pets first) so they can start breeding asap. We've told this story to them, had them smile and nod and agree... Only to email us a week later with pics of snakes they bought off Craigslist, asking us what morph we think they are and what babies they would get when they start pairing them. It's heartbreaking.

    OP, it's good that you've asked if you guys should wait. I really hope you will! It's such a fun, rewarding hobby, but it really is one that requires a ton of patience with the waiting game.

  16. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Gemini Pythons For This Useful Post:

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  17. #30
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    Re: New snakes. Should we wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gemini Pythons View Post
    Thanks so much!! :-) Honestly, without a mentor I can't imagine getting into breeding. Maybe nowadays it's a bit different with youtube being so huge, but it's still not a substitute for getting to ask someone something directly. Sadly, he has since passed away, and there are still times we wish he was still around for a second opinion. You really never stop learning in this hobby!

    People jumping into breeding makes me so sad for the animals. We've met so many people who have no reptiles, but maybe just a little experience from a pet they had as a child, offering us money for our adults (who we don't sell. They're our pets first) so they can start breeding asap. We've told this story to them, had them smile and nod and agree... Only to email us a week later with pics of snakes they bought off Craigslist, asking us what morph we think they are and what babies they would get when they start pairing them. It's heartbreaking.

    OP, it's good that you've asked if you guys should wait. I really hope you will! It's such a fun, rewarding hobby, but it really is one that requires a ton of patience with the waiting game.
    Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry to hear of his passing. And you're right, there's no substitute for hands on learning or having someone to speak to directly who is familiar with you and your particular situation. YouTube is a fantastic resource, but people need to be really careful cause there's as much bullplop on there as there is quality info. So it's so important to cross reference and actually have someone to answer your specific questions. So I'm so sorry for your loss.
    Luckily there are some fantastic breeders here on the forum that I'm sure would be happy to offer advice if you had questions. Not quite a substitute for a mentor, but helpful nonetheless.

    Best of luck to you moving forward. You've come to a great place with some fantastic people and resources.

  18. The Following User Says Thank You to Craiga 01453 For This Useful Post:

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