Does breeding pay the bills?

[67temp]

Someone once told me a story about the American gold rush that stuck with me. A lot of the miners that were all out searching for gold lost a lot of money in the quest. The ones that made goods or sold the goods to the miners are the ones that actually got rich.

People will dump crazy amounts of money into something they are passionate about. Just look at football as an example. The amount of money put into season tickets, tailgating, superbowl parties, and team paraphernalia.

I'm stable in life and am just breeding for fun. If I was looking to make money I would look for some kind of product or service that the current market is missing. Feeders are always needed. If you have land you could grow plants such as grapevine for reptile enclosure. If you lived near water you could hunt for and process driftwood. Produce hides that are a different style than currently on the market..etc. You would still have to market yourself but you wouldn't be just another person selling the same thing that everybody else is.

[dr del]

Really good thread.

I don't really pay attention to the reality of making my hobby pay for itself.

I buy the snakes I think are outstanding ( not so much recently because of work commitments ) examples.

I've cut back a lot recently but when I get the chance to expand the collection again I will probably again be looking at the morphs that blow me away rather than those which are the best commercial choices.

If you have quality animals that produce quality offspring you may well make some income from your hobby.

From my limited perspective it's just a way of buying more snakes.