To breeders big and small...

[Green Bean]

Why is it that you breed? Cornsnakes that is, lol. For even those thinking about breeding their corns, why would you want to do it?

 

[Tula_Montage]

To produce animals I can't otherwise afford

I'm sure for many people it's the excitment of "whats going to happen". Ie what new morph will pop out of this breeding. And the above mentioned.

For me it will be producing that particular animal to the best standard/quality I can. For example I would never breed small females (under 300 grams), picky eaters, agressive or nervous animals. I won't be breeding anything until next year, but I already have my pairs picked out... They could go this year but I want my females (corns) over 400 grams.

I also don't agree with producing something there is no real demand for. For example I know a lot of people breed JUST for petstores in the US. I hope to place everything I produce, be it a £20 normal hatchling with a few hets, to homes I know people will care for them. I'll sell on as pets and to private breeders etc. Maybe I am too particular, but I would see their lives as my responsibility, and I owe it to them to have them cared for to a particular standard. I also love when people give regular updates on animals I have sold, and I have been lucky enough until now to have only sold to GOOD snake keepers. Its also essential when breeding for the seasons I am... you need to know how that animal turns out. ie does it have feeding issues, growth problems, not particularly great colouration?

Gee I could ramble all night about my reasons for why I want to breed (selectivley breed). :sidestep:

 

[tyflier]

Personally...I first considered it because there are a couple morphs I want, that I simply can't afford to purchase, but I can afford to purchase het adults and produce them myself. I also have a "niche" market in my area. There are many snake lovers and pet snake owners, but nobody dealing with cornsnakes. The only guy that breeds in my area deals almost exclusively with milks, so I want to corner the kings, corns, and hybrids markets. I also already have housing for hatchlings in place, as well as steady buyers of the "lesser" morphs(normals, hypos, anerys, amels, etc...) in my local pet shops.

It started with wanting a couple of specific morphs, and has turned into looking for answers to genetic problems. Next spring will be my first breeding trials, so we'll see if I get frustrated or my questions answered...

 

[Susan]

That's a very good question and I'm sure you will get a diversity of answers. For me, I breed my corns mostly for the pleasure of mixing the various genes in combos that appeal to me and getting to see what special surprise is inside each egg. I'm sure many people are looking for something new to hatch out, and I've experienced that pleasure the first time a dilute anery motley hatched out. But there are also certain specimens of existing morphs that have a special appeal to me, and I'm always looking for those unique examples. Desdemona, my anery zigzag, is a perfect example. I've been known to actually spend hours watching clutches hatch, anxiously waiting for each little hatchling to fully emerge from it's shell just so I can see what's attached to that tiny head with the flicking tongue.

 

[ghosthousecorns]

I like working with the little ones... it's rewarding to get the stubborn ones to eat, and to see the interesting results from different combos of genes. I started out doing one clutch my first year, but it's just plain addictive so it snowballed from there. Those pippies are too darn cute, and it's also fun to go to herp shows and stuff. At first I probably spent more on my collection than I made selling the babies, so it isn't about the money though I have broken even and maybe made a modest profit (read enough to buy more snakes) the past couple of years.

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

I think Susan about summed up my answer.

I love seeing what comes out of a particular pairing, even if I did the same one the year before. What's really exciting for me is having the hets for a morph I don't have (or one I just really, really love) and seeing those particular babies pip. It's also wonderful to perfect a certain look (for me, perfect Stripes & Motleys) through the generations.

 

[Jimmyman28]

I think it's just like Christmas morning, or your birthday. You have a real good idea of what you're going to get but there can always be that twist that you never knew you wanted. I'm doing it to play with the morphs, I think it will be fun to see what they come out with. Especially since my Amel has unknown hets, along with my blood. Once they get to breed I'll soon find out.
This is a really good question too!

 

[kathylove]

It used to be for experimenting with the unknown genes to see what comes up, and to possibly be first with something new (that's always exciting!). But now that so many genes have been discovered, and so many able people are working on new projects, I actually like just producing babies that I really like to look at as they grow.

