I get quite a giggle every time I hear someone say "you'll never make your money back...
If one has the head "in the game" so to speak, it's very easy to make money at breeding ball pythons.
In one of if not the worst economy in 70 years I sold everything I had to sell and could have easily sold double what I had last year.
Does it take an initial investment of more than $300-$500, oh yeah closer to 10X that or more, but in one breeding season that investment was returned several times over and then some
It takes money to make money, that said if you don't have the passion it aint going to happen.