A good start on breeding?

[DonMeyer]

Hey guys. Right now I plan on breeding and owning my own business someday so I am going to start off early.

Heres what i have (* indicates sexually mature to breed)

*1.1 Ball Python
0.1 Boa Constrictor(she is alittle over a year...ill give her another year or two)
*1.0 Burmese Python (he is at 6ft which I think is a good size to breed ecspecially for a male)
0.0.2 Leopard Geckos

I plan on breeding all of them at one point in time. But I will first be breeding my BUrm

Heres what I plan on getting in bit

0.1 Albino Burm (adult)
1.0 Tiger Retic
0.1 Super Tiger Retic
1.0 BCI Hypo
1.1 Adult Blizzard Leos

DO you think the BUrm will be much of a challenge.

OH! And so there isnt any fightin or anything...please dont post saying there are too many burms and such....I dont plan on breeding them every year...just a few times. And I attend a show which I can but a table at...so no problem selling. I also have the paper....and HERE!

Haha.

The next thing will be my Leos...cause my female BP is only 6 mo. and I want her at least 2 before she breeds.''

Dont know why i posted this...just excited to build my cage for my retics and burm:) I cannoot WAIT!

[BoidKeeper]

DO you think the BUrm will be much of a challenge.
This is not a question you should need to be asking if you are considering breeding burms you should already know the answer to that.

My advice is stay in school go to college and get a real job.
And yes there are too many burms out there.

These are living breathing things that you are considering making a living off of. There are not expendable, there not murchendise or products. Having the animals and getting them to breed is the easy part. Having money for proper caging and food for both the adults and babies is the the start of doing things right.
If you're seriouse about this make sure you're going to do it right so that there aren't more animals put at risk.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Invictus]

Further to the above, Don, I have to tell ya man, you are totally rushing into this without concern for the health and safety of your animals. Examples:

0.1 Boa Constrictor(she is alittle over a year...ill give her another year or two)

If you think a 2 year old BCI is breeding age, get a book. 2 years old is NOT an ok breeding age for a boa constrictor. 3 years is not even a good breeding age, even though some people do it. If you want her to be healthy and you don't want to kill her, wait until she's 4. 3 is a maybe. 2 is definite NO.

*1.0 Burmese Python (he is at 6ft which I think is a good size to breed ecspecially for a male)

Again, you think a 6 foot male is breedable? He's what... a year old?

These aren't kenyan sand boas you're dealing with here. These are large boids, and you are totally rushing things. Slow down. Wait until they are fully grown, and have a really good weight to them. You're going to end up with unhealthy animals giving you nothing but unhealthy babies.

[meatbeef]

Don`t rush dude.
These things take time.
Lots of time.

[Big_V]

Enjoy your animals. Dont rush into this at all. Like Boid Keeper said stay in school and go to college. When you have a job later you will be able to expand your hobby more but very few people out there can make a living on breeding reptiles. Its a hard business. Animals health first...profit is along way down the list.

[Vengeance]

But one thing I'm curious about is what is a good way to start breeding? I know I'd like to start a breeding project with the 2 100% Het Albino Ball pythons I'm picking up. But I mean what are some of the things a beginner breeder should be doing besides basic care and waiting for sexual maturity? I'm getting a pair of hatchlings from 2004 so I've got 2 - 3 years before my female will be ready for breeding but in that time should I be getting an incubator ready, reading specific items, I'm just trying to get an idea of a good way for a new breeder to start out.

[Matt_K]

OH! And so there isnt any fightin or anything...please dont post saying there are too many burms and such....I dont plan on breeding them every year...just a few times.

Judging by that, im assuming you already realize there are too many burms out there.. So, if you do realize this, why are you even bothering?? What are you going to if you cant sell all your babies? Are you going to keep them all??? Do you have housing ready for 10+ baby burms (assuming you sell the rest). And what are you going to do if you can't sell those babies in the first year? Do have big enough cages ready, or are you going to have the room ready for the cages you WILL need??

Just because you're going to have a table at a show, doesn't mean you're going to be able to sell everything you have on it.. I'm sure there are a LOT of people on this site who have had tables at shows, and they could tell you, you're not gurantee'd to see everything you bring with you to a show.. Good luck with whatever you do, but like everyone else has said, make sure you're ready, take your time, it's more work then you think.. Having 30+ baby mouths to feed, cages to clean and bites to take, isn't all fun and games..

[Tim_Cranwill]

Some tips....

- <b>Start small</b>: Start off with some easy species to learn the ins and outs of breeding, incubating, feeding hatchlings and selling animals.

- <b>Be patient</b>: It won't happen overnight.

- <b>Make a lot of contacts</b>: Local reptile keepers, other breeders and etc... connections are VERY important... So are beautiful and healthy animals, but if no one is buying them, what's the point of breeding them?

- <b>Conduct yourself well in public</b>: This means forums too. No one wants to send 100's or 1000's of dollars to an idiot (not referring to anyone in particular).


There is a lot to consider before deciding you are going to become a large scale breeder (you would need to be large scale to make a living at it). First and most importantly is the ANIMALS.

And, don't try to join the Canadian Olympic Swim Team before you've even hit the water. There's a LOT to learn.

Have fun keeping your animals and be patient... :)