BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Breeders, do you make a profit?

Not even close. But then, I'm not in it for profit. I give discounts to make sure my guys go to good homes and I offer money-back guarantees. I breed BTS because I love them and think they're the best pets and more people need to own them here in Canada.

With 2 litters this year I made maybe 1/2 of what I spent this year. Maybe. That's ignoring electricity/water (which I don't pay), vet bills (~$1k) and my new tanks (~$3k). If I could get all my females to breed in a year I could probably cover my costs. My big goal would be to make just enough to cover costs and get a few new animals each year.

Also keep in mind time and stress and animals lost. Breeding can be dangerous for animals (ex: I lost a female brumating last winter).

I will also not buy from or recommend breeders who are only out to make a profit (as in those who don't care for their animals in a way I can feel decent about).

IMO, if you're going to breed do it right (look after your animals and customers) and for good reasons. If you want to breed something for profit I'd say food-items. Maybe beardies too, since they have so many babies. My biggest returns were on my cockroaches, since they breed fast, cost almost nothing to keep, and I was able to sell adults for $0.25-$2 each depending on species. It's still a lot of work to look after the animals well and keep up with sales.

Andrew Seike also told me (~3 years ago) he doesn't make a profit. I'd think that's especially true these past few years with few/no babies. Not exactly a steady income. I asked him before I started, so I knew what I was getting into. Still totally worth it to me to give awesome people awesome pets

Good one! Profit is a mythilogical concept in the bts world. I am probably not the typical bts keeper/breeder, because I typically spend thousands of dollars a year on new skinks and equipment. I am at a point now where I can make more each year than I spend maintaining my skinks for the year, but every extra dollar (and many more) goes into new skinks and equipment.

I do know enough now so that I could make a profit if that was my goal, but I would never be happy doing things that way. If my goal was profit, I would quickly get rid of a number of my skinks that likely will NEVER pay for themselves. My skinks would become a job that is a lot of work instead of a hobby that I love, and that brings me a ton of enjoyment. What would be the point of that? I could make a lot more money doing something that is a lot less work! It would also take MANY years of small profits to offset the tens of thousands of dollars that I have already spent on my skinks. Maybe by the time I die I will break even. Maybe.

People contact me from time to time asking the kind of questions that make it clear quickly that they are interested in breeding bts for profit. I always do everything I can to talk them out of it. Not only because I don't like the idea of the animals being exploited for money, but also because I know that even if they do manage to get to the point where they are making more than they spend, it will not be worth their trouble if they don't love the skinks. It is just not the right Genus for creating profit. If anyone is looking for a way to make money, I would recommend maybe, seeling stuff on Ebay? There is probably lots of stuff laying around your house that you could sell to someone.

Not on any Tiliqua as I don't breed mine...

But on the other stuff around I keep... yes, enough to buy some new specimens or one way plane ticket for the wife and myself to go herping around Australia...

Profit to make a noticable difference, well that's a big NO.

Agreed with Fatal-feeders are definetly the way to go if you are interested in attempting to make a profit. I would disagree on beardies the market is absolutely flooded with them.

Better to concentrate on some other way to make money if that is your desire. I've made more performing on the street for a few days than all the animals I've sold for the last 2 years.