new interest in snakes, trying to learn.

[bcr229]

how do breeders lose money? this seems like a rather unlikely situation. equipment and animals are a one time cost. recurring costs of feed electric and maintenance is minimal. i can see if you are going big and renting commercial property you can go down the toilet but that's not my goal. i just want to do this for myself and make a little extra on the side.

Females don't produce a viable clutch every year. Sometimes they just don't go, sometimes they slug out, sometimes the babies die in the egg or the eggs go moldy and fail, or the babies are born kinked, or they fail to thrive.

Some males take a few years before they figure out what girls are good for. I have one that didn't lock with a female until after his fifth birthday.

Equipment failures: heat tape and thermostats are electronic devices that will eventually fail and have to be replaced. Enclosures crack or leak, or have doors broken because snakes are a lot stronger than they look. Tubs warp or crack, water bowls get dropped and break, etc.

Consumables: You don't think of cleaning products as expensive until you realize that you're using a 15-roll case of paper towels every week to clean tubs and enclosures. Substrate, especially a type that helps maintain humidity, isn't cheap. Mite treatments aren't cheap, and you still need them for proper quarantine even if you never have a major outbreak.

Vet bills: you can give your snakes the best of care but they can still get cancer or other infections. I spent $4500 at the vet getting a retic treated for a c-diff infection of her intestine that caused it to become completely blocked, which required surgery to correct and there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent her getting it.