$600 to begin breeding...

not sure if I found the right forum for this, but I didn't see anything that fit better lol.

anyway, I asked this question on ball-pythons.net and got some interesting answers (except with $1000 to start).

so, my question is this. if you were JUST starting to breed cornsnakes and you had a $600 budget (after all supplies/racks/etc)...what kinds of cornsnakes would you get and why?

I would love to see answers of those that are already breeding, what they started with and what they would have done different as well as anyone interested in breeding and what they're considering for their beginning stock

aaaaand GO!

None lol, After racks, mice, hatchlings racks, and shoe boxes and bins you'd be broke. Get a few snakes as hatchlings that you genuinely like an raise them up. Make sure you have a species you are passionate about and love caring for, make sure you have the time, contacts, some real start up money, and necessary supplies. Breeding isn't a get rich quick scheme or something cool to try- its an investment of time, money, sweat, more time and money, and a lot of satisfaction if you enjoy it, but its not for everyone and if your serious consider more like $6,000 to start some real breeding projects.

You could go two ways about it... you could get a couple or few high end animals and focus on producing just a few of a harder to get, more expensive morph (and if so $600 might not get you much to start with) or you could get a bunch of less expensive ones and produce the usual amels, anerys and snows and not make as much per hatchling but produce more hatchlings.
But the most important thing is It all boils down to what do YOU like? It might not be what is most popular but if you are breeding to sell you are in it for the wrong reasons anyway. Why do you want to breed? You will most likely not make any money breeding, the only reason to do so is because you have a passion for the hobby. And if so you should always go with the morphs that have the most appeal to you personally, the ones you can feel excited about and insprired to produce the nicest ones you can.

Learn from the school of hard knocks.. If you actually really look, your best to research it on your own.. When posed with a question of this nature, I am more than reluctant to give any information at all, generally I ignore these because they seem so loaded to me.. Good Luck!


Regards.. Tim of T and J

Originally Posted by freddiesinmyseat

not sure if I found the right forum for this, but I didn't see anything that fit better lol.

anyway, I asked this question on ball-pythons.net and got some interesting answers (except with $1000 to start).

so, my question is this. if you were JUST starting to breed cornsnakes and you had a $600 budget (after all supplies/racks/etc)...what kinds of cornsnakes would you get and why?

I would love to see answers of those that are already breeding, what they started with and what they would have done different as well as anyone interested in breeding and what they're considering for their beginning stock

aaaaand GO!

If you really want to do so, and with $600.00 to spend on your first snakes. get a few of the common morphs. why? you ask, because most people who are at reptile expos with their kids are not buying the high end morphs. I sell more $ 25.00 - $75.00 corns at shows than anything else.
So get your "early on" income that way. Also consider selling "Out Of Egg" wholesale at first. this lets you breed hatch and sell without any of the work of selling established Hatchlins. That by the way is more work than most people realize!
Now with the income you make from doing the "common/ Volume" thing as I call it, FIRST and foremost, purchase any equipment you may need, additional racks, ect. Then use the extra money to SLOWLY, purchase your higher end morphs. Stay away from buying "PROVEN BREEDERS" to try and fast track your colony, ask yourself why would someone move a proven breeder (female). do not get me wrong some are legit, some are not and to find out next breeding season she is a dud, is a waste of your time and money. Build your colony up from hatchlins, it will build sound pride in the product you produce!
Lastly, do not try to become too big, too fast. Once you get in over your head, you'll start to tire, slack off and things will quickly go south on you.
So, with that, I wish you luck in your venture!

As, far as which morphs to eventually buy,... well thats up to you to figure out

Originally Posted by Old_School

If you really want to do so, and with $600.00 to spend on your first snakes. get a few of the common morphs. why? you ask, because most people who are at reptile expos with their kids are not buying the high end morphs. I sell more $ 25.00 - $75.00 corns at shows than anything else.
So get your "early on" income that way. Also consider selling "Out Of Egg" wholesale at first. this lets you breed hatch and sell without any of the work of selling established Hatchlins. That by the way is more work than most people realize!
Now with the income you make from doing the "common/ Volume" thing as I call it, FIRST and foremost, purchase any equipment you may need, additional racks, ect. Then use the extra money to SLOWLY, purchase your higher end morphs. Stay away from buying "PROVEN BREEDERS" to try and fast track your colony, ask yourself why would someone move a proven breeder (female). do not get me wrong some are legit, some are not and to find out next breeding season she is a dud, is a waste of your time and money. Build your colony up from hatchlins, it will build sound pride in the product you produce!
Lastly, do not try to become too big, too fast. Once you get in over your head, you'll start to tire, slack off and things will quickly go south on you.
So, with that, I wish you luck in your venture!

As, far as which morphs to eventually buy,... well thats up to you to figure out

finally, a straight answer LOL!

I think most of you have me all wrong. I was just curious as to what YOU guys would do. I'm definitely NOT in it as a get rich quick. I can see why most of you would assume so with all of the people coming in here with a passing interest in snakes as an income.

