I am a little new to the hobby. I have had bps for 2 years now and I have become hooked. My collection has grown to 32 bps so far and growing. I am breeding for the first time this year with 2 females and one male. Next year I will have somewhere around 12-15 females ready to breed. It is becoming a family hobby as well. We started all of this bc my 14 yr old son loves snakes. We have set out a breeding plan and are buying animals accordingly. So we have a good start, Im just looking to see who I could reach out to for a mentor. We are planning to keep building into a small business, so for a mentor I am looking for help not only in breeding and planning but also in connections and business building. I am looking to really grow over the next 3 yrs+. I look forward to any help anyone could provide.
I’m a new breeder myself, but would be more than happy to help in any way I can!
My main advice from what I’ve done in the past few years:
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Make sure you have a Facebook/Instagram/Twitter to post on regularly, so you can start building an online presence! YouTube is great too, if you can post on a somewhat regular basis.
I’d post more myself but struggle to get myself to sit down and edit video footage
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Participating in forums such as this one is also a good way to establish connections, if I have questions I almost always come here for answers or to open discussions!
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Doing business with other local breeders will also help with networking — I refer people to the local breeders if I don’t have what they’re looking for, and they’ll refer people to me as well!
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Vending at local shows is also a good way to establish yourself locally, even if you don’t have anything to sell. I’ve taken my hognoses to display just to show the locals what I’ll have in the future! I also design my own merch and have sold some stickers as well.
My advice is to put your work out there, without worry for judgement. Then your flock, your mentors, your colleagues will find you.
Seriously, don’t do it for likes or subscribes, just do it to document your journey with your family. You’ll be amazed the folks you’ll meet.
I’ve had such a brilliant time doing this, meeting great people, and getting incredible support along the way. I’ve also found instead of “a” mentor, seek a group. Not a specific group, but the individuals you cross paths with that something clicks with. They might all be amateurs, but I can promise you with 32 snakes, you have enough experience to help others while you are learning from others in your group.
What city/state are you in?
Myrtle Beach, SC
It’s our first year breeding too, we’re outside of Conway 
Go outside and throw a rock into a crowd. You’ve probably hit a snake keeper in either one of the Carolinas 
I’ll see if anyone in my network is in your area.
The hard part is finding asf breeders.
Trnreptilrd hit the nail on the head so far as i can tell. Im also new.
The warning i will give is moderate initial clutches. If you are new with little extra help i wouldnt hatch out 15 clutches. Hatch a couple, find your niche and build a bit of rep. Once you are reliably comfortable with moving the snakes to homes, getting picky eaters feeding reliably, etc., then start increasing how many clutches you produce. 100+ baby snakes in is not the time to find out you dont have the time or finances to deal with 24 picky eaters and over 100 hungry mouths.
I had never even considered showing up to conventions just to show what im working on, i figured if i had nothing to sell, i wouldnt be a very good vendor, but i suppose just being a presense helps build credibility and involvement
I would have never even thought about vending a show even with nothing to sell just to basically advertise.