Heh everyone. I have always dreamed since I was younger to breed snakes. Well I have settled on ball pythons as the main ones. I just got my first a 2011 pastel (not yet sexed). I really would like to breed in a few years but I'm really stuck on where I should go from here. The list of snakes I would like to work with are here.

0.2 lesser
0.2 pastel
0.2 pinstripe
0.1 cinnamon
0.1 mojave
0.1 black pastel
0.1 bee
0.1 hc albino
0.1 axanthic
0.1 clown
0.1 pied
0.1 fire
1.1 orange ghost
1.1 yellow belly
1.0 firefly
1.0 pewter
1.0 black pewter
1.0 fire pin
1.0 fire spider
1.0 pastel lesser

I only make at most $260 a week. I need $60 for gas and I am trying to save for an apartment with my loving understanding gf so most of my money goes there. I can only really save $40-50 each week.

I guess what I'm asking is what would you do in my situation with what I make?

Thanks.

$40-50 each week for snake fund*

You can do what I did....pick out two or three females, and one or two males, and put those in order of which ones you need first. Then just put that 50 bucks a week into a jar and save it, then get the first one on your list. We started out and saved to get a few multi-gene animals, that way at the very least the offspring would help our collection, and we could sell one to fund the next snake on our list. Good luck, and keep us posted on what you decide!!!

I'm thinking maybe doing 1.1 black pastel, 1.1 pastel, 1.1 fire, to help with stock and I can sell super fires/blacks for some nice money to invest in others. Its still up in the air.

u could also save a bit of money and buy 3 or 4 normal adult females (lets say 200$ each) from trustfully persons.

save half a year and buy a male for about 1k. then breed it too the 3 or 4 females.

lets say 2 of em go and lay 6 eggs each. that makes 12 eggs. if the 1k male was a het co dom uve maybe 6 co doms that u could sell for about 800-900$(850$), which gives u about 5100$ to invest

or buy a super for about 1k and make 12 animals u could sell for 300 to 500$ (400$) and make 4800$


in the super case u can predict the odds. in the other case, the reward could be a bit higher (300$), but u could just as easy miss the odds and insteadt of 6 co doms u get just 3 or 4 or1


in both cases, u could sell ur offspring or trade it to get some or all of ur desired snakes.

its just importend that the females uve bought are good breeders. normally i wouldnr buy adults, but adult normals are ok- at least more often than adult morph females...


but remember- this is a dream scenario. reality is often different.

$40-50 each week for snake fund*

Which will also have to pay for the housing, increased electrical costs and feeding. Not to mention reserving a fund in case you might need veterinary care. Be careful you don't over extend yourself.

Don't bother buying any males if you don't have females ready to breed to them. When your females are ready you can easily buy a yearling male that is ready to breed for close to the same price as a hatchling.

It's good to have a dream list but you need to be more realistic with your expectations and income. You should start with a small group of normal females and save up and buy a 2 or 3 gene male. You really need to consider things because as it stands, your income can't support a large collection and the costs that are associated with it. You have no backup plan if something bad happens. If this really is your dream, you might have to put some hard work and sacrifice into it and find another job and start saving more money. Sorry if it comes across wrong but I'm just being realistic with you.

Regards,

B

You may also want to consider that even though you can potentially make money off of, or trade, your hatchlings it doesn't mean that it would happen right away. Be prepared to potentially be stuck taking care of your hatchlings for several months (or even years), possibly putting more money into them than you would make. Having a multi-gene male could help reduce that possibility, but there's always a risk that you'll wind up with a hard to sell "by-product" of your breedings.

Try to buy supplies (tubs, heating, etc) for hatchlings and adults before you buy or breed any of the balls. Trust me, it's not fun scrambling for a bin to put one hatchling in much less several, and not a very good start to their life being put in an inappropriate temp container.

You may also want to consider that even though you can potentially make money off of, or trade, your hatchlings it doesn't mean that it would happen right away. Be prepared to potentially be stuck taking care of your hatchlings for several months (or even years), possibly putting more money into them than you would make. Having a multi-gene male could help reduce that possibility, but there's always a risk that you'll wind up with a hard to sell "by-product" of your breedings.

