Would like opinions!

[JasonO80]

I am about 6 months out from investing time and money into starting up a what I would consider a small breeding program. Looking at 4-5 breeding colonies and building off of those in the years to come. Now with that said I am still planning on putting out a good chunk of money on all this. Thinking of going with Urban Gecko for the breeder groups probably looking at spending in the $3000-$4000 range for all of my groups. So with that said here is a brief over view of my plan.

1. I am converting my garage into my housing/breeding area. This involves a little extra insulation seeing that I am in Florida and it can get quiet hot! Large AC unit in there as well.

2. I am considering going with the          Animal Plastics IRIS 330 RACKS and the       Animal Plastics IRIS 375 RACKS ; well one each that is. The larger ones of course for expansion.

3 Planning on getting 2 Nature's Spirit so I can temp sex my animals without having to do any moving around! Guess it would be like my eggs were in catholic school. I am also curious about the G.E.O cups. I will more than likely give them a try but will take any feedback anyone has on those as well.

4.The Herpstat I figured with 2 racks and 2 incubators I would just go with the Herpstat 4. I could cover all of my thermostat needs in the beginning.

5. I already have a mealworm breeding program going on now so I would definitely continue that to cut down on food cost. Then maybe branch out and try roaches since a lot of people like to use them.

There are a lot of other odds and ends that would be tied up of course in this process and I am leaving alot of things out to not lengthen this anymore but I basically want to do all this correct right from the start. Somewhat modeling off of Sasobek's set up. And the way my business plan is laid out looks like it is going to cost me around about $10,000 for how I want to achieve this. So please any well versed and experienced breeders feel free to chime in and let me know what you think. This isn't on a whim I am committed to this and making it work or I wouldn't be putting all this out there!

 

[acpart]

It sounds as if you've thought things through. The main thing I'd recommend is that you consider starting smaller and growing your program more slowly. That way, you spend less initially and have a chance to "test the waters" to see if this is really what you want to spend your time doing. I started 8 years ago with 1.2 leos and a hobovator (in my living room). Now, in my 9th season, I'm breeding 4.8 leos, 3.4 AFT's, 1.2 gargs and 2.2 SW banded geckos (Coleonyx), still in my living room, though I've expanded into the dining room. I'm managing all the eggs in 2 reptipro5000's. I produce about 50-75 hatchlings a year, usually from March-Oct. and am sold out by Jan. or Feb. I spend many hours feeding these guys. If you haven't read it, I wrote an article for Gecko Time years ago called "Guide to Breeding Leopard Geckos on a Small Scale": Guide to Breeding Leopard Geckos on a Small Scale | Gecko Time. There's a sequel as well: Breeding on a Small Scale Revisited | Gecko Time

Aliza

 

[JasonO80]

Thanks think I have but will revisit just in case. I don't mind starting on a slightly larger scale. My wife only works around 12-20 hours a week and this is going to be a joint effort to start a legit business and eventually both do this for a living expanding into other reptiles as well.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

You've done your homework, so I'll just say I agree with Aliza on starting small. There's a huge difference between taking care of 5-10 geckos, vs 40-50+. And that's not counting when hatchlings start popping out. With hatchlings they require daily care. During the breeding season you are looking at 7 days a week of checking for eggs, checking on egg hatches, and feeding/caring for hatchlings. The time investment is something a lot of people don't factor into when jumping into breeding.

Feeders will cost you quite a lot of money. Since you are in Florida, you can't go the roach route, so I'd suggest get started with maybe a superworm colony, and perhaps crickets if you can tolerate them.

There will be things you learn during your first couple of years of breeding, things you would never have thought of, things that may have you wishing you had done things a bit differently. Starting small will allow you to adjust better, and ease into this hobby better. It's going to take time to build your reputation. And if you are going to mess up on something, it's better to make those mistakes on a small scale. Just my opinion, I wish you good luck. :main_thumbsup:

 

[JasonO80]

Why can't I do roaches here. This state is covered with many different kinds! I only plan on going with about 4 breeding colonies to start. And line breed two of my probable super giant snows next season when they are ready to produce my 5th colony for the following year. I was thinking a 1 to 2 ratio's on my others that I would be purchasing. So that would put me around 12 gecko's breeding for sales and the 2 I have breeding for colony purposes and then sale. I think that could be very manageable what do you think. I know most of the money I am going to be out is to get my garage set up to handle even the small scale operation but in turn will make it complete to expand as well!

 

[JasonO80]

Might also do larger Ratio of 1.3 or 1.4 and just pic a couple of my favorite morphs. And go down to purchasing 2 or 3 breeding colonies.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Sounds good. Only you can know how much you can handle, so it's up to you how many you want to take on at first. It's just easier to build your collection gradually than to inject 20-30+ geckos at a time. But have fun with it, I know it's very exciting and fun to get into breeding

 

[favrielle]

Dubia roaches are not legal to be imported to Florida, but I think there is a different variety of feeder roach that is legal (discoid, maybe?).

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Dubia roaches are not legal to be imported to Florida, but I think there is a different variety of feeder roach that is legal (discoid, maybe?).

Correct, discoid roaches are legal because they're native to Florida. Dubias are not.

 

[JasonO80]

Yeah I want to keep my initial start up between 10-15 at the most! I currently have 7 animals now but 4 are not going to be bred.

 

[acpart]

Just for some time and materials perspective:
--I breed my own mealworms year-round but 21 leo hatchlings into the season (probably about 1/3 of the total) they've outpaced my mealie colony and I've had to order 5000, with more orders soon to come I'm sure

--I feed the adults and babies on Mon,Wed,Fri and the babies alone the other days of the week. I'd say it takes 2 hours minimum, and because of the hours I keep, I'm frequently up past 2 am on feeding nights.

ALiza

 

[JasonO80]

Sounds about right. I have a mealie colony right now that keeps up with the 7 I have but I am steadily increasing its size. I am not saying I won't need to purchase any just going to use my colony to offset cost somewhat. I will have at most 10 females laying at one time to start so around 20 hatchlings possible all at once at any given time. I think that would be easily managable in one to the AP racks. I don't mind the time that would need to be spent with my program because it is something I am going to enjoy doing!

 

[LepoInc]

Words cannot describe how envious I am of you... it would be a field day if I could even lay down $1000 on my geckos, let alone ten.

 

[JasonO80]

I am 33 and making this an investment. Even at my age though this is going to hurt a little to drop close to that amount of money, but I have planned for it. Save a little at a time and you can get there too!

 

[LepoInc]

Yeah I'm starting young and small, looking at it as a hobby right now to not freak about profits. I'll be upgrading here and there