Dream Scenario

[BWyant]

Have you considered where and how you'll sell all these offspring?

Website (I work for a friend with web-design company part-time, so it'd come free). Pet stores. Local reptile shop. Local reptile expo. I've also got a few ideas for things to do with the sheds, ala. J. Kobylka.

Selling offspring isn't the only way to make money with a snake, thankfully.

Another reason for starting out slowly is to give yourself time to establish a good reputation. What are you going to do if you can't sell a significant amount of the babies you produce? Take the advice given repeatedly by many different posters and go with a couple females. Learn how to breed and sell the offspring while steadily building up your collection. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable buying animals from a large collection where the owner asks this:

You better know how to clean everything inside out with that many animals! Start slow, enjoy the ride, and you'll get there in the end if that's your goal

LoL. I'd probably go with chlorhexidine and then rinse it really well since I haven't got a steam cleaner. I was more concerned with how much it cost to clean snake cages for a year. But yeah, I probably wouldn't buy from someone that didn't know what to clean a cage with either.... Think a little Febreeze and Windex would work?

Thanks.

[jjmitchell]

LMAO I have never listened to Dave Ramsey.... I just dont believe in buying things I cant afford with few exceptions (house, car ect)

LOL looked at this and it seemed stupid.... I dont buy houses and cars I cant afford lol... those are the only things I can justify financing......

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

Website (I work for a friend with web-design company part-time, so it'd come free). Pet stores. Local reptile shop. Local reptile expo. I've also got a few ideas for things to do with the sheds, ala. J. Kobylka.

Selling offspring isn't the only way to make money with a snake, thankfully.



LoL. I'd probably go with chlorhexidine and then rinse it really well since I haven't got a steam cleaner. I was more concerned with how much it cost to clean snake cages for a year. But yeah, I probably wouldn't buy from someone that didn't know what to clean a cage with either.... Think a little Febreeze and Windex would work?

Thanks.

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying that! You can get a gallon bottle of chlorhexidine for ~$15 shipped and it should easily last a year. Paper towels, shop towels, etc will end up costing more than the cleaner.

[BWyant]

So... Let's talk plan revision.

Since folks seem to think I'd be better served to go with fewer snakes and more powerful genes....

Ya'll set me up a scenario where I'd still produce BELs, Pumpkin Pieds, Pin-Axanthics, Potions and Super Phantoms, spend less, and have less snakes. Not trying to be snooty or whatever, just want to see how other folks would do it, 'cause I thought I'd put some decent thought into my plan. Then again, me planning all of that is kind of like the president of a graduating high school class thinking he should be a senator, no experience.

Thanks everyone,
-Brock (wishes my last name was Wagner)

[BleedingOrange36]

Are you handy with tools and building materials?
You could get your self started with a nice 4 bin rack ( I wish I had the money to buy a nice setup rack, I just can't justify it when I can build one myself)
Get 3 multi gene females and 1 multi gene male of your choice. While growing them out start building a hatchling rack, a rodent rack and an incubator.
Breeding your own rodents would cut down on some expense, and you could possibly build your name and customer base by selling them.
Now that I have given you my strategy..... It's back to the drawing board lol.
I have built my collection from 1 ball python to 11 snakes in under 3 months for under 300$
I also have some of the best examples of the morphs I own. They may all be single genes, but I can't be picky on my budget. After my 2300$ in bills each month, I'm not left with much.
I feel like I lost the point to what I was getting at. You should think of ways to get your name out there and bring in at least some type of income with your project. You may even find that you enjoy building racks, then you could sell them on Craigslist or at expos. You get to talking to people, give them a heads up on future projects and you may possibly get a fees calls or emails come hatching season.

