If you are afraid of competition you should take up a hobby like.... knitting....there is very little competition there.
LOL!

Seriously though...
I feel like competition is a good thing. Prices will fluctuate.
They always do. But why look at things from the negative perspective. If you really enjoy this hobby or business you will find a way to make it work.

How many of you have bought only a SINGLE snake and felt satisfied.
Yep....I got my ONE snake and I don't care to have any more.

YEAH RIGHT!

We are all infected with the same wonderful addiction to this hobby.
When we buy a single snake...we want to breed it.
I dont care if it is worth $2.00 or $20,000.00...we all like to see eggs hatching successfully. It makes us feel like we are doing something right with the animals we keep.
When we have succeeded with one species we want to try our hand at others as well.

If a new keepers are introduced ( exposed to the infectious addiction) to keeping reptiles....ball pythons or any other reptiles....they will also want to breed their animals.
There is nothing wrong with more responsible reptile keepers in the hobby.
Think about it.
Even if the new keeper starts with a male pastel...they will want to breed it to several interesting females.
Everyone wants to produce something cool.
These new keepers will form a new market!
They will produce new and interesting morphs!
I can't wait to see what other people hatch out.
I say the more the merrier!
There is nothing wrong with this market.
It is merely adjusting to new circumstances and situations.
The market is alive...it changes and evolves. Just roll with it....Or go extinct. LOL.
Call me crazy but I think that's kind of a beautiful thing.

There will always be expensive, new, "got to have it" type animals ...and there will be some animals that decline in both price and public interest.
(I actually have a lot of respect for people who like to keep animals that are not the "Jonny-Come-Lately" type animals.)
You know....I was thrilled to hatch out smooth green snakes for heavens sake! It was cool.
I also enjoyed hatching Parias sumatranus....They have only been bred by myself and one Zoo here in the USA.
I enjoyed producing Crotalus pifanorum....first successful breeding outside of Costa Rica or Venezuela!
I hope there are plenty more people to have success with these and many other species....it keeps things interesting.

After all, when I started keeping Ball Pythons they were "Just a KID'S snake."

Look at them now!

There is plenty of room for new faces in this market.
I say welcome them in and encourage responsible husbandry.
After all, how would you feel if...when you were first curious about reptiles...someone said, "There are too many people in this hobby....we need less people....We want to be exclusive."

This reminds me of Kids in a tree house...only allowing "SOME" people to join in their clubhouse.
Lets be realistic.

Lets have fun and stop worring about what prices are going to do tomorrow, next week or in the next ten years.

Besides, if I were join a club....I would want it to be a fun club...I would want to join a club where I felt welcome...a club where there were not too many worry worts.
This is a great hobby/business.
Keep it fun. Everything else will work itself out.
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!

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