Truly lucky fella. No one is throwing insane offers at me, to the contrary, people are trying to bargain. Funny world this is!
Breeding Snakes as A Job????
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Truly lucky fella. No one is throwing insane offers at me, to the contrary, people are trying to bargain. Funny world this is!
This thread is a crack up!!
I find it really funny that those that have been in reps for a very short period and at a guess have never bred any reps before are the most vocal about how much you can make from breeding them.
I would suggest those of you that think like this put you money where your mouths are spend the cash
that is needed to purchase breeding animals and build the appropriate areas to house said critters and have a crack. Then after you fist 12 months come back and tell everyone just how easy you have done it
and how much money you are rolling in!
Hell the majority can't even get the husbandry right!
I find it really funny that those that have been in reps for a very short period and at a guess have never bred any reps before are the most vocal about how much you can make from breeding them.
I would suggest those of you that think like this put you money where your mouths are spend the cash
that is needed to purchase breeding animals and build the appropriate areas to house said critters and have a crack. Then after you fist 12 months come back and tell everyone just how easy you have done it
and how much money you are rolling in!
Hell the majority can't even get the husbandry right!
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LuckyPhil78
Not so new Member
Could be the fact that maye your up in Queensland and hes down here in NSW. Maybe harder to get down here than up there.
Skelhorn
Very Well-Known Member
If my stimson's breed (im not seriously fussed) I let the mum incubate the eggs then if they were to hatch i will raise them. When they sell the money I make from the babies will well and truely cover all food costs every gone into them, all electricity costs ever gone into them and 1/2 the tank costs. And thats from a breed that isn't mint $$$. If someone is looking for a hobby and not to full time breed then they can make a pretty packet. its not uncommon to have unto 15 eggs off stimsons. Each baby sells for a cheap $150 then thats a "possible" $2250. My snake tank with everything (lights, mats, ornimants etc etc) included cost $750. Food (I might have spent $200 in the last 2 years for them-buying from private rodent breeders). Electricity (we monitor on a LCD device so its not that much) Maybe $200 over the last 2 years. Substrate (old newspaper or bark) $50 in two years.
Actual snakes $150 each. So far they have only cost $1500. Now thats the initial costs done up.
If they were to breed and if (not key word-if) they were to lay and hatch 15 successful eggs then the costs per baby ( lets say $30-40 each-Housing, food, electricity) then that puts the total amount to $2100 to raise the babies until they sell (based on $40 per baby).
So first year of breeding comes completely clean for any associated costs with the snakes. Each year after is profit. If someone had one or two breeding pairs of pythons as a hobby a year they "would" make money off the snakes.
Each to their own. I may be completely off. But if my pythons mate when they become mature I will be sure to let you know how I go and if I break even after 1 year of breeding and so forth for the years to come. upfront costs of reptiles is expensive. We all know that. But the more years you breed the cheaper it gets as you have more supplies as the years go on!
Actual snakes $150 each. So far they have only cost $1500. Now thats the initial costs done up.
If they were to breed and if (not key word-if) they were to lay and hatch 15 successful eggs then the costs per baby ( lets say $30-40 each-Housing, food, electricity) then that puts the total amount to $2100 to raise the babies until they sell (based on $40 per baby).
So first year of breeding comes completely clean for any associated costs with the snakes. Each year after is profit. If someone had one or two breeding pairs of pythons as a hobby a year they "would" make money off the snakes.
Each to their own. I may be completely off. But if my pythons mate when they become mature I will be sure to let you know how I go and if I break even after 1 year of breeding and so forth for the years to come. upfront costs of reptiles is expensive. We all know that. But the more years you breed the cheaper it gets as you have more supplies as the years go on!
If you actually look at true stimsoni egg averages you would know that the egg rate is 7-9 from most females. To assume you are going to get a clutch of 15 from a first time attempt and all good eggs is at best humourous.
Yes there are some that do drop larger amounts of eggs but this is not the norm and in some cases can stem back to having maculosa in the blood line somewhere in the past when all Antaresia were thought to have been one distinction and were bred together.
Yes there are some that do drop larger amounts of eggs but this is not the norm and in some cases can stem back to having maculosa in the blood line somewhere in the past when all Antaresia were thought to have been one distinction and were bred together.
And all have failed.....who are you kidding..!!! There are many keepers that have made fortunes out there and did so for many years. They are now making less due to market changes, but none the less, they have done extremely well from reptiles in the past and still do OK now. The only way you will 'make money' from this hobby is to be prepared to outlay large amounts up front for the latest morphs. But you also need to know what you are getting yourself into and understanding the genetics behind these animals so you that you know what you are working with. Most of the high end animals these days have a form of genetic mutation, whether it be recessive or co-dominant, and these critters can produce some amazing results when paired up to a variety of nicely marked animals. However standard polygenic traits that are slapped with some fan dangled name are nothing more than a pretty snake with no real potential in the 'mutations' race, so paying a lot for them will not get you very far long term.