[Mike41793]

Are you handy with tools and building materials?
You could get your self started with a nice 4 bin rack ( I wish I had the money to buy a nice setup rack, I just can't justify it when I can build one myself)
Get 3 multi gene females and 1 multi gene male of your choice. While growing them out start building a hatchling rack, a rodent rack and an incubator.
Breeding your own rodents would cut down on some expense, and you could possibly build your name and customer base by selling them.
Now that I have given you my strategy..... It's back to the drawing board lol.
I have built my collection from 1 ball python to 11 snakes in under 3 months for under 300$
I also have some of the best examples of the morphs I own. They may all be single genes, but I can't be picky on my budget. After my 2300$ in bills each month, I'm not left with much.
I feel like I lost the point to what I was getting at. You should think of ways to get your name out there and bring in at least some type of income with your project. You may even find that you enjoy building racks, then you could sell them on Craigslist or at expos. You get to talking to people, give them a heads up on future projects and you may possibly get a fees calls or emails come hatching season.

You got ten bps that are the best examples of their morphs for $300...? I call BS.

Either youre yanking my chain or you got the best deal ever lol.

[BleedingOrange36]

You got ten bps that are the best examples of their morphs for $300...? I call BS.

Either youre yanking my chain or you got the best deal ever lol.

I said 11 snakes, not all of them are Bp's. 2 are womas, one of which was a trade for a paintball gun I've had sitting around. Free Cali banded kind and free hypo- Mel corn.
I picked up a gorgeous male fire for 100$



My other morph male is a NERD line lemon pastel. He is absolutely gorgeous with incredible blushing. And the brightest green eyes I have ever seen.

I picked him up with a sweet 1300 gram normal dinker girl that has a granite thing going on. The pair of them set me back 100$

My big normal girl was 50$ and she is 2473grams right now empty.
My little female set me back 40$
A very nice lady actually bought me a male from petsmart after talking to get for about an hr about reptiles.
He may be a normal, but I plan to dink around with him as soon as he's up to weight.

He has extremely pinkish/ peachish sides. Almost has an enchi look to me.

In my eyes an from what I'm told by people that see them in person, I'm doing alright for only 3 months in.
I have more into my snake room than my snakes.
I was just offering up some ideas from someone just into this, but from a budget minded view.

[BleedingOrange36]

I also meant that in my eyes and from what I've seen, I feel my fire and lemon pastel are really nice examples of those morphs. I have also been told that they are excellent examples and would be a nice addition to any collection.

[Mike41793]

Ahhh ok i interpreted that wrong then. Not all bps, gotcha.

Your fire is hot. The pastel is pretty nice too. Id say youve done pretty well for only 3months

[BleedingOrange36]

Ahhh ok i interpreted that wrong then. Not all bps, gotcha.

Your fire is hot. The pastel is pretty nice too. Id say youve done pretty well for only 3months

I didn't mean to come off in a negative way by any means. There is always misinterpretation through text of any sort.
I just want to shed some light to people like myself that are new to this. A majority of younger people I talk to that want to get into this think they need to Max out every credit card and pull small business loans out to be a name in the game.
If it was that easy, wouldn't everyone do it? It takes a real dedication that I imagine every breeder, large or small realizes. I spend roughly 2-5 hrs each day after work in my snake room. I have barely seen any of my best friends in the last two months. If it wasn't for my girlfriend, who also is as passionate about this as myself, I would probably seem weird to people that don't understand.
I think the point I'm getting at now is that you have to have a real passion for this to succeed.
I see the original poster has taken the time to lay out a budget, and seek the necessary information to make revisions to that budget. But with no prior experience with keeping a large collection or exotic animals, it may become overwhelming.
I can probably say with certainty, that a large majority of breeders on this site, and most breeders in general become overwhelmed at times.
There are many other aspects involved with this besides budgeting for the project. You need a well established herp vet that has exp with bp's. I wouldn't trust the life of a 20,000$ snake in any ones hands. Depending on the state of residence, there are also necessary permits needed to breed for profit.
His budget also didn't include thermostats, quarantine rack ( or separate room to guarantee the health of 10,000$ collection) oil heaters on a separate thermostat, an increase in home owners/ renters insurance to cover the collection. He would also need a way to document an record his information. A high quality camera and some way to take a professional photo.
There are many many others things I am not hitting on, but I would like to hear from people with more thantype 3 months experience I have.