The availability of captive-bred reptile and amphibian species to work with today is almost endless, with new color phases and morphs being discovered or created all the time.

Back when I was a hobbyist in the 80s and 90s, only a few species were being produced in captivity, primarily native colubrid snakes along with a small handful of exotics. The other species available, especially the exotic species, were almost invariably wild-caught imports, and even such animals as Honduran milk snakes, common in the captive-bred community today, were only available as parasite-infested wild-caught specimens whose survival was often questionable. Sports, or morphs, were virtually unknown, albinos truly rare, piebalds a holy grail.

With all the choices available today, just how do you pick which reptile or amphibian species to work with?

No matter what your interest is, there is something available for you, and that's the first place to start: your interests.

Certainly there are other factors involved, not the least of which are space, cost, legality, etc., that all must be considered, but in the end, if you're not interested in the species or morph, why work with it? Whether you want to work with Pacman frogs because you like Pacman frogs, or you want to chase the rainbow by breeding the latest and greatest ball python or hognose morphs, if you're not working with something you're interested in, you might as well be delivering pizzas instead.

My interests have been, and always will be, kingsnakes and milk snakes, and because that also happens to be the "branding" chosen for this web site long long ago, it's a natural that I've started by breeding kingsnakes and milk snakes. With relatively easy care requirements, and a variety of species, sub-species, and color morphs to work with, they make excellent examples of "first time breeder" animals, one for which a ready market exists.

My business plan calls for acquiring several hundred kingsnake and milk snake hatchlings over the next 24 months, along with a few select adults, raising them up, breeding them, and then selling their offspring primarily into the wholesale market. As such it will be a full three years before I can expect to see any offspring in salable quantities, or the first returns on the investment, and as such will have to make very careful and wise decisions and good deals.

I plan to work primarily with less expensive snakes to start, California kingsnakes, eastern kingsnakes, Pueblan milk snakes, and a few others, avoiding the more problematic feeders or more collectible species such as graybanded and moutain kingsnakes, as well as avoiding the "man-made" morphs and sports such as albinos. Later as the operation expands I'll look at adding more variety, but for now I'm going to focus on basics.

If you have these on your table at a show this year, or have them posted to our classifieds here, don't be surprised to find me checking out your stock.

If you started a commercial reptile breeding business, what species would you choose, and why?