i think i may breed snakes

raggie33

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i figure i need more income i also know im good with animnals i also know there are snakes that are very expensive so i think i may try breeding em for petshops sound like good idea?
 

TimB

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Hi Raggie,

I bred snakes (colubrids) for a while as a hobby, never was able to make a profit though. My suggestion would be first to read up on the subject. Bob Applegate (lives in my area, VERY nice guy) wrote a book that has lots of good info. Next try to get to know some of the pet store owners in your area and see which ones are knowledgeable about snakes. Talk to them and see what they will buy. The high-dollar multicolored kingsnakes can be difficult to sell in pet stores because the price on them is a bit high.

Keep in mind if you buy hatchlings it will be at least 3 years until they are ready to breed. You may want to start out by getting some adult cornsnakes. They will be ready to breed your first year and they have large clutches of eggs. The babies generally feed well and are commonly sold in most pet stores. The downside is the wholesale price is very low.

Good luck :)

-Tim
 

matt_j

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snakes.jpg
 

raggie33

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i been to a place once called strictly repitiles it was so cool they had a milion snakes they was the suplier for i guess the whole country i love reptiles
 

dimwatt

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Get one as pet Raggie, but don't plan on breeding. You can't compete in the market and pet stores will not pay enough for you to make a profit.

Until my health got worse about four years ago my wife and I bred many reptiles including snakes. We sold at most of the reptiles shows in California and did well but saw many, many people who wanted to be a breeder. Most never make it. These are the ones who keep the breeders in business. Pet stores buy from wholesale distributors and very seldom from private breeders.

Please don't buy from a pet store. Buy from a reputable breeder who will answer your questions. Don't worry about them being shipped to you from somewhere else. A good breeder ships all over the States and seldom has a problem.

TimB gave the best advice possible, so read up before you do anything. I still have a book or two that I can send you if you are serious about snakes.

Out of all the reptiles we had I kept my Red Acanthurus dwarf monitors and two Jungla Carpet Pythons, Speedbump and Cleopatra:)

dimwatt
 

MaxaBaker

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Sounds like a good money maker for you raggs. I like reptiles to. I'd probably have a pet snake myself if my mom wasn't deathly afraid of them..........
 

DaFiend

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would you need a licence? i know here in australia you can have some types of snake, but others you will need an "Exotic Reptile Licence" or something sounding similar to that.
 

BC0311

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Excellent advice here.

Raggie, I think you'd really enjoy pet snakes. Then as you gain more knowledge and experience with them you might find a nitch in the market.

They make good pets:
standard.jpg


They're also good eatin' and their skins are cool.
standard.jpg
 

raggie33

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lol one time i had a rattle snake i didnt know it was rattle snake to i saw it on tv.i was glad it ddint bite me lol
 

snakebite

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what the matter with that boa that you need to restrain its head?
it it a biter?
most i have are nice.
btw i breed them here.

[ QUOTE ]
BC0311 said:
Excellent advice here.

Raggie, I think you'd really enjoy pet snakes. Then as you gain more knowledge and experience with them you might find a nitch in the market.

They make good pets:
standard.jpg


They're also good eatin' and their skins are cool.
standard.jpg


[/ QUOTE ]
 

raggie33

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sanke bite if i recall thats a wild caught snake .while britt was over seas
 

snakebite

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wild caught critters are usually nasty.
if you do get boa's to breed you will have no problem selling the offspring.
babies sell easy around here for about 75.00
they are escape artists though.
i had a litter of 60+ where i had to round up 20 or so that escaped through 3/8 in vent holes in the cage.
they hid in a raid array and computer.others came out at night and were spotted easily once everything was dark and quiet.hear a sound and point flashlight.found all of them.
 

sniper

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Raggie:
I've often thought about raising butterflies and moths for photography. I liked the one in "Silence of the Lambs", but there must be at least a dozen laws against bringing foreign insects into the States.
I had a roomie in College that raised Black Widow spiders. He was an ex-Air Force electronics wonk. Weird guy! Do they have snake shows? Do your speak Parseltongue? Good luck with the whole thing.
 

Draco_Americanus

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Snakes are cool! but you need to think of their food source as well, you can breed your own mice and sutch but they need room and can smell horribly if your not "on top of things"
My thing is I like toads, I don't currently have any but I had a Cane Toad that I named Bladder. If you irritated him, then you would find out why He had that name. I mail ordered Him, it was odd, He was delivered via Fed-x. whent to open the box and found it packed with moss and there was a pair of eyes looking out at Me!
 

BC0311

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Raggie and Snakebite, you're right that's a wild Boa that I was asked to go pick up and relocate up in the rain forest along the Guat border in Belize.

I wasn't restraining her, I was just holding her head up for the pose. She never was anything but gentle with me, but she'd hiss and dart at some others.

I kept her in a wicker laundry basket for a month in my cabana. I fed her frogs and we found out she was gravid. We got her back in health and then I put her in a saddlebag on horseback and took her up to a prime spot for release. This photo was taken right before I did that.

After having her for a week, she nudged the top off the hamper and when I woke up in the night she was stretched out along my leg! Isn't that wild? I figured she just got cold. I insulated her basket better and during the day took the lid off. I don't mind saying that I pegged the pucker meter to find her in bed with me.

The snake skin in the photo is a Malaysian Python, 14 feet from tip to tip as I recall. It surprised me and I killed it. I regretted it afterwards. But we ate it and a local prepared the skin for me to take home.

I rolled it up and hid it in a laundry bag of unwashed underwear that I enhanced with some mud. I sold it to Lucchese boot company for a tidy sum.
 

flashlight

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[ QUOTE ]
Draco_Americanus said:
Snakes are cool! but you need to think of their food source as well, you can breed your own mice and sutch but they need room and can smell horribly if your not "on top of things"
My thing is I like toads, I don't currently have any but I had a Cane Toad that I named Bladder. If you irritated him, then you would find out why He had that name. I mail ordered Him, it was odd, He was delivered via Fed-x. whent to open the box and found it packed with moss and there was a pair of eyes looking out at Me!

[/ QUOTE ]

Aren't Cane Toads poisonous & banned as they destroy local fauna? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

Britt, you're a regular er, Jungle Jim! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

BC0311

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[ QUOTE ]
...if you do get boa's to breed you will have no problem selling the offspring.
babies sell easy around here for about 75.00
they are escape artists though.
i had a litter of 60+ where i had to round up 20 or so that escaped through 3/8 in vent holes in the cage.


[/ QUOTE ]

Whoa! 60+ ! I'd have been a nervous wreck. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/Christo_pull_hair.gif

Cyril, man, that sure brought back some memories. "Jungle Jim" with Johnny Weismuller? I don't think I've seen an episode since 1959-60. You can't be as ancient as I am, you must get the reruns on cable. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Britt
 

DaFiend

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Cane toads are having a a devasting effect on local fauna here in Australia.

Some idiot thought they could use them to get rid of this beattle that eats the sugar canes. Beatle stays in the top of the plant, cane toad stays on the ground. Can't get a dumber idea than that. Stupid intoduced species.

they are highy toxic, they excrete a milky substance from glands on their back.

They are only good for hitting with Golf sticks.
 
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