Breeding female

[LeapinLeo]

I am planning on catching a wild gravid female garter this summer and I have a very good plan on selling the babies. I was wondering though...

1. Will the new babies have parasites when they hatch?
2. would $30 be a good price to sell agarter snake?
3. Will I make a decent sized profit from selling them?
4. Can they be kept in large numbers as babies?
5. When should I start feeding the new babies?

sorry for all the questions but I need to know lol.

(be warned, more questions may come)

[snakeman]

What you are talking about is almost definitely illegal no matter where you live.Unless you have a highly sought after species.Nobody is going to want them.

[adamanteus]

Whether it is legal or not, I would question the ethics of collecting a gravid snake from the wild for the sole purpose of turning a profit.

[Snaky]

Whether it is legal or not, I would question the ethics of collecting a gravid snake from the wild for the sole purpose of turning a profit.
Couldn't say it better.

[KITKAT]

I am planning on catching a wild gravid female garter this summer and I have a very good plan on selling the babies. I was wondering though...

1. Will the new babies have parasites when they hatch?
2. would $30 be a good price to sell agarter snake?
3. Will I make a decent sized profit from selling them?
4. Can they be kept in large numbers as babies?
5. When should I start feeding the new babies?

sorry for all the questions but I need to know lol.

(be warned, more questions may come)

1. Quite likely.
2. If these are regular easterns you will have trouble selling them at all, because anyone can pick up a wild one. If you drop your price to $20 or less, and sell them in large lots, some kingsnake people will buy your little ones to feed to their snakes. :mad:
3. You will find that shipping is quite expensive, and most people will not want to pay shipping for your common garters... another reason they will be hard to sell.
4. You will need to seperate the babies, as they are prone to bite each other when they are excited about a food item. You will also have trouble with the smaller babies getting enough food when the larger babies are eating.
5. New babies should be offered food the day after they are born, but may not eat for up to a week. I had 20 babies from a gravid WC that I collected, and lost 14 of them because they refused to eat at all.

I hope you don't do this, for the sake of the animals. If you want to make a profit selling garters, you will need to purchase breeding stock that are a desirable species or "morph" and breed them. Then your offspring will be valued high enough to make the work you will have in raising them worth the effort. However, I want to warn you that when you raise and sell garters of these more desirable types, the "profit" when divided by your time expended, will come out to less than minimum wage.

[GarterGuy]

Pretty much gotta agree with everyone else here, you're plan isn't a real good one...for many reasons.
Roy

[Cazador]

Again, the price per snake depends on the species/subspecies. Have a look at this link where common garter snakes (Easterns) are being sold for $5 each. Most of the discouraging feedback you're receiving is because most hobbiests try to take the best care of their snakes that they can... not use them (at the expense of their welfare) to make a profit. Please consider the advice that was given and simply enjoy, admire, and learn about the snakes in your area :). Best wishes,

Rick

FaunaClassifieds Ads - Garter, Water & Ribbon Snakes - Powered by PhotoPost Classifieds (http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/pp_classifieds/showcat.php?cat=13)

[LeapinLeo]

okay thank you so much for your info and website! This is why I always come here first before putting my plan to action!

[RedSided]

Im no expert on snakes nor am I a breeder , but common sense tell me that this would be a bad idea because:

1. Its a wild snake, the stress of actually catching the gravid snake would be huge if not traumatic(to the snake of course, never mind the biting)

2. It may have parasites, in which case so would the babies, selling the babies with parasites would be very iresponsible and certainly would not get you a good name around here.

3.It may have other diseases.Possibly dangerous to other animals.

4.Its not the best way to make a fast buck and requires a big commitment.

I don't mean to sound preachy, as I said im no expert.

Its been said anyway, enjoy the website :)

[LeapinLeo]

Yeah mabe I will just buy a few cheap ones for fun. Thank you for all yyour help!

[snakeman]

Even if you do have the desired morphs.In the long run you really don't make any money.

[drache]

yeah
even Scott Felzer still has a day job

[abcat1993]

I'd say in general it's a bad idea to take from the wild unless they're either overpopulated, invasive, or it's the last of it's species or something. I guess I did it, but it's not like they're running low on them there and I can't really put it back after a year of keeping it.

[LeapinLeo]

okay thanks. Im thinking of buying two for $10 on FaunaClassified