when i start to breed, i just hope to break even to pay for supplies and gear and have fun. if i get lucky, i hope to make enough profit to buy a Monarch.
as for those leaving, i don't have an analyze on the whole community/industry. but i will say that there are new peeps popping into the forum almost daily. they're buying snakes, some starting a collection and even some asking for pairing/breeding advice. i like my time here - i post, chat, joke, pm a bunch. people come, people go. it's just the ebb and flow of alotta things.