I need some reassurance here..

[LadyOhh]

So what do you do when you have 1,000 snakes? Work just to feed them? What about feeding your family? What about putting your kids through college? By the way I'm open for free handouts. Obviously people are miss reading this thread. When I originally posted it, I asked how many of you have snakes that are paying for themselves not how many of you are rich because of it. I took this hobby up because of the killer snakes that are coming out of it not because of the money, but if I can have these snakes pay for themselves while I'm on the road to making some of them then great. When I say pay for themselves I mean make just enough to feed, house, and care for them(e.g. vet bills, cleaning solutions, substrate etc.). My wife and I make great money aside from anything else. Even if I was making miilions at this I would never quit my day job.

If you were making millions in BPs, you would HAVE to quit your day job.

It takes a lot of work, dedication, and time.

You can have the snakes pay for themselves. You absolutely can.

But you have to work at it. And work HARD.

Just because what people are telling you isn't necessarily what you want to hear, it is all valid and in tune with what you are asking.

Yes, you can make money doing this.

Heck, you can make money shovelling manure if you work hard enough at it.

Its the dedication, drive, passion and love for what you do that makes it worth while, not anything else. THAT will make it work. The money will come.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

If you are talking about just breaking even on the keeping of snakes, that is very doable. The key to that is breeding your own feeders, and selling extras.

Right now my entire collection is "free" to keep because of my feeder production. I produce enough feeders to feed my entire collection, and have enough left over to sell to cover the costs of the rat feed and bedding.

Considering I use newspaper for substrate for my snakes, there are no other costs... except for electricity and water.

[Turbo Serpent]

If you are talking about just breaking even on the keeping of snakes, that is very doable. The key to that is breeding your own feeders, and selling extras.

Right now my entire collection is "free" to keep because of my feeder production. I produce enough feeders to feed my entire collection, and have enough left over to sell to cover the costs of the rat feed and bedding.

Considering I use newspaper for substrate for my snakes, there are no other costs... except for electricity and water.

Feeder was my highest cost from the start, now I have several colonies of rats and mice, and just started breeding ASFs.

But now Im paying to house and feed retired breeders too, they are too big to feed to any of my BPs.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

If you are talking about just breaking even on the keeping of snakes, that is very doable. The key to that is breeding your own feeders, and selling extras.

Right now my entire collection is "free" to keep because of my feeder production. I produce enough feeders to feed my entire collection, and have enough left over to sell to cover the costs of the rat feed and bedding.

Considering I use newspaper for substrate for my snakes, there are no other costs... except for electricity and water.

to expand on this, once you get to the point where I am at where the keeping of your collection is free, then obviously in time with breeding you WILL get all the money back that you have spent on the snakes... and then some.

One huge thing to consider in all this though is the TIME SPENT. If I were to put a price tag on the work hours I have to put into it, I could honestly say that my snakes cost me a small fortune every month. This is where you being into it for the right reasons kick in. Even if you are like me and totally and completely in love with your animals, and it is your number one hobby, there are still times when cleaning the tubs / maintaining the feeders is NOT fun. It at times is a total pain. If I wasn't totally obsessed with my pets, I don't see any way possible that I would have gotten as far into it as I am today.

Hope this helps.

[twistedtails]

to expand on this, once you get to the point where I am at where the keeping of your collection is free, then obviously in time with breeding you WILL get all the money back that you have spent on the snakes... and then some.

One huge thing to consider in all this though is the TIME SPENT. If I were to put a price tag on the work hours I have to put into it, I could honestly say that my snakes cost me a small fortune every month. This is where you being into it for the right reasons kick in. Even if you are like me and totally and completely in love with your animals, and it is your number one hobby, there are still times when cleaning the tubs / maintaining the feeders is NOT fun. It at times is a total pain. If I wasn't totally obsessed with my pets, I don't see any way possible that I would have gotten as far into it as I am today.

Hope this helps.

