To New Breeders thinking they are going to make Big $$$

Thanks Ro,

It saves a lot of ironing on the edges as well to get that smooth look.

I think a lot of new breeders see what they paid for their new Leo and say wow if I can produce 12 of those from each female and I have 10 females then wow.

Also take into consideration, those first time females youre interested in breeding may not produce much. Many times you are lucky to get a few babies to hatch, and you barely even re-coop the price for the pair you just bought. Not to mention, all of the work, electricity, and food. Then if some are holdbacks, forget it. LOL

I myself see my 'profit' in the form of the 05`s I produced which I now get to breed, and have fun with the geckos I hatched myself. Thats about it, and the best I could hope for!

Originally Posted by groovygeckos

I myself see my 'profit' in the form of the 05`s I produced which I now get to breed, and have fun with the geckos I hatched myself. Thats about it, and the best I could hope for!

Dan that sounds like the best profit you could ask for! It is a joy just to be able to see what your pairings can produce each year. It makes selling any a very hard thing to do.

Originally Posted by groovygeckos

Also take into consideration, those first time females youre interested in breeding may not produce much. Many times you are lucky to get a few babies to hatch, and you barely even re-coop the price for the pair you just bought. Not to mention, all of the work, electricity, and food. Then if some are holdbacks, forget it. LOL

This is so true. This is my fifth year breeding, most of the years I just bred what was most popular, so I kept selling proven breeders for the "Next Best Thing", that was so expensive and stupid. And, every year using first time breeders, you don't get many babies. I have finally settled down with certain projects that I am very excited about, and will hopefully turn a small profit this year, but not counting on it at all, just hoping. I just spent about $400 preparing for the next Reptile show, Finally going to have a "Professional" looking table. I got a Banner made, a stand for the banner, 2 display cases, and a table skirt. So, hopefully I will sell enough geckos at the show to pay for these items....LOL

This is a hobby for me, if there was a way for me to do it for a "Living" and leave the "9 To 5" job, trust me, I would! I do it for the love of the animals, and because it is soooo much fun, expecially seeing those little babies in the incubator.

Dan and Glenn, I'm with you. I couldn't be prouder of my babies last year. This will be my second year breeding, and I honestly dont care if I made a profit our not. Every time I see my new additions it makes my happy.

Here's another example of vet bills. Over the weekend one of my attack geckos, who attacks anything that walks by her tub, by knocking her mouth against the tub, has hurt her mouth and needs to go in. I was joking that she would end up doing that, but didn't realize she would really hurt herself even with the extra paper towels on the sides of her tub. Arrgg. Maybe I need the padded tub. lol

I also have a first time breeder that absorbed her first clutch but now has what looks to be four eggs inside her and she still has not laid anything. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing it correctly, but she's real fat, so it's a little hard to tell for sure. Neither of the four seem to have devloped a shell yet. I have no idea what it will cost me with if she is egg bound, but the vet is instructed to do whatever it takes to save her life, and insure her health. Not to save her as a breeder.