Helpful tips needed

[Craiga 01453]

So what is your experience breeding and selling Ball Pythons? I can tell you your advice could not be any further from the truth and show a lack of understanding for the ball python market but I have only been doing this for 14 years so maybe my knowledge of the market and what a good investment is not accurate.

Sure Banana sell however they are easy to make as well and have been around a long time which means the supply is very high.

When

supply > demand = low prices, delayed sales or no retail sales at all depending on whom you are which means increase overhead which means decreased profit.

Normal unless you sell them out of the egg at wholesale price to a petore you will loose money by the time they sell, how much money depends how long you will have to hang on to them, even with a good reputation you still might not sell them depending on what your targeted market is. You have to calculate your time, food, electricity housing etc so taking 3 months or more to sell a snake under $100 means you break even or lose money.

The reality is if someone wants to breed they need to make smart investment otherwise I guarantee that your "trial and error phase" which includes the work, loss of money etc will quickly take a toll and lead to a collection sale within 5 years (I see it all the time) and that is true even for someone that just wants to break even and have a collection paying for itself. People diving in not thinking this through do not succeed get overwhelmed and quit.

Spoken by one of the best in the business.

OP, make sure while you're learning you're learning from reputable sources. Deborah of Stewart's Reptiles is one of them. She's fantastic. There are more than a handful of very knowledgeable BP breeders on this forum who will be happy to help you out. Just be sure to learn from the right ones.

I don't breed, so I won't offer any actual breeding advice. However, I've been around this hobby a long time and try to stay pretty in tune with what's going on in the hobby.