I decided a few days ago to try and do a Question and Answer session with as many breeders as I could get to agree, from big breeders to small time guys and girls breeding in their spare bedrooms. My goal was to get several
different perspectives on the breeding industry to give others like me, who are interested in breeding reptiles someday, a big of a heads up as to what to expect and what the life is like.
The response has been overwhelming, and I have several interviews to post. I would like to start off with a bang and post an interview with Garrick DeMeyer of Captive Reptile Specialties Inc. I've admired Garrick's work since I discovered snakes, and getting a chance to pick his brain was amazing. The questions are below, as well as links to his websites.
Breeder Q&A with Garrick DeMeyer
1. What sparked your interest in snakes and caused you to start collecting?
I've been interested in reptiles and amphibians since I was only a few years old. I was always the kid digging in ponds and swamps, flipping over logs, etc. Back in the 70s, that was just about the only place to find herps. I do remember seeing a nice selection of reptiles in a chain of stores in the Chicago-area called Noah's Ark. I used to love going to those stores and seeing all of the exotic chameleons, frogs, geckos, and snakes. I also used to buy every reptile book I could find, or check them out at the library. There just wasn't much good info about reptiles back then- especially about their captive care and breeding. I still have all of those books (other than the ones I checked out from the library!). I always kept a few lizards in display tanks in my bedroom. I wasn't allowed to keep snakes in the house and I almost always obeyed that rule. When I was in college in the early '90s, I started breeding Giant Day Geckos- mostly just to see if I could do it. I could. One thing led to another and soon I had Leopard Geckos, Leaf-tail Geckos, Chameleons, Bearded Dragons, and finally snakes!
2. Why did you start breeding snakes?
Breeding snakes was a natural progression from breeding lizards for me. I still love to breed lizards, mostly geckos, but I became fascinated with ball python morphs- back in the mid-90s when there were only a few available- albinos, piebalds, clowns, caramels, and axanthics. Many of those weren't even proven to be inheritable at that time. I planned to focus my business on my lizards and just keep a little collection of ball pythons and other snakes. The ball python addiction hit me hard and within a few years, I started amassing a pretty impressive collection of them.
3. What is your favorite part of the breeding process? What part do you like the least?
I think my favorite part of breeding ball pythons is producing new morphs. Very few snakes that I produce are new morphs to the industry, but if I haven't produced them yet, they are still new for me. I love looking in the incubator every day during the hatching season to see all of the new babies poking their heads out of their eggs. There are so many different morphs out there. I consider myself a bit of a ball python hoarder. I would like to have a pair of every combo if I could. I think there are too many morphs out there for any one person to have them all, so I try to focus mostly on the morphs I like the most.
The least favorite part of breeding ball pythons is when I lose one. My survival rate is extremely high- probably around 99%, but losses do happen from time to time. Out of 2000 babies, you can't expect every single one to come out perfect and healthy. Still, these are living things and I never like to see anything suffer or die.
4. What is the most difficult part of the breeding process?
The most difficult part for me has nothing to do with breeding. They are incredibly easy to breed if you have quality snakes and a proper environment. Having clutches of slugs (infertile eggs) is probably the most frustrating- especially when it is a "big" clutch you are really looking forward to. Overall, I think the most difficult part of doing this is getting a consistent supply of rodents. With 700 adults and around 800-1000 babies here at any given time, that is a lot of mice and rats to come up with. Many of my ball pythons eat frozen/thawed, but there are quite a few that will only consistently feed on live. It is very difficult to come up with enough live rodents every week- even though we produce several thousand mice and rats per month here. We still never have enough.
5. What species of snake do you breed? Have you bred others? If so, which is the most difficult?
The main species I work with now is the Ball Python. I've breed many other species including boas, retics, rainbows, womas, green trees, carpets, corns, kings, hognose, milks and probably a few more that I'm not remembering right now. I've had some success with other species, but I think my talent definitely is with ball pythons. I've actually cut back my collection of "non-ball python" snakes so I can focus more attention on the balls. That is the only way I can devote as much time and effort as possible to produce the largest variety of morphs possible.
I think boas have been the most difficult for me. I've never been able to have a high success rate with my litters. Lots of litters of slugs. I'm not sure why that is, but it may be something about the environment in my facility that they don't like. My employee, Kyle, can breed boas at his house all day long with excellent results and yet I can't do it here. Very strange.
6. What is your biggest regret in regards to your breeding venture?
Oh, if I only knew 20 years ago what I knew now. I could write a book on what I would do differently. I used to keep all kinds of rare, stranger species in the hopes to become successful breeding stuff that nobody else was. I had a lot of different geckos like Helmeted, Knob-tail, Leaf-tail, Velvet, rare Day Geckos etc, and different lizards like Water Dragons, Frilled Lizards, Basilisks, Dwarf Monitors, and dozens of other species. I spent thousands of dollars on some of this stuff, only to never have any real success with many of them. It wasn't until I decided to focus on the species I knew I could breed, and also knew there was a good market for, that I started having success. Bearded Dragons, Veiled Chameleons, Leopard Geckos, and Crested Geckos were all key to me digging myself out of my debt. Sure, most of those didn't command a huge price tag, but I made up for it in volume, because of consistent, reliable production.
