Posted by:
Tony D
at Tue Feb 23 09:22:18 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Tony D ]
Few hobbyist work with the smaller forms of NA milks due to the amount of work required to establish neonates. Add to this that coastals are much more rare or less commonly found in the wild and you have a recipe for an expensive little snake. Now take the fact that these are young females and the current owner is not highly motivated to move them and you've largely accounted for the higher price.
My personal opinion is that the market for coastals has been damaged by years of prestige marketing where high prices were charged along with the admonishment (read challenge) that this were for advanced keepers. Noenate coastals were sold for a premium before they were established and a lot of people failed to successfully raise them. This left a bitter taste in many a breeder's mouth and many continue to avoid working with the form as a result.
None of this need be the case. Coastal neonates may not be self-starters in captivity like Hondurans but neither are they difficult if you are willing to devote a little TLC to get them stated or get them from a breeder who is willing to do so before offering them for sale. Coastals are certainly less difficult to start than alterna or zonata which both enjoy good market positions so there is no reason why they are not more widely available.
In my humble opinion a fair market price for an established neonate coastal is 75 - 125 based on current availability. Add in some good locality data and some will be willing to pay double that. Established adults generally go for double the cost of neonates and lone ready to breed females might justify another doubling in price. Based on this I would expect to pay little more than 500 for an adult female unless it was a spectacular specimen. Then the price is whatever I can come up with. 
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“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emmerson
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RE: Striped Temporalis? - Tony D, Tue Feb 23 09:22:18 2010