Would you be interested in a paid course on starting a pet business? Let me know. Regardless, I'll keep doing videos like this on RU-vid! See all my money making vids here: ru-vid.com/group/PLIXZgmnvg0nCcs5i7zAjYZJ-4cPSKHUBa
GoHerping i just got a bearded dragon and named him draco First thing: I dont think he's a guy and doesn't like bieng a picked up I got him like a week ago Second: is it normal for him to like bieng pet on the head
KSound Kaiju oh man that's funny but it makes me think of those awful people who get caught at the airport with like 50 chameleons stuffed in the lining of their jacket or the one guy who had 30 hummingbirds in his underwear.
@@pain002 Well, yeah, you're right, but that just makes the metaphor work better. If a reptile is going from bad husbandry to rescue to a better home that's the equivalent (kinda, not exactly) of going from homeless to shelter to home, or abusive relationship to staying with family/friends to living on your own/in a new&healthy relationship.
I’m the person who bought Miko (the day gecko in the thumbnail) and was curious as to how he was involved in a reptile selling mistake. I feel clickbaited lol (He’s doing great though & we love him to death)
Not related but i had a dream where you appeared, I was at a reptile expo and you appeared and everyone shouted your name, you went up on a stage that had a table full of cardboard boxes and you took out a sword and started throwing all the boxes,,, it was beautiful,,
I fell asleep watching one of his videos, and I dreamt I just kept going back through his video archives and found his earliest videos, and it wasn't even him making them, it was his mum and he just did Fortnite dances in the background
That's one of the underappreciated traits that makes someone a great foster- the ability to joyfully let go. It's the main reason I'm interested in fostering grey hounds, or something like guinea pigs. I love them, I can meet their needs and then some, but I don't enjoy them enough to keep them for a lifetime. People have a tendency to react like you're a monster for being willing to let go, but that's because your purpose is to help the move onto a better life!
DebayeuxChats I agree, I’ve been fostering for 10 years & for me the happiest part is seeing them flourish and thrive in their forever homes ❤️ A lot of people have told me “I couldn’t do that, I’d get too attached!” (and tbh some are definitely harder to let go of than others), but if I kept every animal I had a fondness for I’d be an animal hoarder 😅
@@speakZarathustra Exactly! It's like the opposite of being a hoarder. You go into it understanding that there are many other homes out there that can be just as wonderful as yours. XD
Next time you might feel bad about keeping a retile in a plain sterile , non stimulating , mind altering , environment , just think about Brian Barzcyk and others keep them like that permanently .
I, for one, love your money saving videos. For context, I've teamed up with my Fiancé to start a business selling reptile stickers and merch, as we noticed the reptile conventions in the pacific northwest tend to not have very creative or funny reptile merch. We saw this as a niche, so we started making quirky stickers (like a beardie with a truckers hat holding a beer, or a cobra holding chopsticks eating noodle soup, but the noodles are snakes). Hearing about your business tips is very interesting, as we're young too. I'm only 21. Covid-19 really stopped our production, and we never were able start vending. We had all the product that we just sell online now. It's small, but we're hoping to grow.
We wished COVID would be over, so we could vend and actually throw ourselves out there in front of people, but we're a little stuck until it is over. All we can do is try to get some recognition on social media, but you know how it is. Even if you post on Instagram every other day, the build up of followers is slow
High school drop out: Here's a video exploring the difficulties I ran into during the first couple years of starting my business selling reptiles, including housing reptiles and what bookkeeping software I prefer. Second year college student I knew: I thought as long as I had checks in my checkbook that meant I had money in my checking account. (Yes in know we don't use checkbooks anymore, Im old ok)
FloofusLongus I know I haven't had one in like 15 years I think, nevertheless this was something an old friend of mine said when we were younger. She also bought cooking oil once for her car, we managed to stop her before she put it in. She works in a doctors office now, lord help us.
thecasualtrollingpuma I have a tiel that looks just like that drawing , her name is Nani. Have you even seen "potatopato"? Her cartoons are hilariously true to life.
Your business videos are so transparent and informative 👍 So few people give out this kind of real information- it’s fascinating to listen to you and your experiences, and I think the concepts are actually very useful to many people starting out small businesses of any type- excellent video 😁
These business videos are my favorite out of your whole channel, I really appreciate that you make sure to include the small details in them. I just started my own business and would definitely consider purchasing a paid course.
Just love how down to earth you stayed over the years honestly Like yeah you changed a bit, and so did your content, but that just happens with time lol (IMHO it was an improvement) This is the kinda video that, to me, seems just as important as "what to keep in mind when you're starting out" kinda videos, because it feels like rookie-mistakes aren't talked about enough in general
Great Video!!! You guys should be EXTREMELY proud of yourselves!!💯 It’s awesome to see such young and successful entrepreneurs. I’ve watched you guys build Emerald Scales literally out of nothing and it’s crazy to see how well it has and continues to turn out!! The fact that it helps/saves sooo many animals is my favorite thing about it. Congrats to you ALL👏 🐢 🙏 🐍 🥳 🦎 👌 🦖
Thank you for your videos, I’m starting a reptile pet breeding business and your videos have helped me get some information on the financial side. Also this is my first business I will be starting. I’m 16 and I have 2 leopard geckos I plan to breed.
