How many clutches for 1st time breeder?

[kc261]

First of all, I'm looking in to the future here. I definitely will not be breeding this coming season, so I have over a year to research & prepare, before I even attempt breeding. Basically my question is: how many clutches would you recommend a person try for in their first year breeding BPs?

Matthew has finally caught up to me in how excited & interested he is in the snakes, so suddenly it has become a realistic possibility to expand our collection by quite a bit all within this year. The upper limit of what we are looking at acquiring this year would leave us with a total of 2.10, although I think we'll probably stop a little short of that. I know it is unlikely that they will all get ready to breed the same year, and even if they do, it is likely they won't all actually lay eggs. But I wonder if I am insane to even consider the possibility of 10 clutches in our first year breeding.

What do you all think?

[rabernet]

I think 10 clutches might be a little overwhelming your first year - let's say they "just" have 4 eggs each (being VERY conservative). Will you be prepared to house and feed 40 babies?

I just bred three clutches this year, my first year, and I'll have 14 babies, not counting babies from a couple of loans and I've got my hands full (but I am in just a one bedroom apartment). Most are already spoken for, but....I also won't let any leave until they are consistently feeding - and I've got some stubborn hold outs right now.

I would think four to five clutches would be a manageable number, maybe even less if you're just interested in getting your feet wet the first year.

It's great that you're taking time to get everything ready - and next year will sneak up on you before you know it!

[Wh00h0069]

Last year was my first year breeding. I bred 3 males to 10 females. I have viable clutches from 9 of them. I am looking at around 50 babies. It is a lot of work, but it totally worth it. I would just think about what you believe that you will be able to handle, and go with that.

Hope this helps.

[tideguyinva]

the numbers go up quick qith each female bred. i tried to do one clutch this year but had no luck with it.

[jonf]

mouths to feed........thats definitely the biggest concern. If you have the rodents,space, and time, then go for it!

[frankykeno]

We did five females this year, usually 2 males. Of that 5, 3 laid eggs (a total of 18 eggs) and 1 more appears to be gravid from a late breeding, leaving 1 that did not take this year.

For us, being our first year with our own hatchlings, this was a nice manageable number. We had some previous experience with very young CH hatchlings last year so had faced some issues with non-feeders and having to assist and so forth. Just because a hatchling makes it out of the egg doesn't mean it's going to automatically eat and do well, so having these 18 hatchlings this year has been a nice, smaller introduction to breeding for our family.

Next year we are looking at having between 10 and 13 females ready to breed (and a number of male morphs) and I can tell you I'm already slightly hyperventilating about that number already LOL.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

This year was my first year, I had 4 clutches (24 eggs) and to me that was enough, it gave me time to really enjoy it without being overloaded with work, in the same time it was not to overwhelming or stressful.

[Petboy15]

This was my first year. I bred 8 females, and got 6 good clutches. Plus I also bought 10 unstarted normal girls. I think that was good for me. If you know what your doing, 10 is do-able.

[mooingtricycle]

I say start with 2 or 3. Do what you feel comfortable with, and Expect MORE than what you want! you never know if those females are going to give you more than you bargained for

You can always add a few on each year after, until you feel comfy.

[JD Constriction]

My advice would be to start with rodents and work backwards. Figuring in how many rats/mice you'll need to keep to feed the hatchlings and then determine how many females to breed to produce that many hatchlings (figuring 6 eggs per female).

I know for me that has been a determining factor year to year. It seems the number of females I decide to breed is usually based on the number of rodents I can/want to maintain to get the hatchlings started

If rat pinks and hoppers are a non-issue (commercially accessible) then I'd say 3-6 females is around where to start. You can usually figure 1/2 will produce for sure but sometimes more.

Bottomline is to do whatever you are comfortable with and go from there. Just try not to over extend yourself.

Hope that helps!