@Skellhorn - You should really also consider the amount of time you will spend looking after the animals as a whole. You may say that you don't take into account your own free time, but it is a time you should really factor into the equation, after all, there are many other things you can do, such as nothing or watch telly. If you have two snakes to care for, your time is minimal and a feed/clean once a week/fortnight will take you no time. However when you suddenly have 10 hatchies, which will take you hours just get feeding, and then feeding every 4 or 5 days and cleaning every few days as they are little poop machines, you will soon realise how much time you actually spend looking after them, which will add to your expenses column. Don't forget to then add the 'can you send me pics of its cloaca, top jaw and its eye ball' brigade, the 'I am going to ask you 1000 questions and not buy it from you' or the 'I bought a snake and its not eating, what should I do (even though you never sold them the snake) - tyre kickers that will soon take up many hours of your valuable time and then they wonder why you get the poops with them......:? Don't get me wrong, I am all for helping people, but when selling animals I put the majority of info needed and pics as well, but some people can't even give you the courtesy of their name. Sorry, ends rant. All I am trying to say is that there is a heap of lost time that goes into these animals as well which you need to take into consideration. Even the half hour to an hour spent with the buyer at the time of purchasing comes into the fact. So, no, you won't make a poo load of money unless you are extremely boring and have no life, therefore having many hours of unprecious time to waste.
:lol:
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A few corrections if I may.
1/ GTPs are not going down in price quickly. They went down quickly 3 years ago as a result of a massive import that is unlikely to be repeated. In the last 2 years the prices are quite stable.
2/ You can sex large hatchlings as early as 8 months of age (safely).
3/ There may be some GTPs sold under $500.- sometimes in the future but not all. Some breeders are now starting to produce "interesting" GTPs and they will always demand higher price.
4/ All failed? That sounds very funny but I guess you know better.
I agree with you that it's always good idea to get a high paying job. Any vacancies?
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Skelhorn
Very Well-Known Member
I know two people that have had clutches of 13. And regardless you seem to ignore anything else that I said, obviously proving you wrong. Even if you took two years to get to 15 babies then any year past that is profit. There is money to be made in certain reptile species if you take the time! I refereed to making money back from the reptiles that you own. Therefore technically you have not spent any on your reptiles. The more years you breed the more successful you become and the cheaper it becomes as you have all the equipment already set up.
Each to their own. But if mine breed and they took 2-3 years to get 20+ babies then it wouldn't bother me as I will come even from all the initial set up costs then the following year would be a couple of hundred in my back pocket!
You are right i cant argue with you! I dont have much experience with these things, Only breed Antaresia every year and have done so for years, in fact i had a light year this year with only 54 hatchlings.
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Red-Ink
Very Well-Known Member
I make enough (most cases under) for the amount of critters I keep to sustain themselves. I don't breed everything every year just what i can be bothered dealing with. Last season that was a single pair of geckos lol. If I get enough that I "feel" the hobby didn't burn a hole in my pocket for the year I'm happy (even if I'm lying to myself). IF I get enough cherry on top to get new animals from the seasons breeding even if it's just another pair of "standard animals" I don't have..... I'm grinning ear to ear.
Once I have enough animals that I'm getting enough for it to be a small paying job..... well there it is isn't it. It is now a job and no longer a hobby, no longer fun and interesting as thing start to become a chore, just like any other job. Not for me thanks....
Once I have enough animals that I'm getting enough for it to be a small paying job..... well there it is isn't it. It is now a job and no longer a hobby, no longer fun and interesting as thing start to become a chore, just like any other job. Not for me thanks....
Too true Red-Ink, I have been there and done that with over 250 animals at one point in time, no thanks, never again. It just became a chore that I started to hate. No quality time spent with my animals so I have cut back. It was for this reason, amongst others, that I decided not to breed much over the last couple of years and have only paired up 6 or 7 animals for this season. And even they are all being bred due to their genetics and not just for the sake of it.
Jungletrans
Very Well-Known Member
There have been so many people that collected breeding pairs of really expensive snakes only to watch the prices plummet it makes glad that I'm only in it as a hobby ;]
abnrmal91
Very Well-Known Member
Listen to this it's really interesting. It's Brian Barczyk from BHP reptiles talking about breeding reptiles as a living.
