Dilemma male or female to start

[el8ch]

Female is always the best choice to start with in my opinion

I agree.

The way I look at it is - build up your female(s) first and then invest in a male. Your females take longer to reach sexual maturity and breeding size. Your typical female breeders should be (this is a 'general' rule) 1500+ grams, 18 months old or have had 3 winters, while males can breed as early as 6 months old in some cases.

I see a lot of people that get into the hobby and end up having a 'male heavy' collection due to good deals and variation in price with males vs females in single and double gene animals. IMO Its always better to be heavy on the female side as 1 male can breed with many females.