Ok, so I know most of this breeding season is over, and while I could have bred my normal females with some of my morph males I chose to hold off. I have been keeping snakes for over ten years now. Purely out of love. I love the animals, I love the hobby, and it all simply fascinates me! So a few years ago I decided I was going to work towards breeding ball python morphs so that I could A) hopefully break even on my hobby and not be pouring thousands of dollars of my own money into it every year, and B) hopefully produce my dream morph! So ten thousand dollars later and I have all the racks (including the never before used hatchling racks), the incubator, and what I'm hoping is a nice sized collection. As it stands right now I have

1.2 Pieds
0.2 Het Pieds
1.2 Spider
0.1 Spider het albino
0.2 Pinstripe
0.2 Pastel
0.1 Pastel het G-Stripe
1.0 Albino
0.1 Het Albino
0.3 Lesser
0.1 Mojave
0.3 Normals
1.0 Lesserbee
1.0 Kingpin
1.0 Bumblebee

I have enough hatchling racks to house 150 babies, and all of my adults are in very nice adult size racks. I also have a spare adult rack ready to go for the NARBC in February where I hope to pick up a really nice four gene male, and maybe a few females. I also have a very reliable rodent breeder nearby, and my freezer is stocked for all my adults for the next year. Not to mention I received about $1,000 in gift certificates to my local rodent breeder for Christmas, so I'm not worried about my monthly food bill at all. I'm good for at least the next year and a half.

So I guess my main question is am I ready? I decided not to attempt to breed this season since I am planning to move in March, and I didn't want to take on too much. I am graduating in May, and buying my own house this year, so my plate is pretty full, but I can't get November 2014 out of my head. I have spent years, literally, preparing for this, and now I have cold feet. Wow, that is so totally an understatement. Again, I'm not going into this expecting to make so much money I can quit my job and suddenly live carefree. I am neither that naive nor that optimistic. My hope, frankly, is to make back some of what I've already spent, maybe make enough to pay my rodent bill each year so I'm not paying out of pocket, and hopefully trade or sell a good majority of the offspring each year so I can get some of those designer morphs I've had my eye on for years.

So I guess my question is for other small breeders out there. What are the odds I'm going to be stuck with some 100-150 hatchlings I can't sell and can't trade? I am totally open to trading most of my babies to big breeders for my dream morphs, especially if those morphs go towards my dream breeding project, but as I have only one breeding season (one normal pair) under my belt I am a bit skittish. I don't want to end up desperately trying to sell 100+ hatchlings on craigslist in a year. God! The idea terrifies me!

So I was hoping to have some other small time breeders weigh in as to whether or not I'm ready to embark on this journey. I'm not looking to grow into some huge operation like NERD. My hope is to slowly replace my single gene females over the years so that I have a breeding stock of 20 double and triple gene females max, along with some killer males! I don't think I could comfortably care for any more adults and hatchlings than that, and the health and safety of my animals is paramount. So for any other small time breeders if you have any words of advice before I take the plunge in November 2014, please weigh in. I know this seems like overkill with me asking this all the way in January, but I am one of those neurotic people that has to prepare for everything! In my mind there is no such thing as being too prepared!

Thanks ahead for any and all words of advice. I hope to hear back from people soon!