Progressing from one BP to small breeding....

[artgecko]

welcome to the joy of keeping snakes and also good on you for doing some research before jumping in head-first to breeding.

I have been keeping for about 5 years now and only just started my first breeding project. That said, I can help you with some of your questions and hopefully more experienced people will also give you some input.

For gender ratio, a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3 is the most economical (1 male / 2-3 females). Since you are starting out with your first project, I'd honestly opt for 1:2 and see how it goes before adding more animals. This is what I am doing with my first project to "test the waters" in my local area for sales before I attempt to produce more clutches.

For racks,plan on housing hatchlings individually after they shed out the first time.
Housing together could result in some being eaten by others.
Same for adults, plan on having 1 available slot for each.
AP and C-serpents both have great products. A CB70 or V70 is a great size for almost all adult females and could also be used to house adult males. For hatchlings / juvies, there aren't many options out there. AP has an Iris 375 juvie / hatchling rack but I think I read somewehre that those iris tubs will be discontinued or have been. C Serpents has a combo rack, but I'm not sure if the shorter tubs would work for BPs... I think it is mainly used for KSBs. That said, I'm sure you could get something cutom from C-serpents, especially if you live near one of the shows he vends and can pick up your order at the show (I have a custom cage and a couple racks by him and love them).

All of the racks from AP and C-serpents can be ordered in different numbers..so getting a 3,6, or 10 stack would be available. If you want a custom number of slots other than what they offer, I'm sure both companies could accommodate you if you special order.

One thing to keep in mind with racks, the close-sided ones (like the ones above) hold temps better in a cooler room. The open-sided racks do better in a room that is much warmer. Also, some racks come with tubs and others do not. The C-serpents racks above come with tubs and the AP racks don't (you have to order them separately). The "vision" tubs are nicer.. clearer and more durable than the iris or sterelite tubs. However, they are crazy expensive to order, so if you want vision tubs, I'd order from C-serpents that includes them in the price.

Right now, I have 2 racks from c-serpents, a V70 rack for my adult females and a "sub adult" rack. I use the sub adult rack to house my growing snakes.. Right now I have a couple females that I'm growing up for my breeding project who are in the 200-300 gram range in there with hides. As they get larger, I can change hides out or remove them so they have room before I move them up to the V70. When my females are ready to breed, I will also purchase a hatchling rack. I think between the hatchling, sub-adult, and V70, I should be fine. Ideally, I'd like something like the AP Iris 375 rack, but haven't been able to find a similar option in the Vision tubs that I like.

Four more things for you to consider before you jump in to your first breeding project :
1. Investigate your local laws. make sure it is legal to keep BPs in your area and check local and state laws on licenses required, etc. Also busines licenses in your town and how they approve "home-based" businesses, etc.
2. Investigate your local market: See how well snakes sell in your area, if there are shows you could vend at, or if there are local pet stores you can sell lower-end animals to. Alternatively, check out shipping and all that is involved and decide if you want to go that route.
3. Exotic vets: Are there any in your area and how much do they charge / what do they offer? This has been an issue for me already and it pays to see if you have vet care available should your females become egg bound, etc.
4. Food- You will need to feed / house the adults and young.. The young will need to be fed several times before you let them go (most people feed 3-4 times at least before selling). Do you have a good source for f/t feeders that you can afford? Do you have a local source for live in sizes hatchlings might need or are you willing to raise your own feeders?

Right now, I'm in the beginning phase of my breeding project. I am growing up my 2 starter females. After they've been with me for a year, I will look for a male to go with them. At that point, it will be at least 1 more year until the females are old / large enough to breed and by then, the male should be too. I plan to have all necessary racks ordered by that point and am planning on starting up a small colony of mice and rats to have live feeders available for the hatchlings first few meals before attempting to switch to f/t . I'm already running into issues with #1 I listed above, my city having no laws I can find about home-based businesses, but I am hopeful that I can figure that out before I breed. My state requires a dealer permit for numbers greater than 30 animals sold per year, so i will try to stay below that number.

Good luck with your new hobby. I'd just take it very slow and make sure you find the exact breeder females that will work in your plans then take a lot of time to find the perfect male to go with them. In this hobby, we often don't make any money or at least, make any profit over our expenses, so it pays to keep and breed what you like and want to keep.