selling leos

[gmaier19]

so... sometime in the next couple years i might start breeding leos. i have thought about this long and hard and there is only thing that would stop me from breeding them. i dont know if i have the means to sell them all. i definitely dont want to breed and end up keeping them all, or even worse give them away to a pet store that wont take care of them well enough. i will not breed until i know for sure that all of them will eventually have great homes to go to. so i wonder, for all you breeders that produce too many geckos to keep yourself: how do you clear out your breeding racks?

any incite on the best way for a beginner breeder to do this is more than welcome and greatly appreciated! thank you in advance!

 

[robin]

i think most apply, so i picked other. while i would have reservations about selling to pet stores there is a mom and pop pet store here (we are friends with the owner) i would sell to her but thats it as far as pet stores go.

 

[sammer021486]

I sell mine to 2 pet stores, 1 local and the other 8 hours away from me and also the classified ads.

 

[acpart]

I have sold the most leos at shows. I sell to a few pet stores that I've checked out before even approaching the owners. I also rely heavily on word of mouth and talk to everyone eventually about my habit . . . I mean hobby. This year is my biggest challenge because I've produced a lot more leos than any other year.

Aliza

 

[jandsfannon]

I sell mine thru classifieds, expos, pet stores and word of mouth. But you do need to realize that if you are breeding them there is always a chance that you may not be able to sell them all and you have to be prepared to care for them. Just thought I would mention that, as that is a very real possibility!

 

[snowgyre]

I keep my collection small, mainly because I'm a graduate student and can't afford to feed a gazillion geckos. I only produce about 20 young a year. Sometimes I have to sell them cheaper than I want to, but 20 babies isn't enough to justify buying a table at a show.

I also tend to donate one or two babies a year to local teachers. People in the southeast tend to be horrifically reptile phobic, and I try to encourage reptile education whenever possible in schools. Sometimes I get cool things from the kids too (like drawings), and that's worth it to me!

 

[ReptarNDukeNukem]

I think all of them apply.

 

[Taquiq]

I am going to sell them on my site http://silvergecko.webs.com

 

[THE WHISPERER]

start off small and grow from there. Breed one pair and see how that goes, once you establish ways to sell them then up your projects from there. good luck.

 

[adam&nikki]

i sell mine on websites like kijji and crigslist also word of mouthonce i produce enough high quaility leos i would also consider getting a table at an expo but word of mouth is a great asset when your just beggining

 

[justindh1]

This was my first year breeding leopard geckos I had 3 female breeders and hatched out 26 hatchlings. They had alot more then I figured they would since that all were first year breeders barely over a year old. All of the babies got sold locally to individuals that I had either found wanted one on craigslist, advertising on Kijiji, and word of mouth.

Like Rick says, stay small and grow from there. Theres not point to make a website in your first year. Thats really a step that you need to take when you get to producing alot of geckos. Even then, advertising on GF and the other herps forums would be very productive and still probably wouldn't need a website. I won't make a website until i can't get rid of them locally by advertising on forums and other free ways. A website is just too much work and cost money that takes from your minimal profit.

Pet stores is something that needs to be looked into before I feel comfortable in sellling to them. I have had several ask but turn them down because of being horrible chain stores.

Friends typcally arn't interested in them as much and usually want them for free. Which free isn't that bad but then your going to be paying for everything and never make a buck to cover expenses such as feeders and supplies.

Reptiles expos really require a number of babies to make it a worthwhile venture but if the tables are cheap and fairly close then it could be beneficial in getting the word out about ya. Selling one or two can cover table cost and gas.

 

[justindh1]

double post! please delete!

 

[acpart]

I agree there's no need for a fancy website when you're just getting started. I do have a website that doesn't cost anything because it's a free wordpress blog. I use it because it's a handy way to point people toward my caresheet and geckos I have for sale without having to always email them texts and pictures.

Aliza

 

[jermh1]

My 2 cents
I say if you’re going to breed the geckos, start by mastering the feeders, crickets, mealworms, supers and my favorite dubia roaches. Last year I had 8 geckos and they were quite costly from pet store crickets. Due to the oppressive cost I also started a dubia colony and started breeding crickets, now I am feeding 30+ geckos from my dubia colony. I still breed crickets 1k-2k as a back up and for my fat tails who have not switched to the roaches, also unlike bought crickets self raised ones last months. I have also started with meal worms which are about an inch long now "few thousand of them". I also just got my first group of super worms for breeding attempts. Moral is master feeding them for as cheap as possible then start producing geckos.

The purpose for my gecko breeding is for my class room, so I don’t really need to make a profit, but I can’t have it cost too much either. I come up with ways to integrate the breeding of the geckos and the feeders into my curriculum so it works out quite well just to be able to have them. So far I have everything I produced but I do have a waiting list of teachers who want them, after I get my first group of eggs to show genotypes. Also I would not breed outside of my means.