What do you do with hatchlings?

[Bobsean]

I see that everyone here who participates in breeding have beautiful snakes and tons of plans for future breeding projects. Now, my question is what do you do with all of your hatchlings? I know the odds behind breeding, and that for every morph there are plenty of normals hatched. What do most of you do with the plethora of snakes that you have no need for? Do you give them away? Send them to pet stores or what?

I ask because I would like to breed my pastel and normal ball python some day and there is not much on this subject here in the forums.

-Sean-

[mainbutter]

I assume you're talking about snakes that don't get sold off a breeder's own website or sold/traded at shows. For many breeders, many snakes are either holdbacks or are sold directly to other people in the hobby.

There are many places that purchase "extra"(male normals for example) unwanted ball pythons, bulk dealers and pet store suppliers and such. Heck on a small scale you could probably find buyers no problem through local classifieds or online pet trade/selling websites.

[mechnut450]

i adopted out the first clutch of eggs I hatched last year they weer all normals, of course at the time it was an unplanned breeding, I ifgure the breeding happen about the tiem i got th sdnakes the guy kept them to gether and all. I hadthem a week or 2 and end up treating the entire reptile room for mites I managed to transport some from on me from one room to the the other and so I placed them in pillow cases and fumagated he entrie room (cages and all) . I broke my qt proccess doing so since i only had 2 room I can keep snakes in safely. and it also possible they breed then ( again ) but about 5-6 weekds later I had eggs os it hardto say.


As for when I breed my het pieds the possible hets will go out as normals, and any pieds will be decided when they hatch.. Most likey the ph will be adopted out...

[Nate]

I've adopted out a few of my first babies.

[Wh00h0069]

It is best to sell them locally to either pet stores or people in your area. I sold most of my normals last season from anywhere between $10 and $20 to local buyers. I sold a few to pet stores. I called a lot of pet stores, but most was not interested. They can buy captive hatched for a few bucks a piece, so why buy from local breeders for more? I did sell a few females for $40. I also sold a few over the net, and shipped them, but shipping cost quite a bit more than the snakes.

Good luck!

[Bobsean]

Excellent responses, It appears that adopting out the snakes you can't keep is the best option. However, It would seem that I should be prepared to keep the babies for a while depending on how fast i can find homes for them.

Thanks for the enlightenment!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I only had 4 clutches last year but I heldback 6 individuals, sold 13 normals and possible hets on Kijiji.com, and gave 2 possible hets away.

[PythonWallace]

I plan for, and am prepared to keep them all. I offer them for sale if I am not holding them back to breed myself, but if you breed anything, I think one of the most important aspects to think about is the exact question you asked. The only realistic answer is that you have to be prepared and able to keep them and take care of them for an indeterminate amount of time, until someone decides to buy them from you. Most times, it is much cheaper to give them away than it is to keep them for even a few months. The normals on my website have been "maintenance fed", but will still end up costing me hundreds of dollars once they all all sold and I subtract the selling prices from the cost of caring for them.

Some options to get rid of them before they cost you a lot of money is to start asking local school science teachers if they would want a free snake to have in the classroom, or to give them away to anyone on Craigslist who can show that they have the knowledge and ability to care for one. Once they are eating consistently and putting on weight, bring them to their new homes.