# Making a Living?



## retri (Mar 5, 2008)

Right, I know there are alot of breeders and shop owners on here, but is there anyone who makes a living from breeding reps?

If so, what do you breed, is it a viable way to make a living etc?

I am sick of working in an office, and would live to be able to make a living from breeding :whistling2:


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## lukendaniel (Jan 10, 2007)

you will find that most people on here who seem to be big breeders still have a job. 

with breeding being so unpredictable you should still work.

many people will advise that you cant make a living breeding reptiles unless you do it on a BIG scale, and i must agree with them

daniel


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

I wish!! we have quite a collection of reps going but aslong as i can breed a few babies to sell then i am quite happy. i look at it as it put a few quid toward the running costs. but i dont keep them to breed if you know what i mean! they are a hobby first, and an expense second. I imagine a great deal of stress would be involved in breeding ANY animal to put food on the table. it only takes one virus to wipe out a whole colony afterall. and some of them high end morphs cost more than a car. and most insurance companies dont cover breeding activiyt either. i would rather keep it just as a hobby, but i do see the appeal of making a living in th area!!


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## Jibber10 (Feb 6, 2007)

In order to make a decent living out of breeding you would need to do it on a massive scale and with high quality morphs and the initial outlay to bring in these morphs would be massive.

But in saying that, people have made a decent living out of breeding so it is possible. I would say its best just starting off very small and just doing it alongside your day job, just as a little side line.


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## retri (Mar 5, 2008)

Yeh, thought as much, I always said I would go for a job that I enjoyed rather than an office job or anything, but look at me now, sat in an office comuting 45mins each way every day, and discussing business tactics, projected revenue and up coming projects :whistling2:


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## mybeardeddragons (Oct 1, 2007)

45 mins commute? NOTHING! Mine is 1 1/2 hours minimum each way - and that's when the trains are on time! 

I know what you mean about office jobs, but can't see there being much of profit to be made in breeding. It would have to be on an incredibly large scale, and even if you concentrated on the high end of the market, you'd need to be sure there was a market for the breeds you are producing. 

To make ends meet you might end up selling anything to anyone - and over breed from your stock. A bit like factory farming in dogs - not something I think anyone would want to encourage!


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## Sziren (Mar 25, 2008)

Retri... I know what you're saying, and I would love to be able to do the same.

I love animals, and would love to be able to work with them, and make enough to have a comfortable life at the same time. I only breed as a hobby, to make some money towards the running costs, as I never want to be too busy to enjoy my animals....


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

You need to work your collection up really. To start from scratch to have a profitable collection is a big investment... but if you work your way up, keep adding to the investment as you can, you will eventually have a collection that may start making some profit, but usually, not enough to live on - but it depends how much you are willing to invest.

I have 100+ snakes that I breed but it is no where near enough for me to not have income elsewhere. It's taken me 10 years to build up that many breeding animals, and it's a lot of work, like 2-3 hours extra a day when you get home from work.

I decided to invest in a reptile shop as my main employment as this would provide a place to sell my breeding animals for, cutting out the middle man and making more profit. A lot of bigger breeders are doing this these days, but shops are a LOT of overhead, and you end up spending 8 hours a day dealing with customers and cleaning out animals at the shop... and you still have to come home and spend 2-3 hours on your ow collection, so it ends up being loooong days.

Best thing really is to do a Mon-Fri set hours job, and have the weekends to devote to your snakes... build up a collection and breed what you can, once you start making some profit instead of just paying for your own collection, you have a choice to make - invest that profit, or just keep things as they are? If you invest the profit it will grow.... but remember that more animals = more work so you have to juggle work life and home life which can be quite demanding.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

it's easier there to make a living with herps than here....


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

Well I know I have to work. :bash:
Maybe I should charge more for the snakes I produce.:blush:

Stephen


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## retri (Mar 5, 2008)

Athravan said:


> You need to work your collection up really. To start from scratch to have a profitable collection is a big investment... but if you work your way up, keep adding to the investment as you can, you will eventually have a collection that may start making some profit, but usually, not enough to live on - but it depends how much you are willing to invest.
> 
> I have 100+ snakes that I breed but it is no where near enough for me to not have income elsewhere. It's taken me 10 years to build up that many breeding animals, and it's a lot of work, like 2-3 hours extra a day when you get home from work.
> 
> ...


I have a friend who has recently taken a huge interest in reps, and the plan was start breeding to build up som money and then get our own shop. and then breed stock for the shop etc.

to be honest I know it would be alot of work even building up and starting off a shop and alot of work running it, but if I could make a living from it I would be very happy doing this, and would be prepared to do the work.


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

I cant see it making too much myself. I estimate breeders are often payed 1/4th of what the animals are sold of as in the shop. 1/3rd at the most. It can be quite profitable if your breeding stuff like spiders as £4 breeder prices for say a chevron and bear in mind they drop anywhere between 50-200 babys it can be profitable. However their are long gaps between drops so its not too profitable. However it may be good money on the side but you have to enjoy it.


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## retri (Mar 5, 2008)

Hmmm, it would be the one rep that I dont really want to go anywhere near that is likely to be the most profitable lol


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## Becky Wheeler (Jun 15, 2006)

Well with me "Becky's Beardies" I do make some profit but you also have to take into consideration:

*Food bills for the young.
*equipment and spare equipment in the cupboard if any dies.
*Electric bills! Yes having so many vivs runs up a hell of a bill.
*vet treatment for any young that have problems.

And of course feeding your adults! And buying new equipment for them when needed. or trips to the vet etc etc.

I CANNOT make a living on just breeding Beardies. I have a part time job in the evenings to cover my own bills. Having baby Beardies just helps me pay for the up keep of my own pets.


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