I enjoy these kinds of videos because I would have never had the motivation or balls to try starting my own business and I admire people that do. Especially as young as Alex was when he started. Mind blowing.
Love it! Exactly what I was looking for I definitely think it’d be nice for you to have a spot dedicated to just business stuff such as a paid course or second channel or just something where you can talk more openly and more often about business
Great video! Thank you for your transparency! As you stated, there's not much public info out there on this, so your insights are all the more valuable.
It's a pity that these don't get as many views, because I like learning about details like this, in moderation. Gerald Durrell was a zookeeper from the 1950s on and wrote a number of books on his experiences, including how to keep them. If @GoHerping sees this: I'm not recommending that you read them for work; he was catching animals because 1940s and 1950s; he wrote about interesting and funny ones, which were almost all mammals; as a zookeeper, he was keeping them permanently. But he was a pretty entertaining writer with a lot of funny and weird experiences, so I recommend his books in general.
I love these types of videos. Im personally not interested in building a company like this but it’s certainly interesting to listen to you. Do more content of what YOU like, it shows if you like doing it! :)
Every business get some setbacks and makes some bad moves. Really awesome you fixed things up and improved. Considering you started really young on this business says a lot and I’m sure it’s truly helpful for anyone doing the same thing.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm in the early stages of starting a physical reptile store (I only have large pet stores, like petco and petsmart near me) and this was really usefull for me!
The mileage is nation-wide, set by the IRS. This year, it is $.575. It adds up fast. I recommend you keep up with it! Also, you can get a phone app to track every trip you take (lol your phone is doing it anyway), and then run an IRS-approved report at the end of the year for your taxes. It allows you to select which trips were personal and which were business, too, so you know which ones you can actually deduct. The one I used only cost about $8/month. And that cost is also deductible as a business expense. :)
I’d love to see how you built up emerald scales! I plan to breed tokays soon, I wish you guys would get a male tokay so I could get a rescue from you guys to put with my female
Danielle Lippert yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, and thinking I should just get her a female companion and do breeding of cb ones when I eventually start breeding
A Gecko rescue would be an awesome idea,. Since Cresties never eat all their food, but the unused "Crested" Gecko diet, is an awesome food source to gutloat feeders. Suoerworms and Dubia love Gecko diet. I use them to clean my dishes.
I checked out your website. I think it will also benefit if you had a type of search so people can search to see if you have a specific reptile or amphibian. And/or to separate the animals by class. There is a separate reptile and amphibian page, but there are no sub-section (idk if that's the right word but I'm gonna use it) type of filter. Ex: in the reptile tab you can have a subsection that will only show you geckos. Some even take it a step further and in the gecko subsection put other subsections for crested geckos, leonardo geckos, African fat tailed geckos etc. It just provides a bit more organization (even if you just do one subsection) and can make it a bit less (I didnt have any problems with it but as your company gets bigger you will have more animals) frustrating/annoying. A contact us link somewhere on the home screen pagewould also be helpful. I see that when you pick an animal there is a Contact Us link that will take you to that page, but also having it in the home screen can be a great benefit. Even though it is a small thing, having the contact us link on the home screen (even if it's at the bottom of the page, top page, or both) can provide a convenience to new customers who dont really know how to navigate your website yet and take away some (if any) frustration when trying to figure out how to contact you. I also wanted to suggest (if you're not doing this already) that when you sell or rehome the animals that some type of care instructions go with it. I have seen some videos in which you let customers know "hey this gecko will only eat super worms and we've tried everything else but this gecko refuses to eat anything but superworms" which is great. But the general care is something (from what I've seen talking to people who are getting a reptile as a pet) some people may not know much about, be misinformed, or think they know what they need to but in fact still dont know one aspect of something (like calcium or even to the basics of what type of substrate is best for that pet). And getting these people the information can be as easy as just emailing them their confirmation and including a link to a GoHerping video (which could also help with subscribers) on how to care for the animal. And if there is no video on that specific animal then in the email or a letter with a short care guide. This will help to reduce the number of reptiles that might have to go through rehabilitation because an owner was just clueless or misinformed. If you guys are already doing something like that then that's awesome!!! I just wanted to include that last bit so you guys could consider it if you arent.
Hell yes! I've been seriously considering setting up a shop eventually. Learning how to do it from someone who managed to make a profit so soon would be awesome!
Love the video. Everyone makes mistakes. ALSO YES it's an amazing day outside in the shade with the wind. Big difference from the 110 heat index yesterday.
I don’t know how these videos get less views than “normal” videos. They should get more or at least the same. It’s pretty interesting and very helpful to people who want to have a business.