Another regret was not getting into ball pythons much sooner. Back in '96, I bought an albino boa and several hets for around $10k. Had I just put that money into an albino ball python and a het or two back then, I'd be much more advanced in that industry at this point. I also used to amass a group of normal female hatchlings every year, maybe 20-30 of them. I'd keep them for a few months, thinking I'd start breeding ball pythons at some point, then I'd end up selling them. If I had kept those back in the mid-90s, I can't imagine how far along I'd be now.
My other big regret is being too trusting of too many people. Unfortunately, there are a lot of dishonest people in this industry, as well as in any other industry. I've shipped animals out to people I thought I could trust to pay me for them. I've received counterfeit cashier's checks and didn't find out until after the animals shipped out. I've also been burned by buying "hets" that prove out to be normals. You live and learn, but unfortunately, some people will still find new ways to take advantage of you. That's why it is so important to buy from reputable breeders with a good track record. Great deals aren't that great if you don't get what you think you are buying.
7. What is your greatest accomplishment in breeding?
I don't know if I have a single greatest accomplishment. I've produced the first of several leopard gecko and ball python morphs. Those were pretty proud moments. I really think the greatest accomplishment for me is to turn a little hobby into a successful career. To be able to do this for a living for over 11 years now is still amazing for me. I wish it was more about "playing with lizards and snakes" all day, but the cumulative result of what I'm doing is extremely rewarding on a personal level.
8. What are your primary goals for your breeding project? Short-term and long-term?
My goal has always been to produce as many beautiful, healthy, top-quality reptiles as possible. I want to continue to add new genes and combos into my gecko and python projects. Every year, I make up a "wish list" of a few things that I want (need!) to add to my collection. I don't end up acquiring all of them, but I put a big dent in my list each year.
9. Are there any misconceptions regarding snake breeding you'd like to dispel?
I think the biggest misconception about snake breeding is how easy it is to make a lot of money. This business is very hard work. Not like working for a construction company physically hard, but still very challenging. Reptiles are not a "get rich quick" scheme. Once I started breeding reptiles, it took me about 7 years before I wasn't losing money every year, and still a couple years after that before I could do it full time. I went to college and worked part-time jobs while I was growing my business. After I graduated, I worked a full-time job and worked on my business in my spare time. It was a long, hard, struggle figuring this all out. Most people that I knew thought I was crazy for trying to do this. They couldn't understand how much I loved it and what kind of sacrifices I was willing to make to see it through. I did it because I love reptiles and couldn't see myself doing anything else. I've never been one to settle for a job that I don't find rewarding, just for the paycheck. I want to spend my life doing what makes me happy. For me, that was REPTILES! I see a lot of people getting into breeding reptiles just to make money. Unless you really enjoy them, it is hard to spend all of the money and time required to become successful. If I won the lottery and never needed to make another dime, I would still breed reptiles.
10. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the reptile breeding industry today?
Definitely anti-reptile legislation. Reptiles are becoming more popular every year, but if the wrong laws get passed, it could all be for nothing. A ban from interstate transport and sales would cripple the industry to the point it would probably never recover. It would affect breeders, wholesalers, retail pet stores, pet supplier manufacturers, shipping companies, insect and rodent breeders, and dozens of other industries. The worst part about it is most of what the proponents of these bills are using to plead their case just isn't true. In the case of pythons, some of these people claim that they will eventually spread through the bottom 1/3 of the US, possibly as far North as Ohio. Really? These snakes can get an upper respiratory infection in a breeder's facility that is temperature controlled similar to a rainforest. Now they are supposed to survive sub-freezing temperatures and snowfall? Most of their arguments just aren't accurate. I encourage everyone to become members of USARK so they can become better-informed on what is going on. You can't rely on someone else to take care of these pesky laws for you, even if it doesn't affect a species you work with. The organizations that want these animals banned believe in dividing and conquering. Take out the big pythons first, then the little ones, then colubrids, then geckos, etc., etc. The reptile industry has shown they can rise up and defend their hobby when needed. We all need to keep doing it and increase in numbers if we are going to keep our hobby alive and well.
11. Do you have any advice for would-be breeders?
I think I answered this question pretty well in #9 as far as being properly-motivated. I would also like to add that most new breeders should work with species that are proven to be fairly easy to keep and breed- even if they aren't very valuable. Producing "cheap" reptiles is better than not producing any at all, and it goes a long way to give you the experience needed to one day tackle the more challenging species. Make sure to buy quality animals from reputable breeders. Buy the best equipment you can afford. A quality cage/rack, thermostat, and a temp-gun are probably the most important things you can add to your collection. Always go for quality!
Garrick's websites:
Thank you for a great Q&A, Garrick!
Stay tuned for more Q&A's from breeders of all shapes and sizes, and don't hesitate to comment or contact me if you have questions or suggestions.