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Posted by chimbakka on April 18, 2003 at 12:04:30:
In Reply to: What to breed? posted by bigschtick25 on April 18, 2003 at 02:32:03:
I will ignore the fact that you know little about the species, and yet want to make a ton of money. Not very mature.. but I have some things to say from another viewpoint.
If you are wanting to start a business, you are going to have to invest a TON of money. I am thinking about breeding chameleons myself. But, in my mind I will not be doing so for another few years. My male is only five months, and is sick. I have spend about $700 on him, and his setup so far. He isn't even in his full size cage yet. I will have spent about $1000 getting him started in life, by the time he is one year. Not to mention the ammount of time I have spent on him. He is a panther, just so you know.
Assuming all goes well, and Orion grows up big and strong, then in the winter next year I will be looking at aquiring a female. Again, for her and her housing I am looking at another grand. Then another year before I will breed her. If you breed the females too young they will have a shorter lifespan and not be as healthy. Good for the cham to wait, but not good if you want fast cash.
Then we go to incubation. This will cost another few hundred, as well as time. If you are doing it for money, this is time you may resent giving to your chams. Those that do it for love, like to spend their time this way.
WEll, the babies finally hatch. You need to spend A TON of time with them. They need to be housed individually. Are you ready for if there are 35 babies? That's a lot of cash on housing. Not to mention they need a seemingly endless supply of baby crix and fruit flys. More time and $. Suppose one of your babys gets sick. Are you prepared to spend the money on a vet bill? Or, would you bury it and cut your losses? These are living creatures we are talking about, they are not merchandise... something else to consider.
Finally, you have babies that are ready to sell. During the last few years you will have needed to find people to buy them. Say you only sell half of the thirty you had, because it was a large fluke clutch. Are you prepared to house 15 full grown chams untill they are sold? HUGE responsibility.
All in all, i think you should start with ONE chameleon, and go from there. If you aren't willing to spend a little extra on a panther, than I don't think you are ready to have a cham. The animal is the least expensive part. And, from a business point of view, you save $ on your breeders, but the babies are worth less. You still spend a ton on bringing them into the world though.
Start small. Learn. Learn some more. Own a cham, and see if you are willing to devote two years, if not more, to one. Then come back, and ask EDUCATED questions. I'm sure you will find more help then.
All the best.
~Lindsay