Tonight.. Brian Barczyk and the business of reptiles 05/29 by Moreliapythonradio | Blog Talk Radio
Apart from all the work I think you would have trouble making ends meet purely breeding reptiles. The Australia reptile industry is so small compared to overseas, it doesn't take long for everyone who wants to have the newest reptile to get one.
That said there is money to be made in the right places. It was either Nick Mutton or Justin Julander said that when ever they buy a new morph as a hatchling, they expect the price they paid to have dropped by 75% (USA market) when they sell hatchlings. Even with this price drop ther is still money in it. For example you pay $10000 to buy a pair they breed & you sell every pair for $2500, now considering most pythons have a little more then 8 eggs it's already paid for the initial cost of the animals in the first breeding season. Every season after that is profit, yes the sale price will continue to decrease over time but it's still profit (less running costs).
Tonight.. Brian Barczyk and the business of reptiles 05/29 by Moreliapythonradio | Blog Talk Radio
Apart from all the work I think you would have trouble making ends meet purely breeding reptiles. The Australia reptile industry is so small compared to overseas, it doesn't take long for everyone who wants to have the newest reptile to get one.
That said there is money to be made in the right places. It was either Nick Mutton or Justin Julander said that when ever they buy a new morph as a hatchling, they expect the price they paid to have dropped by 75% (USA market) when they sell hatchlings. Even with this price drop ther is still money in it. For example you pay $10000 to buy a pair they breed & you sell every pair for $2500, now considering most pythons have a little more then 8 eggs it's already paid for the initial cost of the animals in the first breeding season. Every season after that is profit, yes the sale price will continue to decrease over time but it's still profit (less running costs).
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Wild~Touch
Very Well-Known Member
The one big mistake Australian "would be" reptile breeders make is using USA statistics to gauge the hobby/industry here.
IMO we will never be on the same page
Just my observations
Cheers
Sandee
IMO we will never be on the same page
Just my observations
Cheers
Sandee
PMyers
Well-Known Member
Supplemental income... not a full-time profession
yes all the people that went into thinking its a get rich quick have failed! some people have made good money out of reptiles but they are in it for different reasons... and micheal gtp price have dropped each year including this on, you can now pick up native gtp for $900ea
Even less that that but it was like that for the last two years. On the other hand, I bought a hatchling two years ago and paid 2.7K for it. I guarantee you, if that line (and others) is bred again this season, they won't go any cheaper - and they will sell.
The lowest price is not the benchmark, nor the average, mode or median value. It's probably true that most people buying their first GTP are driven by the limit of their budget but there is also a lot of people with deep pocket willing to pay top $$ if they find what they want. You need to see both ends of the spectrum to get the complete picture.
True, but there have also been those that have purchased really expensive snakes and seen them increase in value and those that have gotten several years of making top dollars before profits have dramatically dropped.
And as Michael has said, there are still people willing to pay good money for the right animals these days, but most of them are after genetics, generally being in the antaresia or JAG game, or those that are working with new blood like some of the chondros that are starting to get around. Generally, top end breeders are always on the hunt for something different and will pay accordingly, they are not interested in your wild type animals anymore, unless of course, it is different.
If you wish to blame anyone for killing the pricing out here, then blame the JAG/Chondro smugglers as they have destroyed this market for the time being. Obviously it will settle down over time and people will look for the new latest and greatest morph to hit the market and who knows what will happen to the price. Like in the States, I can't see your 'wild type' animals ever being worth anything ever again as more and more morphs come about and their prices drop as well.
abnrmal91
Very Well-Known Member
Wild type animals in the states are actually worth the same or more then some of the morphs. Pure Darwin's are either around $5000 each or $5000 a pair, it's to do with supply and demand. There aren't a lot of pures over there at the moment. It's funny most people want what the Americans have & most the anerican python keepers want our locality stuff.
I didnt even read any of this thread, Im just going off the title.. but my 2 cents anyway...
I say, find yourself a niche with a couple of species and stick at it. This country is just too damn small and has tunnel vision.
- Australia's population is too small to make any real money. Maybe if you started breeding 20yrs ago before the 'boom'.
- The borders are well and truly closed.
- There are already well established, full time breeders here, who control the market.
- The number of snakes being bred every year is rising at an unsustainable rate.
- Unless your breeding bleeding edge stuff you'll get stuck with hatchies you dont want.
- The borders are well and truly closed.
- From what Ive seen in the last 10 years, everyone is out to stab everyone in the back.
- The borders are well and truly closed.
- If you breed snakes in large numbers, the gov will treat you as a smuggler until proven innocent.
I say, find yourself a niche with a couple of species and stick at it. This country is just too damn small and has tunnel vision.
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