I need some reassurance here..

[twistedtails]

Well dude to be honest, I don't expect to make a damn thing doing this. I'm in it for the cool animals and for the love of them. Granted money would be nice and it would be great if my animals could pay for themselves. If you need some reassurance and your even having second thought about everything maybe you need to reevaluate and decided if it's something your willing to sink a ton of money into and not see much back other than the satisfaction of taking care of your animals then maybe snake breeding is not for you.

I was like you when I first started, I thought it would be cool to make a bunch of money selling snakes but the more I thought about it and the more I discussed with my girlfriend and other reptile friends I realized I shouldn't think about the money. If I worried about the money all the time I wouldn't have the animals I have. Not that they were super expensive or anything but If I thought about the cost to care for an additional animal and the amount of money I'm putting out and not making back I would never buy animals. I would just keep my first snake and be a single snake pet owner.

I'm not trying to talk down to you or start anything, I just think that if you really want to get into breeding and selling you should really think about it first.

That's my take on this whole thread... Yup.

When I originally posted this thread a few months back I was kinda worried about money. In the last few months my collection has grown on me. I really don't care if these animals pay for themselves anymore. The other day when I bought my het pieds I realised that even if I produced a snake worth a million dollars I don't think I would sell it(it being a new line of my own). Don't get me wrong I'm obviously going to sell snake along the line, but, this whole breeding idea regardless of the work has become too much fun to put down.

[Kesslers Kreatures]

When I originally posted this thread a few months back I was kinda worried about money. In the last few months my collection has grown on me. I really don't care if these animals pay for themselves anymore. The other day when I bought my het pieds I realised that even if I produced a snake worth a million dollars I don't think I would sell it(it being a new line of my own). Don't get me wrong I'm obviously going to sell snake along the line, but, this whole breeding idea regardless of the work has become too much fun to put down.

I'm glad to hear you came to that conclusion, There are plenty of people out there that only do it for the money and don't enjoy it has a hobby. I hate to see you be another victim of that

[Haydenphoto]

True

Well i would say thats not true ! The prices have fallen on there butt

[WingedWolfPsion]

I don't think the prices this year are really bad at all compared with last years. There are a lot of people lowballing and bailing out, but that's because sales are so slow, they panic. Ironically, they're selling any faster that way, lol.

[Freakie_frog]

I don't think the prices this year are really bad at all compared with last years. There are a lot of people lowballing and bailing out, but that's because sales are so slow, they panic. Ironically, they're selling any faster that way, lol.

Lower prices always sale faster..Difference is that while one breeder may sale 5 snakes for 250.00 for a total of 1250.00 another breeder willing to hang on and sale them at market value might sale them for 500.00 for a total of 2500.00. Me personally I'm in no hurry I'll sale at market value so that I get the most out of every sale.. Plus it cuts down on impulse buying somewhat

[Seadevil]

i'm into this coz i love my pets,
also becoz i love the very rare kind of morphs , the only way getting it is to start rock bottem with the classic morphs and morph them till u got that special ur $'rs cant buy,

eg, i'm loving the faded albino spiders, so i have spider and faded albino, hoping next year spiders het albino and som years later the the beauty,

while on the quest for the morph i will sell some snakes but then i would just buy some other morphs wich i like, not to pay my bills.

[mrs.twistedtails]

I cant believe this thread is STILL GOING ON!!! What a hit babe. Good One!

I think all my husband was trying to do is get me more involved, trust me everyones input on this thread has made "US"successful in breeding. We are not only in this to make money, he just wanted to convince me that this is a hobby we can both enjoy, and poss make some money off of it. He wanted to get peoples input to make me side with him and agree to invest in some fun loving creatures thats all!

Thanks to all!

[Kryptonian]

I think if you take it slow you can definately have a hobby that pays for itself. You may even profit eventually but you definately need to be doing it for the fun of it. If you go out and spend thousands off the bat on lots of racks and lots of pricey snakes you are probably spending more then you will make, What I have done is started by getting a few animals and a couple of cheap morphs. The way I work it is if I make some money I put that back into the snakes and if there is enough made to do so than I get a new morph.
I have done this in the past with hamsters and they payed for themselves so hopefully the snakes do too, If not at least I can work my way to the morphs I really want by making them myself and in a way that is saving you money, and is alot more fun.

[yellermelon]

I have a decent leopard gecko collection..and I wouldnt say i broke even..but all the money I invested over the past few years came back to me this year..I hence reinvested in some really nice Ball pythons HAHAH So long story short you will never make money at this hobby If you love the animals..Your collection will only grow. Wich Is the way it should be

[NorthernRegius]

Depends on a lot of different factors. But generally speaking if you are in this to get rich quick then you would be better off going to Vegas and trying your odds there.

Naw you'd just lose $$$ quicker- how do you think the casinos pay their electric bill?

This can be gradual in gain, but it depends on you. You have to have a balance of expansion without over-reaching your abilities to care for your animals- that level is different for each person. Also how much fun do you want to have?

For me, it's about each snake having a name & they get time to interact as pets that also happen to breed. I'd rather produce a few stunners than a bunch of average animals. I also try to narrow down what I will work with because there's so many morphs.

I been building up for almost 10 years... with a small budget & thankfully understanding sellers who do payment plans, or swaps. If you count the money only it's not a profit, but they do pay for their keep & I'm happy with that. I love keeping them so, profit is secondary (but would be NICE).

Than again I've spent serious TIME doing this, the forums, learning not just about them, but how to take a nice photo, networking with suppliers, buyers... even my hokey little web-site. So it's still about the love of this- if I didn't love these snakes I wouldn't have made it this far.

Is it worth it? If value is only found in profit margins- no.

But if you love these creatures, caring for them, raising them up & producing quality offspring. If you could talk snakes for hours; if the thought of producing a designer morph from animals you raise up & 20+ year lifespans & 2 or 3 generation projects excite you... if pipping eggs always feels like Christmas did when you were a kid- it is worth it.