One day when I finish college (I want to be a vet) I plan on starting a collection of snakes for breeding eventually (I want to specialize with ball pythons, and I might also hold a rescue too)
Great video! I’m not planning on starting a full-blown business at the moment, but since I have Mourning Geckos, I’m going to have to find something to do with the eggs every 6 weeks my girls will inevitably lay once they’re fully grown. The limiting species part was especially helpful - I’d love to take in Leos and Cresties, but especially since I’m going to be housing a consistent supply of baby Mourning Geckos, this was a nice reality check that yeah, space would be an issue for non-tropical species. I need a humidifier for my Mournings in the winter months and that doesn’t necessarily mesh well with some of my dream animals. Mournings are very much Cresties but smaller, and it makes much more sense to specialise in Crested Geckos until funding is more consistent.
I never knew how low the reptile keeping standards are in the USA. The minimum requirement for one leopard gecko is 10 Gallon or approx. 200square inches of floorspace which is about a fourth of the minimum requirements in my country(40" x 20" x 20" about 775square inches floorspace). Even Alex for example said he likes to keep his permanent leopard geckos in a 30" x 12" x 12"(360square inches floorspace) thats still less than half of the minimum requirements compared to my country. I'm not hating btw, just bewildered and I want to spread something to maybe think about.
I would be interested in something like that. I do feral cat spay/neuter and adoption and I'd like information on how to possibly sustain it without going broke. 🙁
I do this too - I have convinced the county to pay for the spay/neuter and vet care and I do a lot of the home finding. It’s always worth asking them - they might surprise you!
i came across a local one where this man will buy animal stuff thats marked down from stores, amazon, ect- then he sells them on fb marketplace at a mid price/discounted from original price. the profits he makes he uses on the cats to spay and neuter them. some people also for ferrets for instance make leashes for ferrets on etsy with paracord ect so they make quite a bit of profit based off how cheap the paracord amount is used for the leash (like if you spent $15 on the rope, but it can make 10 leashes and you sell each leash for $8) and they would just use the profits for their ferret rescue
i appreciate the point about mileage on your vehicle for tax purposes. my family owns a pool installation store and we travel to get parts often in our diesel truck out of state and back so thank you for that.
I'm planning a similar business, but with scorpions. Right now I'm breeding Arizona barks and desert hairys so far, but I want to expand into exotics like some of the really hot species and the large forest scorpions.
Hey, Im a 13 year old getting into the hobby, I have a Leopard Gecko and a ball python, and i just upgraded my ball python to a 40 gallon, so i have a spare 20. Any ideas of what to put in it? Im thinking about some type of colubrid, preferably something that doesnt burrow, like a kenyan sand boa
I honestly think it’s hard to find pet snakes that don’t burrow. Maybe you should get your leopard gecko a mate, but keep it in the separate cage until you’re ready to breed them. If you want to breed reptiles then leopard geckos are a good way to start. I’d do as much research as I can before attempting it though.
im just gonna ask here but do you have any videos on bearded dragon care like you do with leopard geckos? I have like a week before one of my friends moves out and I have to take care of their beardie and I have a basic idea of what im doing since I have other reptiles but I trust you the best.
@@GoHerping ummm you taught me (a 40 year old woman on her second dragon who was a rescue) how to clear blocked femoral pores on this channel and it worked out perfectly! There's little nuggets of wisdom all over this channel! ☺️- Mom to Zeus 5 years old adopted 4 years ago
The idea of minimizing space and 'husbandry'is common practice if you think about it. Like a shelter for cats and dogs. They cant give every animal a house to roam - would they if they could? Of course. But a rescue if a halfway house. A rescue is temporary. They just need to cover basics of care - the rest is for the new owners they try to get for the animals.
It’s a hypothetical question but how do you go about having animals who need different temperatures but are in the same room? I’ve never had any other reptile than an iguana, but I was living in his natural habitat so he’d just live in my garden, so I have no idea about keeping them inside.
I know I’m a little late but I would be interested in a paid course. I just want to do what you do. How did you convince your parents to let you do this.
Breed your own feeders and replace the breeding populations semi often. Specialize. Have back up money. What good is a breeder that ends up surrendering animals or worse, sending them out in a rush.
That electric bill is a killer, lol. Yes tubs! I started out with tanks and quickly realized that that was too unreasonable when doing rehabs. My "fails" get things fancier too, lol.
YES PLEASE!!!! My ultimate goal is to have my own store one day. There’s a lot of info on how to run a business but not a whole lot on reptiles specifically. I work with a lot of people who have had their own place but lost out to the big stores. There’s not a lot of options for reptiles in my area besides the big ones so I see a lot of potential in that area. A big part of my plan is also to have a rehome section that was inspired by your channel. So I would gladly pay for you to teach me everything you know about this. Thank you.
How did you get your name out there? If I ever started a business with selling animals I’d be scared people won’t know about me and I’d end up with like 20 geckos or something. What do you recommend
Violet Holiday I love day geckos,they are so cute. I have a leopard gecko and two house geckos. I wanted an African fat tailed gecko,but I got impatient and settled on a leopard gecko
Breonalyn Sihock 🤣I really wanted a lavender corn snake,but my mom said no cuz she doesn’t want mice in her freezer☹️ . I have two German shepherds ,hamster,the 3 geckos,and a cat. It’s safe to say I love animals.
