Why Do Ball Python Breeders Get Out? | New Ball Python Breeder Mistakes

[@lanedj801]

You are right! There are a lot of dumb sayings in the community. “Quality sells” “breed your passion” “only hold back females” I’d love to see a video on the “dumb sayings” for breeders. Some of it has merit but I don’t think people know when it becomes bad advice.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

This is an awesome video idea!! Definitely want to make it and thank you so much for suggesting it!

[@walkingwolf8072]

The ball python breeding craze is a pyramid scheme, without new breeders buying expensive snakes to lose their arses the whole scheme collapses. What results in a lot of snakes get euthanized. The sad part is there are other species that make money with normal snakes that all of them will sell at a fair price. A NORMAL Colombian rainbow boa sells for 200 dollars, and you only need one pair, or several pairs, and ALL the babies will sell for 200 dollars without killing healthy snakes. Hog nose snakes sell overall for MORE money than most ball pythons and they are more economical to breed.

[@MrRyRino]

Nice video. I’m a new ball python collector (only have 1.2) right now. Bought as hatchlings as pets, but I really want to get into breeding once they get to size. All about scaling as you go

[@NixonReptiles]

I’m sure quite a few people are going to find a lot of this super helpful!

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you man! Love your support and we really appreciate you watching!

[@kennethevanslmkreptiles1208]

Would also like to add is great job team leviathen. 👏

[@360conscience]

Much needed video especially for new breeders. PLAN AHEAD DONT BREAK YOUR BANK AND KEEP BALLIN 💪 💪 💪

[@Varenyam86]

Love this realistic approach. Some or no brainers but hearing them out of someone's mind, just amplifies their importance (doing it becaus you're passionate about a project, even if you don't make enough money. It's a hobby for me first. And hobbies cost more money than you'll make). Thanks again 😊

[@savagesweetheart90]

My husband and I are planning but we want to know the do's and don'ts and learning from other breeders' mistakes. It is just a hobby for us and plan on only doing 1 clutch for now to get a feel for the process and understand the market. Thank you for these videos and telling potential breeders the reality of this hobby.

[@_strawberrypickle_]

The info you give is so realistic & thorough for new breeders. Thank you SO MUCH for making these videos. 🙏

[@DeathHornDisst]

Really good vid! I think having friends with like interest is important too. I started really small. 3 animals. One pet and two project animals. Had my first clutch and lost all 5 eggs due to a unforeseen heat issue. After a year off. I produced my first successful clutch last year. My good friend, that has been in the hobby for a while, help me move the animals that didn’t fit in my project. He’s at the house every week checking in and helping out. This year I should have two clutches. One has already dropped and just waiting on the next (just a couple more weeks 🤞). I think passion and vision go a long way too, like you mentioned.

[@rodentsandroyals]

For us, there's a definite lifestyle change in caring for 50 snakes and hundreds of rodents. We're not sure how to go out of town or go on vacation now. It would be easy to get burned out on spending so much money on the front end before seeing ANY return. Passion, hard work, and community will carry us.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

This is so true! Traveling is so much harder when you have a large amount of animals to care for! Love your sentence btw! This community is awesome!

[@sphericreptiles]

Great information about the business. There is definitely a big picture, when looking at this business. Steven, you really put the truth out there. Hopefully, some will listen and look at the ways you are suggesting.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you!! We definitely want to grow the hobby so anything to help others stay in is a positive in our books!

[@Katy-LilacHollow]

I love your guys videos. They're always helpful for putting things into perspective. I think I'm doing it right so far by just keeping it to the one project with seven starter animals and trying to market myself a little early. Hopefully it works like you said near the end and I have the best chance of success that way.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you so much! And that is awesome! Keep crushing it and definitely can’t wait to see all that you do!

[@Mojohjohjoh]

I've got 5 children's pythons that are marbles, T+, patternless and hets for one or two of them. Only one male and female will be big enough closer to the end of the season to breed and then next year I'll have my favourite girl big enough. I really want a tarble but decided that I wanted to make one myself before I buy anything expensive like pied or mosaic. I'm doing this little project for myself and if I'm able to sell a few snakes along the way, great!

[@SmaySerpents]

I feel like new breeders hop out because they look at the big breeders and think “how can I even compete with that animal “ and not everyone has a lot of money too just drop 1,000$ on a snake

[@LeviathanSnakes]

That is such a good point that I hadn’t thought about when recording this, but it is so true! It can be really daunting when we inevitably end up comparing ourselves to others especially when those people have been doing it for 20 years. Thank you so much for the comment and for watching!

[@SmaySerpents]

@@LeviathanSnakes of course bro I ain’t going nowhere I think that way sometimes but at the end of the day all my animals are perfect too me so there’s really not a loss here lol

[@crawfordreptilecompany5042]

I've made several of the mistakes mentioned, even after years of only keeping. I know I'll never be a kobylka or leviathan so I intend on staying very small with only 1-3 clutches per year. Of animals that is for personal fulfillment as you said. Fun!! Great video!!

