Reptile & Amphibian Forums

From what I understand, they are easy to breed... and they seem to be fairly common now, judging by the classifieds and shows I've been to... So why are they never less than $300 (and then, only males)?

Australian wildlife is always expensive when it first hits the market because there's so few of it available. Australia is pretty protective of it's wildlife, so you cant just go over and catch your own. The whole market depends on a few animals that exist in the hobby for years.
Womas have been really pricey up until recently now that they're more common. Males are worth less in the hobby than females are, so thats why they cost less than females. Ultimately, people will pay more for a female, so people will ask more for a female.
Quality animals from quality breeders are gorgeous animals, so they've been holding their value well.
Recently, I see lots of washed out ugly green womas which is disappointing. I hope people dont buy up a lot of the dirt cheap ones and breed them and flood the market with cheap, ugly ones.
If you plan to buy, do your homework and save up the dough for a quality snake. In the end, it's worth the extra trouble.
I hope that answer helps a bit.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

" I hope people dont buy up a lot of the dirt cheap ones and breed them and flood the market with cheap, ugly ones. "

I have done my best to acquire the best of the best to produce top notch womas and the extra money spent has paid off. My offspring are outstanding but unfortunately the ugly cheap ones have already flooded the market. A lot people look at the dollar amount versus quality. If you are really interested in womas, look for quality and you will be happier in the long run. I attached pics of some of my animals that are more on the orange/red side.

That is/those are indeed very beautiful snakes. Please, DO breed them and best of luck to you!!
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

I guess you've never bred womas. Getting them to breed is one thing and getting good hatch rates is something else. Widespread knowledge of what it takes to successfully incubate woma eggs has has only happened relatively recently.

I bought a group a few years back for $1K each. One of the reasons for this (I believe), is that the previous owner was unable to successfully get the eggs to term. In fact, I saw a pair of stellar animals for sale about a year ago. The stated reason for sale? Can't get the eggs to hatch.

Lastly, once you own one of these snakes, you'll wonder why you waited so long...they're really, really cool!

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"He who would stifle debate rather than engage in it, does so at the expense of his integrity and credibility"

Mike Curtin

Thanks for the info. It sounds like they are worth it, I've been reading up on them heavily for the last few months. Everyone has nothing but great things to say about them.

This is one of the biggest complaints I have about the business side of heretoculture...the statement that was posted earlier in the thread about people not buying the "Ugly" ones and flooding the market. I understand from a financial perspective that if you are going to breed them, then you would probably want the nicest specimens available so that you could in turn recieve the highest price for your efforts...ah, the ever-spinning wheels of capitalism...but anyway...I digress...People there is nothing wrong with buying a less-than-stellar color phase woma. In fact it has been documented that there may be as many as 3 distinct geographic variations of the species. A Woma in my opinion is a great addition to any collection regardless of the intensity or lack there of...of color. It is a shame to me to see here on this forum, people being encouraged to overlook the more dull phases of the species in the interest of the almighty dollar. What a shame...Are these dull patterned specimens just supposed to be swept under the carpet and hopefully bred into obscurity? I have recently added womas to my breeding program and have found them to be at the top of my list of species with which to work...and this is after 20 years in the buisness. There is a subtle beauty in even the dullest member of the species and I hope that the person that posted this question will overlook all the money-fueled responses and simply pursue the species and appreciate them for what they are; a great addition to any collection, regardless of the pricetag.

For what it's worth......The womas beauty is purely what attracted me to it. They'd always been way too expensive for me to even glance at until the last year or two. I got into womas strictly because of it's beauty, and it had nothing to do with the dollar amounts. I simply had to wait until I could actually afford one. That's the only financial aspect of my purchase.
It wasnt driven by greed.
What attracted me to the womas is their incredible color scheme, the rust and yellow bands and the cute little Groucho Marx eyebrows. Sure, the less strikingly colored ones still deserve good homes, and there are plenty of consumers out there to scoop them up too, I'd just hate to the trend be that the minority of womas offered in the market are the striking colored ones, and the usual pet store finds be the bland, washed out greenish ones for $175.

All I'm saying is that the woma is a beautiful animal, and lets not dilute the gene pool with lesser colored ones simply to make them more affordable quicker. That, to me, is the financially driven route.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Womas are TOTALLY cool, and Capt. Nemo knows what he's talking about here. I have to stop and look at mine every time he's cruising around his enclosure. Sleek, inquisitive, steady-Eddie feeder, moderately sized, handleable...I could go on.

Womas are like best-kept secrets!

The simplest answer is to learn about supply and demand.

The demand is such that someone asking $300 for a woma sells them quickly.

If you want to spend less than $300 for a woma, you'll have to wait until the demand has diminished.

It's the same reason candy bars sell for about 65-75 cents. Make a butterfinger bar 25 cents and they'll sell really fast. Make it $5 for a butterfinger and it won't sell.

The $300 Woma is the same as the 65 cent Butterfinger.

DT

>>From what I understand, they are easy to breed... and they seem to be fairly common now, judging by the classifieds and shows I've been to... So why are they never less than $300 (and then, only males)?

Doug hit right on the head. It is simply supply and demand. One of the big reasons we have seen a drop in woma price over the past 5 years or so is that the supply is growing by leaps and bounds. I have also noticed a rise in demand though, so I suspect the price will not drop much more for a while.

They are certainly one of my favorites!

They have really come down in price a lot, actually. I paid $2,000 for a nice orange female from Don Hamper back in 1999! But really, if you find one you like, go ahead and buy it! Some strains keep that bright yellow head with black eyes. They are very long-lived so you may have it for 20 years.

Colors and patterns vary widely. I bred a high-contrast female to a sandy colored male from Hamper stock. A number of the babies had/have double lines down the back and look almost "fuzzy" in appearance. A couple were normal. I hatched 12 out of 12, and they have done very well since, including one female that is over 1100 grams, born in August of last year! I held back 3 of them, and I have another clutch in the incubator now

I DID wholesale a few to dealers, and traded a few for other animals. They're great animals, just don't get in the way of them when they're hungry, lol
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1.0 Blackheaded pythons
2.4 Woma
3.2 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.3 Bloods
2.2 IJ Carpets
2.0 Coastal Carpets
1.3 Macklotts
1.2 F2 Carpondros
2.1 Jungle Carpet
1.0 Jag IJCP
0.1 Carpondro
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow boas
1.1 Striped Bolivian Boas
0.1 Madagascar Tree Boa
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

...Does anyone have any photos of these they'd like to share? Thanks. TJ.

300s not really that expensive. Consider that they used to be several thousand each, and not that long ago either.