Tarantula breeding as a side hobby

[CLOS]

Right now I have plenty of tarantulas and scorpions that are pretty rare and I was wondering if there was any money in breeding them. I am still a teen and I do not want to breed as a career or anything. I do other things on the side that make me money and I was wondering how much do you guys make breeding tarantulas and is it even worth it?

 

[Liquifin]

Unless you're truly dedicated as in putting hundreds of dollars into buying and spending thousands on imports then it's not a stable income. As a secondary income, it does "somewhat" work but as a teenager, mostly no. As a teen it takes a lot of time to understand the market and people. I tell you, as a teen don't jump the gun into breeding unless you have great connections to other retailers and breeders. I learned the easy way, but others were not so lucky. Before breeding, I tell people to understand the market, breeders, retailers, and imports because I see people breeding curly hairs and pink toes without having a way to sell them. Trust me, unless you want to be stuck with hundreds of tarantulas, understand what you're getting into. Producing offspring is one thing, getting to sell them or getting rid of them is another. As a young adult now, I understand the market much better. It takes a lot of time... Too much time to call it profitable sometimes.

I work as a seasonal tarantula breeder which I focus primarily on wholesale so I don't really do the retail work as it would take months to just get rid of slings. I only sold retail one time on here on the forums and it was fine. But I still don't like putting effort into selling them individually at the moment.

As for how much I make it varies from what species I breed, how many produced, and how much people will take them for. I tend to be very fair on online wholesale pricing, too good sometimes. But I really don't want to inflate prices which is why I try to keep prices fair on the low side. As for how much I made so far this year, I'm not sure if it's allowed to discuss that on here is it? But either way, it's personal and it's helping me a little as I'm jobless at the moment, but my dad is fine as long as I can make income somehow.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Lets say i have a rareish species that gets a sac with 230 or so slings. I sell those slings at $15-25e, and times that by 230.

Yes, theres some money in it. However, you need to look at demand and what sells out quickest when deciding to breed. No point breeding a common-as-candy NW, ending up with 1000 slings and then nobody wanting to buy them

 

[Chebe6886]

Yeh I remember the guy with the grand plan to breed and sell “rose hairs” and he didn’t even realized they were different species that shouldnt hybrid.
If you have a rare/very popular T with both a M and F I say do research on that species and give it a shot. Hope for the best.

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

There is some money in it but it takes a lot of money and time to get females and track down males that are matured at the same time. Also a lot of work when you have hundreds of slings...

 

[paumotu]

A 25 year old teenager..

As for whether or not there’s money in it, of course there is if you’re successful. Just make sure to do your research and be prepared to experience some setbacks, many people don’t get it right on their first try.

 

[viper69]

Depends on the species you own, and your goals.

 

[Vanessa]

Have a dealer lined up to take them and discuss with them which species are in high demand and will make it worth your while. You're going to be babysitting mum with her egg sac, you're going to be babysitting the spiderlings in your incubator, you're going to be feeding them and splitting them up into individual deli cups/vials. That is more than likely going to be at your expense. Factor all of the supplies and your time and deduct that from what a dealer is prepared to give you. Believe me, it doesn't work out to be that much. A dealer might give you a higher amount in store credit than in cash.
If you try to sell them yourself, add in more for your time, the inevitable aggravation, and food.

 

[Smotzer]

I would say, there’s no harm in trying with one species first to see how it goes, granted you are prepared to and can properly care for all those slings, especially if you were to try and sell them retail; you having to take for all them for extended periods until they are all gone, if you are even able to move them all.

And just don’t try with something like an huge sac like an LP lol

 

[moricollins]

Lots of good advice in this thread so far.

I keep/breed/sell Isopods as a hobby.
I'll say it's a pain trying to coordinate / locate / make sales and payments, etc. from individual customers. Not to even mention the hassle to ship / track /troubleshoot issues with shipping companies.

Sometimes I think it's more of a nuisance than it's worth for the amount of sales that occur.

A single person asking a bunch of questions, changing their order, then not ending up purchasing anything equals out to sometimes several hours wasted, if you have unlimited free time then that's maybe not an issue.

(I spent about 5 hours with one person discussing care, orders, etc., and they ended up not purchasing anything)

 

[Smotzer]

(I spent about 5 hours with one person discussing care, orders, etc., and they ended up not purchasing anything)

I remember those kind of customers lol had a few myself, lots of fun giving all that time away ahahaha

 

[moricollins]

I remember those kind of customers lol had a few myself, lots of fun giving all that time away ahahaha

And in this specific situation the person ended up not even saying they weren't buying anything, just ghosting

 

[TheDarkFinder]

I have been in this game for a while. I will tell you this. When you put the word "sell" into a hobby, it officially becomes a job.

At the best of times, a eggsack is a wondrous thing, but when you put a dollar sign on their heads, it becomes a chore.

A lot of people think I can get B. smithi, which is always in demand, breed them, sell them for 5 bucks each. 100 slings at 5 bucks, a little pocket change.

But as a buyer I look at your little specks and ask why so cheap? You explain the above, I start to remember names like KANE and my wallet seizes to function and I place you a watch list.

