Breeding for profit??

Rebecca · 11-17-04, 01:39 PM

How meny of you here do that?? I was thinking of starting to breed crested geckos and selling them. And no it would not be just for profit that's just a perk of it. I actually LOVE them and enjoy keeping them. I was just wondering how meny people actually make a living off of breeding reptiles.

silent_truth · 11-17-04, 01:50 PM

Well, you actually introduced three things in your post.
One: Keeping reptiles for pleasure.
Two: Breeding reptiles for profit
Three: Breeding reptiles for a living.

The latter two are not to be mistaken as one in the same. Though it is possible to make a profit breeding and selling animals, one must factor in the cost of maintaining additional breeders and offspring and then you will find that the "profit" may not be there, or if it is, it is not very much. Now this applies to a hobbyist breeder, who does it as a past time.

On the far end of the spectrum, is the professional breeder who has invested a lot of time and money into establishing his/her business. Since it is a business for them, they are more likely to sell higher end animals that command much higher prices in order to compensate for the investment of capital and expenses.

How many people make a living off breeding reptiles? I believe very few in comparison to the number of people who keep reptiles. Is it possible to make a little extra money by breeding as a hobby? Sure, why not. This extra money is usually put back into feeding and housing costs anyways though.

I'm sure others have more input, but hope this helps a bit.

-Adam

BoidKeeper · 11-17-04, 02:10 PM

Well what I produce I sell. I breed them as a hobby but I don't give the neonates away so I guess I do both.
Cheers,
Trevor

Ptindy · 11-17-04, 02:29 PM

Unless you are breeding more then just a pair or two of crested geckos there wont be much profit. I would say it would just help pay for housing the little guys till they get big enough and then a food, and maybe a big mac combo at the end of things. I plan on breeding a couple pairs of cresties soon but that'll just be for pure enjoyment.

Mike

bidden · 11-17-04, 03:11 PM

I agree, one pair doesn't give much profit at all, maybe enoght to cover costs of food while you raise them to a sellable size.

as far as breeding for a living, you have to breed a variety, the repitle industry is so unpredictable, one year leopard gecko's will sell high, next corn snakes, next cresteds, there's really no telling what the next years' 'big thing' will be.

nita · 11-17-04, 03:24 PM

LOL, my nephew was discussing breeding for profit and such and I brought up that you have to have the money first to invest just like anything. He currently has gerbils wich of course he is making no money off of. I asked him how much they have cost him so far of course nothing since his mom payed for it all, told him to figure out food, shavings, cages, the animals themselves etc. Then I went on to explain how although I've spent around $3,000.00 so far on my snakes, their enclosures, food, you know the basics only. And yay I have one female old enough to breed this year and she is going out to be bred to Jamie's het-pied male so of the babies I get there will be maybe one sold, maybe. Not to mention the pastel I want to buy next year! LOL, I assured him that it would take many years to actually make any money, mine would just get spent on more snakes, food and housing for the new snakes!

beanersmysav · 11-17-04, 03:53 PM

People have already explaine my reasons for breeding, for the joy of experience, and all my profit will go right to my lizards to continually upgrade their habbitats and pay for their food, housing etc.

I figure I've spent 400.00 on animals alone (Small amount compared to some of your collections). not too mention cages, food, bedding etc etc etc and over the years it's added up to alot. So maybe if I breed all the animals I get, and sell off the ones I don't want to keep I may make my money back in...4-5 years, especially since the market for some of the animals I'm breeding is somewhat dying.

But I'm really doing it for the most part to expand my collection without spending hundreds just on the animals themselves. Can't wait to have 100 baby cresteds I didn't pay anything for basicly.

clint545 · 11-17-04, 11:09 PM

This is my first year breeding leos as a hobby. Next year's projects are to get my Helmeteds and cresties going. Like everyone here has said, if I make a "profit" it's just going back towards feeding, enclosures, and of course expanding my collection! First and foremost they're my pets/kids!

Katt · 11-18-04, 12:44 AM

Profit? What profit? Anything I get goes back into the snakes, to get A) get more snakes or B) get things for the snakes or C) pay for the utilities that keeps the snakes warm.

One fine day, I'll actually buy myself something nice with snake profit, like a hamburger or maybe some candy.

