Well, here's the thing. I'm not looking for a quick and easy sell. I think like most people in this hobby, I keep snakes because I'm fascinated by them, not because I can profit. Don't get me wrong, I've sold my share of babies, and I most certainly like the money when that happens. But in the end, if I even break even I'm more than happy.

Honestly, I keep these animals because I like them, and I love the process of breeding them. I don't breed everything I have every year, because I need to be sure I can get rid of the babies. However, that takes us back to the money and the "break even" idea.

I probably spend as much money on equipment, cages, supplies, etc... as I do on snakes. Or at least some years I do. So, when you decide to buy some higher end animals (which for some reason, there's always another I seem to need), you hope to at least get a chunk of that back.

I understand prices drop. Of course they do. I've been HEAVY in to this hobby for about 15 years. I've seen prices go crazy, and I've seen them drop. But I still can say, that the drop in the snakes we're talking about was out of the ordinary and that's why I posted to see if anyone had insight as to why. For a snake to drop each year is expected of course. Especially if it turns out to be prolific. But, each year, even on more popular species, what do you normally see as a drop. $100 maybe. Sometimes more, sometimes less, and of course there are always exceptions. But, the latis went from $900 to $350 in LESS than a year. That's nuts no matter how you slice it.

I just hope they hang in there for awhile. These are awesome, weird snakes with an attitude. I really want to work with them before they are the next $50 snake that you can't give away. When you see crazy price drops like that, you have to worry that is going to happen.

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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

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