T-ReXx
Uroplatus Fanatic
- Messages
- 1,745
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
Ok, I just have to say something on this topic and I guess this is the best place to do it. Increasingly lately I've been getting asked questions by ppl who are either new to leopard geckos, or have only been keeping reptiles for a short period of time and decide they "need" to breed. I am continuously trying to discourage new breeder for several reasons, the top one being that there are WAY too many leopard geckos in the market as is. I'm not saying if you have experience(at least ONE YEAR) and have done your homework and want to produce a few babies that you want to keep, but there are a lot of ppl who buy animals with little to no experience who just want to breed them. My advice to anyone who has a few leos and is contemplating producing more with an idea that you will sell them is this: enjoy the animals you have, be prepared to keep ALL the babies, and please, please think CAREFULLY before you do start breeding. I personally have cut the amount of animals I will be producing in half for this season, because I want to do my part to help the market. For me this is not about money, and as much as I love seeing babies in the bator, its up to me as a breeder to consider all aspects of my hobby and react responsibly and accordingly. Here are a few things I want to say to those considering breeding:
1) You WILL NOT make money breeding leopard geckos. It's not gonna happen. The market is flooded, there are too many animals as is, and chances are whatever morph you want to try to produce it's been done already or is being done and the other guy is ahead of you.
2) Breeding is expensive. You start with 3 geckos. Those two females produce 20-40 babies. Those babies don't sell and are growing and eating. You breed those babies and THEIR babies don't sell and keep growing and eating. You use space, energy, LOTS of electricity, TONS of feeders, equipment, and most of all, time. Not to mention the cost of shipping supplies if you choose to go that route and find a market for you're animals. Responsible breeders prepare themselves to care for their animals for their life span, and that can be TWENTY years. That is not a number to take lightly. And vet bills are not cheap, you will need a vet at some point.
3) You have to make tough decisions as a breeder. You WILL at some point have to euthanize an animal. It happens.
4) You can't cut corners if you want to be a breeder. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. You need a thermostat(or more than one). You need an incubator. You need properly gut loaded feeders. You need space. You need time. If you don't have access to these things, DON'T BREED. I spend A TON of money and devote LOTS of time to my animals because I love them and want them to have the best, I have a responsibility to ensure they have OPTIMAL care before I even consider bringing more of them into this world.
Maybe this didn't need to be said, perhaps it did but it shouldn't. I just see too many ppl setting themselves and their animals up for disaster.
ok, I'm done.
-T.ReXx
1) You WILL NOT make money breeding leopard geckos. It's not gonna happen. The market is flooded, there are too many animals as is, and chances are whatever morph you want to try to produce it's been done already or is being done and the other guy is ahead of you.
2) Breeding is expensive. You start with 3 geckos. Those two females produce 20-40 babies. Those babies don't sell and are growing and eating. You breed those babies and THEIR babies don't sell and keep growing and eating. You use space, energy, LOTS of electricity, TONS of feeders, equipment, and most of all, time. Not to mention the cost of shipping supplies if you choose to go that route and find a market for you're animals. Responsible breeders prepare themselves to care for their animals for their life span, and that can be TWENTY years. That is not a number to take lightly. And vet bills are not cheap, you will need a vet at some point.
3) You have to make tough decisions as a breeder. You WILL at some point have to euthanize an animal. It happens.
4) You can't cut corners if you want to be a breeder. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. You need a thermostat(or more than one). You need an incubator. You need properly gut loaded feeders. You need space. You need time. If you don't have access to these things, DON'T BREED. I spend A TON of money and devote LOTS of time to my animals because I love them and want them to have the best, I have a responsibility to ensure they have OPTIMAL care before I even consider bringing more of them into this world.
Maybe this didn't need to be said, perhaps it did but it shouldn't. I just see too many ppl setting themselves and their animals up for disaster.
ok, I'm done.
-T.ReXx