There are two different classes of "hot" sellers in the snake world.

There are the high dollar new morph/species that everyone wants but few can get. These are sold at top dollar to a few breeders at a time until the market fills and then the price drops and they are sold to the general consumer. Occasionally, these snakes aren't really popular with the public at large (pet snake people) and don't sell well once the breeders have bought what they want. This is usually because they are too flighty or in some way not good pets. Coxi come to mind and probably albino retics.

The other hot items is a species/morph that is cheap and can be produced and sold by the truckload. Leopard Geckos did that for a while until the market became saturated. Crested Geckos are just on the tail end of that. This is what happened to Burmese Pythons in the late 80s. Now people don't bother breeding them because they have trouble selling all those babies.

Some common species that are on the rise (although I wouldn't say they are "hot" are Western Hogs and Baird's Ratsnakes. These snakes make great pets and the public at large is now aware of that and seeking them out.

It is a wiser thing to just breed what you like. If people want lots of them, great. If not, you still like your animals.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

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