As already said, hatching season is like opening Christmas presents to see what is inside. I look at them more as eye candy to soothe the soul more than anything else. And I have to produce and sell babies in order to be able to keep as many pretty adults as I do - I am not wealthy enough to keep them strictly for fun if they don't pay their way.

I would like to delve more into the Amazon tree boas for the new gene projects - virtually nothing has been discovered there compared to corns and many other boas and pythons. I just keep a few right now, but I think it will be really exciting to work with something that has been really underappreciated for so long.

 

[bitsy]

I breed because I firmly believe that more people should own pet Corn Snakes. They make much more sense than cats or dogs in this world of over-work; a Corn won't miss you if you can't spend quality time with it or take it out for a walk and and adult only needs feeding overy 7-14 days.

Plus Corns teach you a great sense of humility. A dog will do what you tell it because you're above it in the pecking order. A cat might do what you tell it if there's something in it for the cat. But try to get a Corn to do something for you? Nah. The Corn goes about its own business and we have to adapt ourselves and our environment for their needs. A great life lesson.

The excitement of hatching is always welcome, even if that's swiftly followed by weeks (if not months) of angst, trying to persuade the problem feeders that pinkies are food!

 

[tbtusk]

Great question!

As this is my first year ever, i can't say for sure what is the best part for me, but why I do it? Mostly it is that I am so interested to see what comes out. I really can't wait to see a little hatchling pip! The genetics are a real interest of mine as well. I think I started mostly because I love the animals, but the idea of trying to combine genes and see new combinations of genes (new for me at least!) is really a big part of it for me. The whole thing just seems so fun, I can't really say for sure why I decided to start. Everything really (except money, even though it would be nice to make a buck or 2), the corns and the genes. What other reasons are there?/ :shrugs:

 

[bill38112]

I've done selective breeding of various species of animals for over 40 years. It started with fish and birds in the 60's, then I began breeding dogs in the 70's, and added cats in the 80's. At first it was just a fascination with the circle of life, watching the newborns develop into juveniles and adults.

Once I started to competitively show my animals in the 70's, the obsession with manipulating the look of the animals set in. Do you know what guppies and bettas looked like in the 60's? I only remember two colors of bettas, red and blue. And they had rather limp fins. Now we have tie died looking fish with full moon fins. Parakeets in the 60's were either blue or green, Now you can get them in almost any color. Persian cats in the 60's had pointed faces, long bodies, and shaggy coats. Now they have Pekingese looking faces, short bull dog type bodies, and coats like a cloud of cotton candy.

Corn snakes are really in their infancy. Humans have been selectively breeding fish and birds for thousands of years. Dogs have only been competitively shown for a couple of hundred years and the Cat Fanciers Association just celebrated its 100th anniversary. The first man made morph of corn snake was born in 1961. We are basically in on the ground floor. How exciting is that?

My goal is to breed snakes that can reliably produce two colors, hot pink and royal purple. I've seen a couple of examples out there already, but they are still rare. Personally, I think too many people are focused on producing new morphs before they have set in the characteristics of their existing morphs. I think when a breeder charges big bucks for a hatchling, he/she should know what that hatchling is going to look like when it's an adult AND what it's offspring will look like. How would you feel if you paid a small fortune for a toy poodle and it grew up to look like a St. Bernard?

OK, soap box is stored back under sofa. Just my opinion...based on 40+ years of breeding animals.

 

[Chris Olson]

I breed corns for the women and the untold fortunes :grin01: .

Chris

 

[Tula_Montage]

My goal is to breed snakes that can reliably produce two colors, hot pink and royal purple. I've seen a couple of examples out there already, but they are still rare. Personally, I think too many people are focused on producing new morphs before they have set in the characteristics of their existing morphs. I think when a breeder charges big bucks for a hatchling, he/she should know what that hatchling is going to look like when it's an adult AND what it's offspring will look like. How would you feel if you paid a small fortune for a toy poodle and it grew up to look like a St. Bernard?

OK, soap box is stored back under sofa. Just my opinion...based on 40+ years of breeding animals.

This is a fabulous post, and exactly how I feel