First, HELLO STEVE, great to see hear from you. I find myself in agreement with both of you. There was a time when I felt guilty about selling an indigo to a friend for $350!....but as Steve mentioned, compared to ball pythons, how can we sell indigos, the ultimate snake and only sporadically available, to be sold so inexpensively. Even $1k seems like a steal to work with such an amazing animal. Working with cobras, indigos are right there in their level of "intelligence" (I know, I need to be careful in how I use that term); I can't imagine ever not being seriously involved in their conservation, husbandry and breeding; they bring an incredible amount of satisfaction to me.

My prices are GOING WAY UP next year (of course, if I get babies; Lord willing)....at least to $750 for blacks and perhaps a bit more for reds. I typically only breed one or two females each year in order to keep the rest of my females in tip, top shape. Most of my hatchlings are donated to zoos/museums/nature centers so I need to charge a price for the private sector that will help me cover my HIGH costs of maintaining them (I still lose money in the end). If someone truly wants one, they'll spend a little extra. If they have a problem with that, they can buy a black milk, a black king, a black racer or a black something or other. Indigos deserve the same level of care, respect and dedication as a dog, they live far longer than a dog, and will bring just as much enjoyment as a dog but for many years longer.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>I think you could have asked $1000 each this year and found enough buyers to sell off your stock.
>>
>>We'll see what the short term effects of the Disaster in the Gulf states are in how they affect fuel prices, and indirectly the personal dispensable income that is the life blood of our hobby.
>>
>>In the past 10 years, Eastern Indigo prices have remained relatively level. If inflation is added to the equation, they have actually slowly dropped in value for the past 10 years. I think next year is going to be a year of correction with average prices probably doubling the price of the "low-end" breeder prices. $800-$1000 is the number I expect to see.
>>
>>The number of breeders is not increasing it seems, while demand is definately increasing.
>>
>>I also think that the few offspring produced of the other drymarchon species will keep their prices up for some years to come.
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>>The species that are legally imported will drop in price much more quickly while sub's whose stock is artificially limited by exportation bans will show the longest stability.
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>>Personally, I won't have any indigo babies next year to sell, so the business side of my hobby will take a short term hit.
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>>MOST IMPORTANTLY: Those who work with all drymarchon will have 5 times the enjoyment than those working with oddball BP morphs at just 1/5 the price.
>>
>>This concludes the statement.
>>
>>Doug T
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

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