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you so much for watching and for the kind words! Love the hobby aspect and a small number of clutches is an amazing way to grow the community without overextending yourself! Keep crushing it!

[@11yoyomama]

Hey Steven, it’s friends!

[@NextLevelMorphs]

Great video! Very informative as usual!!

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you friend!! 🙌🙌

[@patricktimm4004]

I struggle bit with the business side of it but I wanting to learn how to do it better but I refuse to give up on the hobby

[@mainsqueezereptiles6264]

All very accurate points. This hobby/industry is a Marathon not a sprint. Do your best to plan accordingly and your chance of success has potential to be higher.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Most definitely!! It takes so long to get traction it is really easy to get in over your head and you don’t realize it until you have a hundred extra hatchlings

[@theballpythonproject6598]

Tons of validity in this video. Id like to add another scenario that almost pushed me over the edge of no return. I had back to back seaspns where my first female to become gravid, both held onto clutches, needing medical attention. The second season (my third breeding season), out of potentially 10+ clutches, and after that first clutch bound female passed awa post surgery, i ended up with only one other clutch that season. It was disheartening and i weighed heavily on getting out. The unforeseen circumstances can also push breeders out for sure.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you so much for this comment! It is so true that unforeseen problems that are completely outside of someone’s control is such a big factor and I wish I would have thought about that when making this video. Thank you for sharing and super happy you are still in friend!

[@theballpythonproject6598]

@@LeviathanSnakes there could be hundreds of reasons, cant cover them all for sure. If it werent for my own confidence in where I see my projects going, and to understand life throws hurdles into our way at times, I probably would have.

[@kennethevanslmkreptiles1208]

Imo people get out cause they thought they could make money and when they didn't. They got scared and backed out. Imo.

[@tamaraisonline]

thank you for your opinion and tipps on this topic!

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you for watching!!

[@Petsotics]

Very informative and educational videos. I always enjoy watching them.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you friend!

[@KingTimmy136]

I was concidering getting in breeding reptiles.. im not sure what to start wth tho i like all of them😅. This video was really helpfull thank you.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

It is such an amazing hobby and the community is awesome! Definitely would recommend!

[@MambaFPS]

I want to take it slow but it has always been my dream to breed them and I love these snakes so much. No matter what happens to the market, it would just be a hobby and selling some that i produce to help support it. It wouldn't feel like work because of how much i love the industry and hobby. Just my pov though.

[@tomhavers2297]

Ok so your video that shows buying snakes to build a project for 1k is great but do you think if someone were to start there do you think they can build a great business from there?

[@LeviathanSnakes]

From a hobby stand point where the goal is to make beautiful snakes and not try to go full time business, I think it is a good appt but if someone was really trying to start a full time business I think they would need quite a bit more than $1,000

[@samuelneuin1988]

There are times when it isn't a "dead market" for ball pythons, there are times when the market is flooded with breeders in a specific area. Also, regional pricing can affect the cost of breeding and animal prices for hatchling. The more established breeders there are in an area, the more snakes there are. For someone getting into breeding with the intention to sell, the more they're "behind the 8 ball" with established breeders in the area

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Completely agree! Breeding animals is super fun but it can be super tough to navigate the market!

[@samuelneuin1988]

@@LeviathanSnakes As a potential hobby breeder myself, I also see pricing affect those in the business/hobby as well. Compare the prices of say something like bananas, or simple 2 gene combos like lemonblast or bumblebee from as little as 3-5 years ago compared to today's prices. On the topic of breeding, I have an opinion question to ask about my current situation. I'm going to have one pairing of a banana pied to a lesser clown. That one of written in stone. The opinion wisdom is this I have a emchi spinner leopard female, and not sure what to breed her with. Do I go with my pastel lesser male, or go with my blackhead trick?

[@ScalationNation]

This is a good video for newbies.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you!!!

[@FlawlessExoticCreations]

Wow! Very very accurate We’ll put

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Thank you friends!!

[@TheCharleseye]

And...my comment got removed.

[@LeviathanSnakes]

Oh no, what happened? I didn’t remove any comments today, let me see if it somehow got held for review

[@LeviathanSnakes]

I just checked and I don’t see it in the “held for review” area. I am not exactly sure what happened

[@TheCharleseye]

@@LeviathanSnakes It probably got reported because of my comparison to OF. Most likely, either someone got touchy because it hit too close to home or a parent was being protective. Either way, you read my comment and that's really the only audience I intended for it, so it's quite alright. There are younger viewers to consider and while I didn't say anything overt, I suppose I can see why someone might not want their kid reading it and asking them follow-up questions.