To Breed or not to Breed

[11ofclubs]

Hello every one. I have a couple of questions on whether I should breed or not. I am sixteen and going away to college in two to three years (read on, I know you have probably already formulated your opinion hearing my age). I know when someone says they want to breed at sixteen they say that girls and cars get in the way. I understand that and, I am willing to chose one over the other. I am responsible, I have the time, money and the want to possibly do something involving reptiles with my career. I figure that I have the time and am able to do it now. This will also allow me to further explore career options in the reptile industry. I want to breed one of my female dragons and would have to buy a male. I have a hypo translucent leatherback and a hypo leatherback. I have the room and resources to pull this off. As for selling the baby dragons I could set up a website with pictures (my dad is a professional photographer and he is also good at making websites so things could go well with selling them that way). I will talk to the local pet stores about selling some to them if my website fails. I know that I wouldn't make money and that is not the point. I am in it for the love of the reptiles and for the career exploration. I hope to make back what it cost (I know that will not happen). If I do not make money that was not the point of me breeding in the first place so it wouldn't matter to me. If you need any more information to help better formulate your opinion feel free to ask. I just want to make the right decision and not rush into it because I know that that is the last thing I would want to do. I will say again that I hope me being sixteen does not change the way you respond. I know my priorities, and if I have baby dragons at home waiting to be fed I wouldn't go out with my friends. I am responsible and willing to take the time to do a good job. Its hard to base your opinion on how responsible I would be because you don't know me but, you will just have to take my word for it. I love my reptiles and I feel that I could do this. I just want a professional opinion. Thank you for your time, feel free to ask questions. Elliot Peters.

 

[annlizardlover97]

Hi Eliot. I too am a reptile lover but un4tunately wasn't introduced to them until I was waaaay outta college & had my 1st child at 36. I was totally in love when we got our first lizard, a Mali Uromastyx, and the rest is history. I'm now known all over town as "the lizard-lady" which I don't mind at all!! Right now I have 3 Mali Uros, 7 bearded dragons & a yellow bellied slider turtle. I'm also waiting on eggs from one of my dragons to hatch around 8/1. U sound very responsible 4 ur age and the fact that u even wrote in here to ask questions b4 making such a huge decision shows maturity on ur part. Ur very right: breeding ur dragon & taking on the responsibility of looking after babies is almost a full-time job. My 1st time, 4 yrs ago, Bo laid only one clutch of 58 eggs & got 52 live babies!!! Talking about lizards running outta ur ears! U HAVE to b prepared. When they got big enuff to start separating (1 week old), I thereafter had to separate them, largest from smallest, at least once a wk to make sure they all ate enuff. I went from 1 cage to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 8, etc etc. I had to keep buying cage after cage after cage so they wudnt fight, hurt each other, and cud eat properly. If ur dragon lays that many, do u have the funds 4 that kinda thing? Not to mention feeding 3-4x a day with crickets, plus all the fresh greens they want. And all those cages had to have UVA, UVB & Heat lamps & bulbs. One or 2 dragons isn't that expensive but when u have babies, let me just tell u: it takes all u have sumtimes. I had 20 adult lizards when Bo had her babies, which was expensive enuff. The cost went up astronomically with 52 babies!! And thank God she only lay one clutch! If there had been more idk what I'd have done. I raised them for a full year & they were eating me outta house & home. I was divorced and a single mom, disabled & unable to work by then. It was VERY difficult. I tried to sell them on the web, ads in paper, notes on vets & pet stores bulletin boards. Out of the 5 local pet stores here then, not ONE wud buy them from me b/c "I wasn't a certified breeder"!! Stores who knew me for years where I'd been buying reptile supplies 4ever. So don't count on that. I kept 4, 2 males & 2 females, boxed the rest up at a yr old & took them to the Reptile Show in Raleigh NC where I had 3 official breeders fighting to buy my babies. It broke my heart to sell them that way but I had no choice. I sold them to the highest "bidder" and got $75 apiece for them, which was lessee, $3,600. Sounds pretty good until u look at what I spent caring for them for a year. Nowhere close to what I spent. But like u, that didn't really matter to me. This was a reputable breeder & I felt they'd take care of them until they were sold. But it still broke my heart. Now one of Bo's babies is having babies! She had the largest egg, so my daughter named her Miss Fatty, and she lay her 1st clutch while I was outta town w/ my mom in the hospital dying of cancer. I didnt know she was gravid and she lay her 2nd clutch on 5/29. I've lost several eggs which have collapsed and have 8 left. I'm fighting to save them. Am using a homemade incubator which worked great w/ Bo's eggs but this time not so great. I wud suggest buying an incubator. I know all this is long but I'm telling u this 4 one reason: u seem to b very sensible & responsible & only you can decide what's best for u. But, it is a very expensive adventure and takes lots of time & patience. If u can deal w/ that, go for it. If money's a problem in the least (u may have some but u don't really know how much u'll need till u no how many babies u have), or if school, etc might need to come 1st, I'd recommend waiting. What do ur patents think of u doing this? R they supportive? If so, that's great. If not that's just one more problem. I'm sure u'll make the best decision 4 u. Take time to think about it. Consider all the things that go into a venture like this. There's nothing more thrilling in the world than to go thru all this & c a little head poking out of its eggshell, and watching them wriggle their way outta that egg!! It's very rewarding and if u have the $$, time & responsibility it takes to do this, then go 4 it!! I am not an expert breeder by any means but I definitely know what it takes to go thru this. Let me know what u decide. If u have any questions now, or after uve begun ur own little adventure (if that's what u decide), or anywhere along the way, I'll b glad to share whatever I know with u & help u as much as I can. Good luck & keep us posted!!