What to do with them!!??

[nats]

Right now, I only have one very young female leo. At least "incubated" female so, not 100% sure. Anyway, I'm thinking some day I would love to breed leos. My only problem is, what would I do with the babies? I know this is a stupid question, but I dont particularly want to go into business or anything.
What do you folks do with the little one? Keep them, sell them? If you sell them, how well do they sell? Have you ever sold to a pet store?

 

[acpart]

This is my 4th year breeding leopard geckos and I have produced about 30-40 each year and sell them for $25-40. SO far I have not had to ship and have been able to sell them all locally.
Basic advice: start small so you can grow into a customer base; resist the temptation to start with expensive high end morphs because then you should probably sell them for high end prices to avoid undercutting the market but you won't have a customer base.

Here is where my geckos have sold in order from most to least:

a. shows: I sell at 2 small shows. Last year I sold 19 at 2 shows
b. pet stores: I check out pet stores carefully to see how they're caring for their animals before I even approach the owners. I'm very clear that I don't want the geckos I provide to be on sand. In one case I was easily able to convince the owners not to put any of their leos on sand. I have sold to 4 pet stores, 3 of which I've ended up being happy with (I stopped selling to the 4th pet store after the first year)
c. word of mouth: I talk to everyone about my geckos and have gotten friends and friends of friends interested
d. craigslist: technically you aren't supposed to sell animals on craigslist and I refuse to call it an "adoption" because it's not. I sell my set-ups on craigslist and suggest in the ad that people "ask me about my geckos". I also read craigslist religiously and respond to posts from people looking for geckos.

I hope that answers your question. I have sold out every year by Jan. and anticipate doing the same thing this year.

Aliza

 

[nats]

This is my 4th year breeding leopard geckos and I have produced about 30-40 each year and sell them for $25-40. SO far I have not had to ship and have been able to sell them all locally.
Basic advice: start small so you can grow into a customer base; resist the temptation to start with expensive high end morphs because then you should probably sell them for high end prices to avoid undercutting the market but you won't have a customer base.

Here is where my geckos have sold in order from most to least:

a. shows: I sell at 2 small shows. Last year I sold 19 at 2 shows
b. pet stores: I check out pet stores carefully to see how they're caring for their animals before I even approach the owners. I'm very clear that I don't want the geckos I provide to be on sand. In one case I was easily able to convince the owners not to put any of their leos on sand. I have sold to 4 pet stores, 3 of which I've ended up being happy with (I stopped selling to the 4th pet store after the first year)
c. word of mouth: I talk to everyone about my geckos and have gotten friends and friends of friends interested
d. craigslist: technically you aren't supposed to sell animals on craigslist and I refuse to call it an "adoption" because it's not. I sell my set-ups on craigslist and suggest in the ad that people "ask me about my geckos". I also read craigslist religiously and respond to posts from people looking for geckos.

I hope that answers your question. I have sold out every year by Jan. and anticipate doing the same thing this year.

Aliza

Thanks for the advise. It's very helpful :main_yes:

Yeah, I dont think I would be able to sell fancy morphs in my area.
I dont think I want to get into the business of shipping livestock either :main_no: but I dont know.
We dont have any "mom and pop" pet stores here, only the big chains, and I dont think they would buy from me.
To be honest, if I knew the person, and knew my leo babies where going to a good home, I would give some of them away!
I am going to buy a male sooner or later (most likely sooner) since I have another set-up and tons of supplies.
In the past, I have always kept my males seperate.

It's just as easy to care for 2 as it is 1 leo ! :main_yes: