Looking to start a breeding project(hobby)

[cpike]

Well just by reading the topic I'm sure many of you are rolling your eyes. Id like to just stop in and introduce my self and what I'm setting out to try. So Ive had reptiles my whole life and currently own a beaded lizard!!(hes awesome) and a couple of T's. I'm going to be getting a snake (whole other can of worms...cribo, red tail, rainbow, super dwarf retic..who can say) when I get home(I'm in AFG now). Ive always wanted to start a breeding program but most of my tastes in reptiles(large and awesome) require large amounts of space. I would rather house less animals but them be on display rather that a bunch in bins(Ive never gotten the point in this). Which brings me here. Lizards are more active and "fun" I think, so Ive been doing some research on the best small lizard with "personality" after sifting through the mounds of garbage telling me to buy a beardie, leopard geckos keep popping up, I've pondered lechies but they're pricey. Leo's are curious looking guys and I think having a couple to get my feet wet in breeding might just be just the ticket. So any suggestions and tips are greatly suggested, or if you have any other ideas for a different species. I'll be lurking around looking for the morphs I'd like to mix. Also which ones are the biggest hahaha.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I don't recommend breeding leos. The market is extremely oversaturated right now. I was at a reptile show recently, and I overheard the person running it saying she turned down people who wanted to set up geckos because she already had too many of them. Plus, you'd have to spend several hundred dollars to get some high-quality stock to start with - on top of paying for the food for the adults and babies, enclosure space, an incubator, etc. And if you start with only mediocre stock with unknown genetics, you won't really be able to sell any babies at all. If you really want to breed something, you should probably work with something less overproduced than leos imo.

Why do you feel the need to breed something? Most people breed a species they really enjoy and have lots of experience with, not look pretty unscrupulously for a species to choose after deciding to breed something. That just seems strange to me. And I don't think it's wise to just get a new species and start breeding it. Most people work with a certain species for years and years before they start breeding.

~Maggot

 

[cpike]

Well the species I have the most experience with is a hot, and I don't plan on breeding a bunch of beadeds. Ive have plenty of experience with boas, colubrids too but the market in general is saturated with those, beardies, and every other cookie cutter herp. Leo's aren't my end all be all, Ive been looking into hybrid colubrids too. I'm not trying to make money, Its just interesting to me. Ive always wanted to do it, so I assumed the these little guys would be a good start. I don't put my animals in bins, so two giant snakes (6 ft cages) in a California apartment, not the best idea although I know people who do it. I guess project wasn't the best phrasing, I'm going to get 2 maybe 3 leo's if I do decide to go that route. Its all up in the air right now, I just figured Id introduce myself.

 

[mtmountainman]

If you start with a trio of Leos, that would only be a max of 32 babies to sell. That wouldn't be hard to do at all. I would recommend spending extra money and get some high end Leos. Male sure to buy from a breeder and not a pet store.

 

[acpart]

I 've just finished my 8th leopard gecko breeding season and haven't found them that hard to sell. As suggested the best thing to do is to get 1.2, care for them for a year to "get your feet wet" and then see if you still want to try breeding. I've written some articles for Gecko Time about breeding on a small scale and how to sell your geckos. I can't give the links right noes because I'm traveling and it's a pain with the iPad but if you go to geckotime.com and find the archives you can locate them.

Aliza