I'm sure I'm going to spend money uncontrollably in this hobby it's kinda hard not to especially when you fall in love with every new morph out there. Feeders is where I will spend a lot right now. I live in an apt. and don't want to breed rats right now, I've done it before in an apt. and it's not logical.

[Shadera]

So what do you do when you have 1,000 snakes? Work just to feed them? What about feeding your family? What about putting your kids through college? By the way I'm open for free handouts. Obviously people are miss reading this thread. When I originally posted it, I asked how many of you have snakes that are paying for themselves not how many of you are rich because of it. I took this hobby up because of the killer snakes that are coming out of it not because of the money, but if I can have these snakes pay for themselves while I'm on the road to making some of them then great. When I say pay for themselves I mean make just enough to feed, house, and care for them(e.g. vet bills, cleaning solutions, substrate etc.). My wife and I make great money aside from anything else. Even if I was making miilions at this I would never quit my day job.

You're right. Some people DO misread. You asked for experiences, and I posted mine. Sorry if my response isn't what you wanted to hear, but I stand behind what I say.

By the way I'm open for free handouts.

Don't hold your breath.

[Turbo Serpent]

I'm sure I'm going to spend money uncontrollably in this hobby it's kinda hard not to especially when you fall in love with every new morph out there. Feeders is where I will spend a lot right now. I live in an apt. and don't want to breed rats right now, I've done it before in an apt. and it's not logical.

Well around here a small rat goes for $4 and a medium rat goes for $6. I was spending more on food for the snakes for a while then I was on my own groceries. Breeding your own is definitely more economical in the long run.

And be wary of the Management in the Apartments, not many are snake collection friendly.

[AjBalls]

Let me see and think.

My first pastel was $1K. I've only produced pastels two years in a row so far (past two) and sold only the males, 3-4 I think, at around $100 each. So that's money I will most likely get back eventually. First yellowbelly was $500, a steal considering they were $1K at the time. Just got my first clutch from him and am waiting to see what comes out. Then I added a female for $400, she's too small to breed yet. So time will tell if it will even out. Pair of het albinos were $650, female slugged out last year. Pair of spiders were $1500, havent produced any spiders yet. Probably got around $400 in normal females, most were bought at small sizes. Pair of mojaves were about $800 and I MAY have my first clutch of mojaves from my male (two males bred one female). Pinstripe female was $900, I stopped breeding her this year. Lesser male was $800, hasnt bred yet. Fire male was $500, just got him this past year at the Tinley show.

Then plus racks and all the money on food I have spent I'm probably $10,000 or so in the hole. I will eventually get my money back. But I don't really care because I enjoy raising the snakes. Has been keeping me out of trouble too since most of my friends are in gangs and a few are dead. So I don't want to think about where I'd be without my snakes.

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

We have invested a fortune. Our piebald arrives tomorrow. Our black pastel arrived today (He is GORGEUOS) and we have a female pastel on the way.

We already bought an albino, a het albino, two het piebalds, a pastel, and several large normal females. We have also bought a few others we lost due to buying a sick snake.

It is NOT cheap.

But yeah, we still plan to live and learn and make some money Which I DO think is easier if you have a little money to throw into it in the first place, which we did. We will save a few years by just buying the morphs we want in the first place.

It would be infinitely more difficult to start with normals and a het or two for sure.

I don't think anyone is lying- some people really do just want to enjoy this as a hobby. I want both- in dogs and snakes.

I want them all to be pets- I am ethical and caring and so is my man. But, yeah, money is a good thing. I'm a SAHM and this would be a nice little side income for me, and help us when DH retires.

[blackcrystal22]

Wow, people are really getting on their high horses and jumping to conclusions in this thread. Though I agree one should never go into the business for the money, the OP never said that was the only reason he was in the business.

Also, a lot of people waste a lot of money on expenses that are not always required. $4 and $6 dollars for rats are ridiculous, and your own choice. You can easily order frozen from an online company in bulk for much less pricing than that.