Try to buy supplies (tubs, heating, etc) for hatchlings and adults before you buy or breed any of the balls. Trust me, it's not fun scrambling for a bin to put one hatchling in much less several, and not a very good start to their life being put in an inappropriate temp container.


i have to agree. i didnt even thought on this when i made my post.

the housing is really importend. save the first couple month (before u even bought 1 snake) and buy good racks (u can get em used for the start), thermostat etc

buy rats for hundret bucks or so, so ur fridge is full and uve enough food for the snakes, even if u have hard month with less income.

put some money away for the vet etc.

eletrical bill shouldnt be so high with 3 or 4 snakes in a rack.

then again- buy some normal females and a higher quality (wether singe co dom, super or 2 or 3 gene animal- thats ur decission) male.


maybe u calculate everything threw. but its always good to have goals u can work towards- no matter if u say its ur list or an inferno super phantom coral glow...:yes:

First thing I would do is locate a local breeder or someone that can confidently sex your Pastel. My bet since you bought it without knowing the sex is that it is a male. I would then look into an adult rack for around 8 adults, a hatchling rack for around 24 or 30 hatchlings, T-stats, water dishes, and the parts to build an incubator large enough for 4 clutches minimum. You get all the stuff that doesn't cost up keep first. Otherwise you get the snakes and they cut into your snake fund money due to rodent purchases and the like.

After you have all that, save till you just can't stand it any longer, get two normal Adult females from someone you would trust. Depending on when you buy them it you can sometimes find really good deals on them. Probably pay less than $200 on both of them. Then put you other money into a male that carries as many co-dom genes as possible, you already have pastel though so I would only get something else with pastel if it was a totally awesome deal.

Start breeding slowly and learn what all is involved. Sell your babies, but hold back a couple. Build a good reputation slowly. I've sold a couple 100 snakes already, but I think I only have like 3 feedbacks on fauna and none that I know of any place else, so it takes time!

The OP disregarded advice and bought several single gene males for his first purchases! Good luck Kevin.

Regards,

B

The OP disregarded advice and bought several single gene males for his first purchases! Good luck Kevin.

Regards,

B

lol

Get another job . Save for over a year ,stay on the forum learn as much as you can . You
have the rest of your life take it slow get to know the breeders on this forum they will treat
you right good luck.

You may also want to consider that even though you can potentially make money off of, or trade, your hatchlings it doesn't mean that it would happen right away. Be prepared to potentially be stuck taking care of your hatchlings for several months (or even years), possibly putting more money into them than you would make. Having a multi-gene male could help reduce that possibility, but there's always a risk that you'll wind up with a hard to sell "by-product" of your breedings.

Try to buy supplies (tubs, heating, etc) for hatchlings and adults before you buy or breed any of the balls. Trust me, it's not fun scrambling for a bin to put one hatchling in much less several, and not a very good start to their life being put in an inappropriate temp container.

Well written:yes:

You may also want to consider that even though you can potentially make money off of, or trade, your hatchlings it doesn't mean that it would happen right away. Be prepared to potentially be stuck taking care of your hatchlings for several months (or even years), possibly putting more money into them than you would make. Having a multi-gene male could help reduce that possibility, but there's always a risk that you'll wind up with a hard to sell "by-product" of your breedings.

Try to buy supplies (tubs, heating, etc) for hatchlings and adults before you buy or breed any of the balls. Trust me, it's not fun scrambling for a bin to put one hatchling in much less several, and not a very good start to their life being put in an inappropriate temp container.

Great advice. One thing that is awesome about this hobby, is that once you start producing, there is trading. We are still relatively new to this (preparing for our 3rd breeding season), and we obtained some of our breeders through trades. We learned early that you will be caring for babies that you hoped would move much quicker. Finding someone who is willing to trade those babies for something you really want is great. Our first season we produced 13 albinos, we ended up trading 2 pairs for a super pastel het genetic stripe. We end up caring for one instead of four, and have a snake that fits very well into our future plans.

We've messaged back and forth a couple of times, and I realize we aren't real close to you. But we really aren't that far either, we'd be willing to help you where we can. My brother lives up your way, if we go visit him, maybe we can meet up and talk "shop". Good luck with your future endeavors.