I do try to get to all the White Plains shows, as a hopeful breeder who expects to make his first pairings this year – I’ll be looking for your table!

~Bruce

I do have a diverse collection, but I’m trying to focus on breeding huge numbers of the higher value animals, and only small numbers of low-end morphs. I am planning these breedings to keep all of the morph females from my low-end morphs to raise up, but only one of each of the females from my high-end breedings. This year, I could only afford to keep one holdback, but wound up with another one inadvertantly–I held back a male lesser. If he’s up to weight, I’ll be swimming in lessers next year, and I won’t have to rely on his dad alone to make sure all the girls take. I also held back a male granite, because my male lesser appears to have some sort of funky thing going on where half his offspring are granites, and I want to prove it out.

I’ve got the diversity–I have 8 different morphs in my collection, and there are still LOTS of morphs I would love to have, but sometimes they have to wait until I have a good place for them–and sometimes they have to go on a back burner because they just aren’t profitable. (I love orange ghosts, but I only have one orange ghost female, one male, and no hets–when she is ready to breed, I can’t pair her with the male–I have to pair her with another morph, and make something else, because those hatchlings will be worth more).

Can I let go of that first silver streak? Yes. If it’s necessary, I can indeed let it go. I’ll enjoy it while I get it feeding, and then let it go. I figure, when I have built my business up to a much, much higher level, I will have room to play. I can breed a few of the things I like. I can start line-breeding projects to produce animals with a certain look that doesn’t relate just to their morph. I can acquire dinkers to play with.
But not yet. I agree with you 100% about the best plan, I just think you can have your cake and eat it too, IF you can maintain your objectivity and remember that it really is a business.
I’m learning along the way. Right now, I have too many males, and I know it…so I’m done buying new male morphs. Only females for the next year or two. With the acquisition of a pied and some hets, I’m ready to roll for a while. I have enough diversity among the morphs I have to make some some really cool combos, and if I do acquire another, it will be a very high end recessive–something to make max $.