Rebecca · 11-19-04, 02:18 AM

I have MORE then enough cages/housing for the babies, I feed babyfood and CGD, and I don't have to pay for the extra lighting because I live with someone who pays the electricty(sp? sry). So really if I did decide to breed for profit, I might make it. I also make all of my cages from scratch from the wood my dad gets for free, screws and that he buys for me, very supportive parents I have

. I don't plan on being a big breeder. I started because I LOVE crested geckos, and my town does not have any. I think, I may actually own the only ones in my town. I have spoken to lots of people who would love to own/buy them, so I already have some babies sold. I've very lucky that way. I just have to buy the stock and the babyfood, CGD. I like all the input you have given me. It did bring up a few questions in my mind that I had not thought about. Thanks everyone.

HeatherRose · 11-19-04, 02:26 AM

I'm with Katt on this one...while it seems like you could make money, all it really goes into for me are more snakes or snake food... it doesn't matter to me because its just too friggin fun and neat to do, but for some that's not enough

Rebecca · 11-19-04, 02:36 AM

I'm not one of those people, where the little bit extra is not enough. I figure I enjoy them and I know alot of people who would like to own some. I'm breeding to add more to my collection anyway. I also love the thrill of the date approching when they should start hatching. Wondering what they are going to turn out to look like, stuff like that. I bred leos for a while but decided to stop. Now I've decided to try my hand at crested geckos.

Invictus · 11-19-04, 03:15 AM

For most of us, it's a struggle, if a not a DREAM, to just break even.

Brent Strande · 11-19-04, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Invictus
For most of us, it's a struggle, if a not a DREAM, to just break even.

As long as we're "dreaming," I'd rather dream about making it my living. Who wouldn't want to have taking care of their herps be their full-time job?

Obviously this can't happen for all of us, but why not try? I see everyone saying that you can't make it breeding, and that you'd be lucky to just break even. I think that that is bull.

If you buy a single pair of animals, perhaps you won't be buying a new house, but if you do breed, you SHOULD make money.

The difference is in the selling price of the animals. Sure, $30 animals may sell easier and faster, but you'll also have to sell more.

***
Say that you buy 1.1 of $100 species and they produce 15 babies. Do you really think that over 3 years (to get them to breeding age) it would really cost you the $1,500 to feed and house them? If it were a pair of snakes that would break down to:
$200 original investment
$200 caging (being gracious @ $100 per cage, rather than rubbermaid!)

That would still leave $1100 for three years of food, or $336.67 a year! That's $183.33 a year per animal.

I don't see how you couldn't make your money back on your animals IF you breed them.

Say that you take the same example as above, and pay $100 per snake, and even spend the $100 per snake on housing... if it costs you $100 per year to feed each snake, that would come out to $600 for both animals for the three years (IF it takes that long before they can breed) Now with the 15 babies being sold in a stable environment, you would still be left with $500 for housing/feeding them and profit.

If you build a rack to house the hatchlings, you can't really take that money out of your profit 100% unless you don't plan on breeding again either.

What if instead of 1.1, you were to buy, perhaps, 2.6 of the same animals. Your costs would be $1600 for stock and housing. Feeding would be $2400, totalling $4000 over 3 years, but if each female still had 15 babies, your Sales would be $9000, with a profit of $5000.
***

Keep in mind that you DO need money to get started, but if you can round it up, it should hopefully pay off if you are able to take excellent care of your herps!

I am not keeping the collection that I've got now solely for the purpose of keeping them. Granted, they're beautiful animals and I truly have a passion for them, but there's no way in hell that I'd have as much money into them as I do if there was no chance (yes I said chance as it's not certain!) of a return!

Final note, as many others have said, the money most likely does go back into the snakes, either for food, or even better, more snakes. I just wonder, if you breed, sell the offspring, and then get new snakes, how can they not be considered profit?

Enough ramblng, sorry!

Brent Strande

Slannesh · 11-19-04, 05:37 AM

I think your math is a little over simplified Brent.

Not saying I disagree with you however, but there's more to keeping herps than just housing and feeding costs. Electricity, space to keep them, possible vet bills, set up for incubation and i'm sure a host of other things need to be considered as well.

Now, I don't think it's impossible to make a living doing it. But like any small business it takes a hell of a lot of work to make it happen. Definately not something to enter into lightly if the goal is to make a living. That being said I don't think most of us are trying to make a living at it. Some of us (like myself) haven't even actually started yet

Point is, you can make a go of pretty much anything if you're willing to put the time, effort and money into it as well as doing the appropriate research and getting the correct skills to make it happen.