I have a history of blisters here. I have learned that 99.999999999% of the people in this hobby are wonderful. But I also know that if it is too good to be true, it is.

So here is what I would recommend. I would build and reputation with some of the bigger players in the game. Find out what they are looking for. Pick that one species that are you passionate about. Check the markets making sure you can find homes for them, and breed that species to advance it in the hobby.

I would be prepared to give them away for free. I would do it because they need a care taker in the hobby. I would never do it for money, because that is the first step to failure.

 

[moricollins]

I have been in this game for a while. I will tell you this. When you put the word "sell" into a hobby, it officially becomes a job.

At the best of times, a eggsack is a wondrous thing, but when you put a dollar sign on their heads, it becomes a chore.

A lot of people think I can get B. smithi, which is always in demand, breed them, sell them for 5 bucks each. 100 slings at 5 bucks, a little pocket change.

But as a buyer I look at your little specks and ask why so cheap? You explain the above, I start to remember names like KANE and my wallet seizes to function and I place you a watch list.

I have a history of blisters here. I have learned that 99.999999999% of the people in this hobby are wonderful. But I also know that if it is too good to be true, it is.

So here is what I would recommend. I would build and reputation with some of the bigger players in the game. Find out what they are looking for. Pick that one species that are you passionate about. Check the markets making sure you can find homes for them, and breed that species to advance it in the hobby.

I would be prepared to give them away for free. I would do it because they need a care taker in the hobby. I would never do it for money, because that is the first step to failure.

You spoke his name!!! Aaaaaaah!

 

[MrDeranged]

@TheDarkFinder @moricollins

STOP bringing up "he who shall not be named" RIGHT NOW. I will not take the chance of him being summoned by your inappropriate mentions......

 

[moricollins]

@TheDarkFinder @moricollins

STOP bringing up "he who shall not be named" RIGHT NOW. I will not take the chance of him being summoned by your inappropriate mentions......

My bad, boss. Maybe if we say it backwards it'll reverse our saying of the name?

OP: breed if you want to, but if you're expecting to actually MAKE money, then I think you might find yourself disappointed. IF you have success breeding you can possibly turn the offspring (depending what you breed) into some different/unusual/rare species. I did this years ago when I had a successful breeding of Caribena laeta, used it for "store" credit with a couple vendors and acquired some species I wouldn't have afforded otherwise.

 

[J.huff23]

And in this specific situation the person ended up not even saying they weren't buying anything, just ghosting

I’ve had this happen with the same buyer on at least two or three separate occasions. It’s probably the same guy haha. I no longer answer those messages.

 

[StampFan]

Lots of good advice in this thread so far.

I keep/breed/sell Isopods as a hobby.
I'll say it's a pain trying to coordinate / locate / make sales and payments, etc. from individual customers. Not to even mention the hassle to ship / track /troubleshoot issues with shipping companies.

Sometimes I think it's more of a nuisance than it's worth for the amount of sales that occur.

A single person asking a bunch of questions, changing their order, then not ending up purchasing anything equals out to sometimes several hours wasted, if you have unlimited free time then that's maybe not an issue.

(I spent about 5 hours with one person discussing care, orders, etc., and they ended up not purchasing anything)

Yep, I've had the same thing selling isopods. Spend a LOT of time counselling people about how they work in a bioactive terrarium, and then they don't purchase anything.

I even had a lady last week send me a message two weeks after sale wondering ..."if I gave her the wrong container" because she never sees the isopods in her crested gecko tank, even though she would have seen them in the container when she put them in there. Another lady had the nerve to short change me, "...sorry, I only have $20" when she agreed to $30, even after I delivered the isopods to her door. I had another person ask me for "pictures" of the individual isopods. I get that if its a reptile that you're spending a bunch of money for and you want to see it, but all individuals of isopod species look exactly the same. Just bizarre stuff.

If you can sell to a wholesaler, you can avoid a LOT of "customer" issues.

 

[Frogdaddy]

Just my $.03 worth. If you're getting into this expecting to make money or counting on making money as a side thing you're doing it for the wrong reasons and you'll be disappointed financially.
After breeding and selling lord know how many dart frogs, shipping them all across.the country, I quickly realized the best you can hope for is to make enough money to support your hobby. I stress hobby. You'll never get rich selling T's. If you wish to pursue it as a career, you'll have to have some sort of income to support you for the number.of years it will take for the business to become self sustainable.

 

[moricollins]

Yep, I've had the same thing selling isopods. Spend a LOT of time counselling people about how they work in a bioactive terrarium, and then they don't purchase anything. I even had a lady last week send me a message two weeks after sale wondering ..."if I gave her the wrong container" because she never sees the isopods in her crested gecko tank, even though she would have seen them in the container when she put them in there. Had another lady have the nerve to short change me, "...sorry, I only have $20" when she agreed to $30, even after I delivered the isopods to her door.

If you can sell to a wholesaler, you can avoid a LOT of "customer" issues.

Seems like it happens to all of us at some point.

There's a reason I only take e-transfer ;-)