Should you really breed? Are you sure it is a good idea?

[tttaylorrr]

this seems more like a rant than providing any guidance, but that's okay! tho i think you missed option #3 that i believe you, i and many others on here fall into:

It seems there are two main reasons that newbies want to breed:

1) They want to "make" a morph they like.

2) They think it is profitable automatically.

or 3) because they have the passion for these animals.

money was never involved in my decision making tbh; it was my heart. any animals i have are animals i wanted; their future potential was not a huge factor (except when hets were involved lol).

future potential gains are not my goal; it's the miracle of seeing a first pip in your first clutch. morphs be damned, i just want my first clutch to all be healthy.

for me, it's the idea of growing your personal hobby into something more for you: pushing your own knowledge and skills and creating new life with your passion! the pursuit of new knowledge and applying it is practically a turn-on for me; to get to try it with something as beautiful as this is incredible.

what sucks is those of us that are going about breeding "the right way" are usually silent and don't openly ask questions; we also usually don't talk about breeding unless we're actually doing it. we keep our heads down, do our research for years, and MIGHT ask questions if we really need help. we are the quiet minority.

and it hurts my heart to see all these people every year, posting how they bought 12 animals and want to be ready to breed by next year. meanwhile when i tell them to hold off, ive been doing this for 5 years and still haven't paired any animals, is somehow an attack on them.

i just really wanted to add my perspective bc i am a n00b in this hobby and i do want to breed, and i want it to be known that my outlook on this part of the hobby is a good one.