When is it economical?

[satomi325]

Like Satomi said, they pay for themselves. Throw up a craigslist ad and charge 15 bucks adoption fee to "make sure they don't become snake food." What is not specified is whether I'm protecting the rat from the buyer using it as snake food or myself.

I know, I'm a terrible person.

SHAME ON YOU!!! Horrible!

Just kidding. I do the same. Lols
I charge $10 for dumbos and rexes, $5 for top eared, and $15 for dumbo Rex/double rexes, which is cheaper than pet stores and private breeders. So its a good deal for pet people and a profit for me.

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[ChaosAffect]

Just found someone local on CL that is actually asking reasonable prices... I don't think breeding is gonna be in my immediate future. Probably for the best, I'm bad about getting attached.

[sorraia]

I have 8 snakes and am starting my colony of feeders. My problem isn't so much the number of snakes and economics, as it is availability of food. My snakes eat frozen thawed, that's easier for me, easier for them, and cheaper than buying live. BUT my supply of frozen has become extremely unreliable, and I do not have the freezer space to purchase frozen in bulk from online sources (and I am NOT adding another freezer to my house... I already have one huge one for the raw food my dogs/cats consume). Buying live is an option, but it is more expensive (at least triple the cost of frozen), and also unreliable (while getting the colony started we have been buying out the local supply every time they have the right size on hand, just to make sure we have it available when the snakes are hungry and ready to eat, but at $3 each, plus tax, it gets pricey!). Raising our own food may not necessarily be more economical (though I haven't done the math, so maybe it will be!), but it will at least be reliable. So far I've had a successful litter of 13, plus second litter with 4 survivors (8 were born that I saw... probably won't breed that rat again), giving me 17 rats all at once. I purchase their food for $0.74 a pound and in the few months I've had my colony (waiting for them to get up to size to start breeding) they haven't even made it through the first 40 pound bag. Depending on how much those babies eat before they are up to size, it's worth it to me having the control and foresight over my food supply.

[Ryan Chin]

I just bought a nice breeding group for Satomi this week and they are getting along great right now, I already feel like I've made the right decision for a multitude of reasons.1) Initial setup cost for DIY racks are minimal and they work fine 2) I have the ability to know all my feeders will be healthy 3) I don't have to dread going out of my way to pick up rat food on top of hoping they have the quantity and size that I need, everything is at home. (It has happened many times where I have had to move up or down in size or skip a day completely because the store I went to didn't have the sizes.) 4) You get to enjoy the rats themselves as pets(Working with morphs you like to breed makes things a bit more fun) 5) You can sell rats off to mitigate the upkeep.

These are the reason off the top of my head and I'm quite sleepy, but it seems like a no-brainer to me. As long as you have the time and are willing to put in the effort to maintain and upkeep them you can be breeding solely for your collection for free, or even expand and make more money off rats (assuming your customer base is large enough and that's what you want to do). There is a local business near where I live who opened up their 3 current reptile shops "museums" funding it with money they made from their rat breeding business.

I own 7 snakes with a an 8th on the way.

Like Jerry said, $1.50(which is on the cheap side) x 8(or however many you have) per week adds up. To roughly $700 a year in my case currently(Also on the cheap side).

I guess I just can't afford to only be a consumer.

[sorraia]

I am very envious of those who can buy feeders for $1.50! For me, it's $3-4 per small rat, at 8 a week that comes out to a minimum of $24 per week (before 8% sales tax), about $1248 per year, or $1347.84 after tax is added in (doesn't include gas to go get them though!). When the snakes go up in size, it will cost even more.

So far to feed my starter colony, it has cost me about $14.80 a month to feed them, and about $5 for bedding, coming out to $19.80 per month. It will go up a little bit with babies, but even doubling that cost is almost half of what it would cost me to buy live!

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I am very envious of those who can buy feeders for $1.50! For me, it's $3-4 per small rat, at 8 a week that comes out to a minimum of $24 per week (before 8% sales tax), about $1248 per year, or $1347.84 after tax is added in (doesn't include gas to go get them though!). When the snakes go up in size, it will cost even more.

So far to feed my starter colony, it has cost me about $14.80 a month to feed them, and about $5 for bedding, coming out to $19.80 per month. It will go up a little bit with babies, but even doubling that cost is almost half of what it would cost me to buy live!

[BHReptiles]

I'm a little late to the game but...

I get my weaned rats for $1.25 a pop and smalls for $1.50. These come from a local guy here on the forum. I've got 6 snakes eating live and at least 2 more + 2 clutches worth of babies coming so I've considered breeding my own food. The problem is space for me. I live at home while I complete nursing school and I just don't have the space for a rat rack. However, once I move out, I'm going to start breeding my own food and hopefully selling the extras. The local pet shop that sells feeders just closed, so there's not easy access for feeders if I can't get them from my local guy.

[Darkbird]

For me it started when a friend gave us her rat colony. Before that we had been getting her extras cheap/free as she wasn't keeping the males and females seperate. I only had one male Boa at the time so it worked out well, and was a ton better than paying 6-10 bucks for a rat for him. fast forward to now and i have 15 ball pythons, 3 boas, and a blood. I now
have 4 six slot racks of regular rats and another with asf's. I am getting my bedding free from work thankfully, and can get lab diet from the local feed store for around $0.60 a pound. I have been freezing some of my extras, but I haven't had much luck trying to sell any in my area. If I can start selling enough I will be able to basically feed my snake for free, but we'll see.

To answer the op's question, I don't think there is going to be a set number as everyone's situation is different. depends on space, time, cost to raise verses buying live/frozen, etc.

[JoeNapoli]

... gas to go get them though!...

I clicked "Other (Please specify in thread)" so here I am to specify. Sorraia, quoted above, brings forth a point nobody has mentioned.

And the question:

How many snakes do you need to make rat breeding economical?

omits some important aspects. It's not just about the number of snakes we have.

Fuel costs can't be ignored. Do we reside next door to to a breeder who sells weaned rats for $1.75? Do we have to drive an hour to purchase them for $1.25? Or do we have to take the bus, subway, or train a half hour to purchase them for $1.50? All scenarios require different calculations. (And time is money too.)

What species of snakes do we feed? Why are we feeding them: just maintenance feeding? feeding for notable weight gains? feeding to facilitate tameness?

What regimen: feeding the standard 1x/week? infrequent larger meals? more frequent smaller meals?

Clutches that require live pinkies? Older snakes that'll accept F/T?

Do we have a freezer large enough for purchasing large, economical orders?

I've bred my own on and off over the years. I've also purchased dozens of live weaned all at once, and fed them on (free) table scraps until the supply was finished. I've purchased nursing mothers with their litters. Sometimes returning the mother when all her pups had been fed off. Sometimes purchasing another litter of pups and using the still lactating mother as a surrogate mother (works most times). Sometimes feeding off the mother (if her most productive days are clearly thru).

Every situation is different. Just my $0.02