Comments on: Perspectives On Tangible Transactions

By: Dave Elliott

Dave Elliott — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:16:07 +0000

Dear Colin,
I have only recently found your “journal.” The journal’s of Thomas Merton and Charles Darwin have their power. Yours holds my interest and are free (or at least not available at Amazon yet).
As you said, “Souls at the mercy…….are odd to people who don’t desire…” the same things we desire or are obsessed with. That certainly adds flavor and mystery to life.
Some obviously saw your post as a money issue and attempted to fix up your “broken logic.”
A very practical approach I am sure. I have an account for such issues.
In a journal one writes about love as much as anything else. I suspect that you love your snakes even while they are a business to you. The money you obtain for snakes is a return on the love and care you have given them. It IS of more value and therefore much harder to spend. But then I project myself into your journal. Please forgive that intrusion.

Be Well and raise healthy snakes,
Dave Elliott
Ca

By: J-Nic

J-Nic — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:56:03 +0000

I think Tiara really said what I am thinking.

You cannot do these math like that. You need to subdivide the 10 month by the number of snakes in the collection and the number of babies produced. But you also have to consider the 2-3-4 years in raising a baby to an adult (even if you buy adults, you pay for that from the previous owner, unless you get good deals for someone who doesn’t know what he is doing). You have to consider all the rats they are eating, power to heat (or cool for some), the husbandry etc…

It’s all a + and -.

I do this as a hobby, I have a good job but since I just got out of university I am in the lower part on salary than if I had more experience but I still make more than most workers.

I understand your point. I would like to buy the last new TV that just went out like some of my friends and co-workers are doing but when I think about it and the cost, that new TV is the same cost as a few months of frozen rodents for my snake. I prefer my snakes to a TV. I have a job that really take my brains out sometimes, when I get back home and clean a few cage (on the week-end), it’s jsut calm me down and make everything easier. I can go clean and feed my snakes without really thinking. I think of something else than work. That’s why it’s a good hobby for me. The more I have, the better it is. Too many and it’s start to be a job.

It might be different once I start breeding more and getting more babies, but it,s not the money that drives me. It’s a hobby, and I spend money in it just like others who spend money on cars, buying books, big TV etc…

I think we will see less and less people doing this a as a sole job. I am sure in 10 years, the market will be different, just cause when you do it as a hobby (like a lot do), people don’t mind spending for it.

A hobby is not about income but about relaxing and making you fell good. When a industry is based on a hobby like this, it doesn’t work, unless you sell stuff for the hobby (cages, tubs, water bowl, flexwatt).

By: Tiara

Tiara — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:19:27 +0000

Hi Colin

Im from Europe, Austria, Vienna

especially my english is only bad schoolenglisch i was fascinated by your sentences you wrote.
never i found such a couragious and truth from a breeders heart coming words like yours!!

i admire your strength an courage to write all this.

i think you should – as you do time-equvalent-arithmetics/mathematics with your “normal work-money” also with your snake-income/investment money.
you need about 10 month ( 10 x 30 hours x 4 weeks = 1200hours) to produce 240 baby snakes average about 500$ (120.000$).
That means 100$/hour work.

but for every baby your need feed (and everything else) of the parents. So say for 80 parent snakes you need for 12 month feeding…… in sum about 3500/month, e.g. 40.000$ “Cost-Factor”
(is my english too bad, or can you understand?)

So the Sum is 120.000,- income minus 40.000,- Cost is a result of 80.000,- for 1200 hours work.
So you earn about 50-60$/hours SNAKE-Working.

Selling 1 Snake for 250,- is not representative, but ist is not 10 month but only 1/240 part of your 10 month working (1200hours). so 1 snake represents 1200/240=5 hours of work.

from your income of 250,- you have to substract the costs of the parents (if there ar 7 babies in the clutch say 1/7 of the parents cost……)

so you can do many “mathematics” on that.

i would realy like to one see a big american breeder surrounding.
here in europe we only can affort to habe about 1-10 snakes and we are 3years behind your breeding afforts. so many time we try to import snakes from the states, but it is hard to find
breeder beeing able to sent to europe (e.g. snakekeeper, ralph davis, roussies reptieles, …)
only the biggest one do. i would like to relocate to the states to get closer to better ballpython breeding possibilities

belive me, your really can be happy to have reached the line YOU are NOW!!!
Greetings from Vienna

Tiara