What is the bp market like?

[Goang]

So it seems like I am obsessed with ball pythons and love the idea of breeding them. However I'm not entirely sure on how easy it is to sell them. I'm especially concerned about normal ball pythons. Are they easy to sell? Obviously you realize that I would be starting off on a smaller budget. Is it worth doing this on a business aspect? Or should I save more money to enter with better morphs from the start? Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

[joepythons]

So it seems like I am obsessed with ball pythons and love the idea of breeding them. However I'm not entirely sure on how easy it is to sell them. I'm especially concerned about normal ball pythons. Are they easy to sell? Obviously you realize that I would be starting off on a smaller budget. Is it worth doing this on a business aspect? Or should I save more money to enter with better morphs from the start? Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

DO NOT ENTER THIS HOBBY THINKING YOU WILL MAKE LOTS OF MONEY! This is not a hobby to get into if you do not TOTALY understand the needs of the animal first.I suggest you buy one AFTER you learn the neccasary husbandry needs.Then and only then think about POSSIBLY breeding someday.

[Goang]

Hey thanks for the quick reply, I'm definitely not just jumping into this and totally understand what you are saying. Now I'm not looking to quick rich quick... honestly just curious on how flooded the market is. Again I said I love the IDEA of breeding them. Who knows if the idea will ever sprout.

[joepythons]

Hey thanks for the quick reply, I'm definitely not just jumping into this and totally understand what you are saying. Now I'm not looking to quick rich quick... honestly just curious on how flooded the market is. Again I said I love the IDEA of breeding them. Who knows if the idea will ever sprout.

Well i have been doing the keeping part for around 16yrs and have only bred 3yrs.When i did sell something i put it back into supplies for my snakes pretty much lol.The snakes we paid say $1000 for a year or two ago are now $400.So its pretty soaked

[Powerspythons]

DO NOT ENTER THIS HOBBY THINKING YOU WILL MAKE LOTS OF MONEY! This is not a hobby to get into if you do not TOTALY understand the needs of the animal first.I suggest you buy one AFTER you learn the neccasary husbandry needs.Then and only then think about POSSIBLY breeding someday.

I agree x10.

Personally in my first year alone I have put around $1300-$1500 into just snakes and housing for them...thats not counting the food/energy bills for them. And I know hands down I will not see any returns for another 2-3 years, and even when I do see some returns I might make back my initial investment(if I'm lucky)but I'll still be in the hole for 2-3 years of food/energy bills. I recommend only getting deep into this hobby if you have a few thousand dollars to blow on them. Pretty much I got into it cause I love it.

On the other hand if you're going to be producing one, maybe two clutches a year, I'd say you should be able to sell your hatchlings. There are many classifieds to sell snakes on and most local petstores will buy normals two or three at a time at a wholesale price(ie. $15-$25)

My best advice is to do it cause you love it, not for the money. and good luck!

[mainbutter]

honestly just curious on how flooded the market is.

The optimistic, but true answer is the market is growing.

The pessimistic, but true answer is that morph prices are falling fast, and have been for many years.

An honest answer that does not take sides, but does not bode well for profit either, is that the market is growing, but BP morphs are being bred faster than demand for them can grow.

[Goang]

Thanks for the replies. It would be great if the market would stand up to where I would be able to fund my hobby by my hobby. I know I would become obsessed if I started this up. It would be a huge shame if I would not be able to keep funding it. How did you first start Powerspythons? What did that 1500 bucks get ya and where are you at right now? Are there any breeding journals on this site. Somebody tracking their breeding from the start? I would love to read one of those.

[Goang]

Also everyone keeps looking at this as a hobby, are there any of you out there looking at breeding pythons strictly as a business? I mean of course you would love and care for the animals, I'm not saying heartlessly a business.

[spitzu]

Also everyone keeps looking at this as a hobby, are there any of you out there looking at breeding pythons strictly as a business? I mean of course you would love and care for the animals, I'm not saying heartlessly a business.

I'm looking at it more as of a hobby and possibly a long-term investment than a business. I love these critters too much to only see dollar signs.

[Xan Powers]

Also everyone keeps looking at this as a hobby, are there any of you out there looking at breeding pythons strictly as a business? I mean of course you would love and care for the animals, I'm not saying heartlessly a business.

honestly I think I can vouch for most people/breeders when I say no one really picked up a ball python and said to themselves I want to jump right into making a business that will sustain my living habits and give me enough cash to buy new morphs. I cared for a normal female for 7 years before I got into breeding them and I cannot stress enough the importance of learning good husbandry techniques and just generally being able to know what it is your snake requires due to your knowledge and careful attention to your animal. for most of us, even the top breeders, this is a hobby and ball pythons are what we love, if we can someday break even or even better turn our passion into a full time job then thats the dream but for now we all just do what we love to do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Xan Powers!