Hi, first post on here. I’ve been interested in getting into the reptile/amphibian breeding hobby for a while now, and would appreciate some help. One of the potential species is the Northern Rubber Boa, as I do live in their native range (CA) and, as difficult as breeding them can be, they really need some form of conservation and some breeders to make poaching them not worthwhile. In addition I was offered to head a breeding conservation program for them by a local park ranger a bit back. I already have looked into the required permits and care but I would appreciate any other advice. Otherwise, I do want to get into the hobby anyways, so if you have any reccomendations for smaller sized reptiles/amphibians for beginner breeders that AREN’T ball pythons, beardies, leos, KSB’s, cresties, or gargoyles (all of these species have 1+ local breeder already) then I would greatly appreciate them. Thank you all!
Welcome to the forum. I don’t have rubber boa experience so can’t offer anything there, but will say good luck if you decide to take them on.
I’m not sure of the legalities breeding gopher snakes in California are since they’re native, but they’re a worthwhile species to consider.
I’m afraid you’ll find many of the animals that are easy to breed will have a fair number of other breeders in your general area, so it shouldn’t necessarily rule something out if they interest you.
Gophers require a native species propagation permit to breed here. You cannot breed rubber boas in California by the letter of the law but depending on the situation they may or may not be lenient of you doing it. Fish and Game has been doing undercover buys at every show, and earlier this year seized a collection of rattlesnakes from someone who was operating in a grey area so it’s not something I’d risk.
If you want to breed a native species you have to have a permit, and you’re restricted to California Kingsnakes, Gopher Snakes, and Rosy Boas. The exception to this are Albino examples of native reptiles, however Fish and Game has asked me to remove an Albino Cal King from my table at a show so they aren’t all properly educated on and/or interpreting the law correctly.
How about:
Carpet chameleons
Spade foot toads
American toads
Loxocemus bi color pythons
Giant millipedes
Green tree frogs
Sunbeam snakes
I have a little spade foot toad and she is the cutest little girl!
I also have a Loxocemus bi color python that is super cool.
I would love to breed american toads (as well as pacman frogs) but I definitely would need a mentor of some sort, since I hear they’re still very difficult to get to breed. Same with giant millipedes more or less, plus a few are illegal to own here. To anyone here does know how to breed pacmans (especially if you’re someone trying to get chaco pacmans to breed) or American toads please contact me lol.
It’s kind of crazy how strict the breeding regulations on rubber boas are, it almost feels like some sort of like, investment in their poaching? It’s not like they’re fast breeders or tough to kill like most invasives (to my knowledge they arent at least; 9ish babies per year on a picky breeder doesn’t sound like a massive invasive threat to me but idk.) Honestly would love to know why the breeding regulations are so strict for them. I’ve only heard of threat of invasiveness.
I have had 2 Pac Man frogs and neither survived. IMHO they are very delicate and not very forgiving with the husbandry. Plus there are a ton of them on the market. I would go with something hardier maybe, like a toad. My little spade foot is thriving! But again, that’s just my opinion. Others may disagree and that’s ok!
I am getting ready to order a Dumpys tree frog! They are so cute! 
Sadly spadefoot toads are a native species here 
They’re so cute too!!
I wish you luck with your froggy though! Also the info on pacman frog hardiness seems to be 50/50 extremes, I think it’s almost entirely the genetic line you get yours from at this point. No way to really tell that though.
Welcome to the community @karp.
Regardless of what you decide to breed , research is definitely a must before jumping right in. As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. Especially for the sake of the animals.
Good luck!
Thank you for the good wishes! And yes you are correct about the Pac Man frogs. Also as @buckeyeballs advised, research should be done before the deciding on and the breeding of any animal to insure the welfare of the animal and its offspring. Given the poor state of economy across the whole country, IMHO, unless you are an established breeder with a market demand for your animals at this point in time, I would make sure that you will be able to sell whatever you breed and not get stuck with a bunch of hungry mouths you have to feed……
Ok enough said from me! Good luck!
Thank you for the warm welcome! I’m currently trying to get all the research to start about 1-2 years in the future, so don’t worry I’ll make sure I know 100% about the animal I’m trying to breed!
Again, thank you for the clarification, but I do have a new question. Is there a native invertebrate propagation permit or similar? I did some precursory google searches but found nothing, but I thought it would be a good idea to ask someone who might know more than me.
I’ll let you know if I come across anything. I’ve been looking into it for black widows and desert scorpions. So far it seems that inverts are essentially unregulated.