I appreciate this answer very much because it actually gives me a lot of relevant info. though I don't think I'll be selling wholesale (or even get that big lol!) I do appreciate the tip about expos. that would definitely help support the snakes and feeders. I'm actually going to be breeding as a hobby more than a "business"...I've still got my day job which I plan on keeping to help with the bills.

while I do hope that breeding snakes will be able to support me and my girlfriend one day, I doubt it would be any day soon...or at all.

and with that, does anyone else have any input?

personally, I plan on working towards diffused/blood red morphs but will probably start with combo pattern/color. I love miamis and okeetees, kisatchies and banded corns are interesting to me too :P. also enjoy a good charcoal or hypo. would definitely love to get my hands on a tessera (1k? ahhh! lol) but that will be a few years down the line.

so with that being said, I'll be hoping to pick up some snakes at the upcoming expos as follows ('07 or earlier if possible, but willing to raise from hatchlings):
1.2 hypo
1.2 anery
1.1 okeetee

and maybe 1.1-2.4 '09 ghost combos

I know I probably won't get those specific ones and will have to work around peoples' prices (these are just estimates based off kingsnake :P) and what morphs are available, but that's the general ballpark of where I wanna go

Originally Posted by danielle

None lol, After racks, mice, hatchlings racks, and shoe boxes and bins you'd be broke. Get a few snakes as hatchlings that you genuinely like an raise them up. Make sure you have a species you are passionate about and love caring for, make sure you have the time, contacts, some real start up money, and necessary supplies. Breeding isn't a get rich quick scheme or something cool to try- its an investment of time, money, sweat, more time and money, and a lot of satisfaction if you enjoy it, but its not for everyone and if your serious consider more like $6,000 to start some real breeding projects.

I was talking after all supplies were purchased, 600 just for the snakes themselves :P

I know it's not a get rich quick, anyone looking to do so hasn't done their research and/or even care for the snakes.

I've done research on starting costs, rack costs, flexwatt, thermostats, etc. and I'm aware of what it'll cost me to get up and running as a HOBBY lol.

I do however plan on dumping most of my available funds into breeding corns and ball pythons...loves me the scaleys...and I'm just glad my girlfriend is actually foolish enough to encourage me...HA!

Originally Posted by ghosthousecorns

You could go two ways about it... you could get a couple or few high end animals and focus on producing just a few of a harder to get, more expensive morph (and if so $600 might not get you much to start with) or you could get a bunch of less expensive ones and produce the usual amels, anerys and snows and not make as much per hatchling but produce more hatchlings.
But the most important thing is It all boils down to what do YOU like? It might not be what is most popular but if you are breeding to sell you are in it for the wrong reasons anyway. Why do you want to breed? You will most likely not make any money breeding, the only reason to do so is because you have a passion for the hobby. And if so you should always go with the morphs that have the most appeal to you personally, the ones you can feel excited about and insprired to produce the nicest ones you can.

thanks for the response

I don't plan my initial investment to put me past 10 breeder sized snakes. I know that's probably not considered much by all of the veterans, but I do want to start somewhere without posing too much of a risk to the snakes' health or my financial ability to support them.

I know you all started somewhere and you didn't automatically know everything. I've done plenty of research for and by myself without help from forums, all I really wanted was a "I started with snows and I still love snows, if I did it again, I'd do the same" or such, ya know? lol. this was more for curiosity than any kind of business planning. I try not to rely on others when it comes to financial matters, money fluctuates enough with just me looking at it...don't need to add in other peoples' opinions to that matter lol!

sorry if I've repeated anything in the last couple posts, it's hot as you know what here...and it isn't dry...head's a little off base atm XD

but again, thanks for the response and hope to hear from you again soon

Originally Posted by TandJ

Learn from the school of hard knocks.. If you actually really look, your best to research it on your own.. When posed with a question of this nature, I am more than reluctant to give any information at all, generally I ignore these because they seem so loaded to me.. Good Luck!


Regards.. Tim of T and J

been doing plenty of research and do plan on getting first hand experience. I'm not looking for a business plan, just what peoples' interests are and why they would choose those certain snakes (like do they plan on combos or they're just the favs, maybe they have "secret plans"? who knows)

thanks for the input though, greatly appreciated

Yea I think we are having the same heat wave here. So if I sounded like I was lecturing, well it's hot and I am grumpy LOL. But we do see a lot of people come and go on this forum and it can be hard to tell who is for real and serious and who sees breeding corns as a get rich scheme. If your hobby pays for itself and you enjoy doing it that can have as much or more value than money in the bank.
OK maybe I didn't get what you were asking for in the original post so this is what I started with: An amel, snow, and anery. Don't have a single one of them anymore. I did gain valuable experience breeding them but my interests have changed since.
I think my question is still valid: What do YOU like? For instance I hate blood reds. I might see them selling like hot cakes but to me they are just blah and I would not breed them. On the other hand, I love ghosts. I don't see a huge demand for them and they are not a high end morph but I keep on working with them because I like them.