When I started out breeding Easterns I charged a failry low price for them. The first year I bred them (Many years ago) I had a marginal degree of success, and charged a fairly low price. Consequently, subsequent clutches proved MUCH more challenging to get to full term and feeding. And several years I produced absolutely nothing.



My prices increased.



I would often tell people that my prices WERE NOT the lowest. That the same snake could be had from competitors for a bit less and from people that had bred their first clutch for much less. During Grey Davis reign as our governor, electricity bills hit me so hard,and were so large that there is NO WAY that I could weather them without my prices going up, it was insane.



Frankly, I think that charging anything under 1k nowadays is unreasonable.I think that a certain amount of these snakes produced in captivity should go to reintroduction projects and some of them given away to people that have always wanted them but cant afford them(I have done this in the past when I could) I know this sounds contradictory , but it keeps this a "hobby" and less of a business. Businessmen dont give away snakes that they can get $1k for, generally speaking. Hobbiest do.



Prices have increased over the last several years, the recent weather conditions in the gulf may have destroyed even more habitat and the seasons not over yet, not at all....



I would like to say that everyone should be able to afford an Indigo, but thats not realistic. I paid DEARLY for the first ones that I bought and in retrospect lost more money than I made. Once you factor in things like food, cages, electicity, vets visits, medicine.....it costs. Cheaper snakes are avialble, and I have OFTEN had to settle for them instead of what I wanted. such is life. Being cheap doesnt make them anyless magicaL.



The ball python people tend to put very high values on their snakes, I am not fit to judge what they do as I dont keep and breed ball pythons, but they charge a pretty penny for the many morphs they create. Useing this rationale in reverse, I beleive that breeders of Eastern Indigos ought to be able to charge more BECAUSE their snakes are not cross bred with other drymarchon types.



Eastern Indigos are hard to produce on a consistant basis, large , messy and have big appetitites. All of which makes them harder to get ahold of. As more and more people crowd this place we call the U.S., and wild land is cutback and exploited to make way for mini malls and themeparks and housing...animals like this will increase in price because of sheer rarity.



But in all honesty.....the snakes value lies in its HABITAT.



Heres a simple equation: Value: Habitat 80% Animal 20%



Without its habitat, the snake has little to no value, is not part of a larger equation, and is just an isolated curiosity to gape at and admire. HABITAT is where the value of these animals lies, without it, they have little to no value except as display items.



Just my opinion, if you dont share it I understand, no hard feelings. So..having said all this, lets do what we can to preserve their native habitat. And understand that the price is going to be high, and so is the level of effort in order to consistantly produce these awesome snakes.



Sincerely,



Fred Albury

[ Show Entire Thread ]