Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, this has to be cleared up. Im sure alot of Beardie Enthusiasts must be questioning this "New Discovered Morph" like I am.... WIBLITS. No offense to the producer of this morph, but in my professional opinion it sure looks to be a leucistic with a shade of grey to it. There are no appealing features to it that has not been around for years.... Black Nails, Pigmented eyes. And the over-all Health appearance looks a little bit SHADY. There is no way that this dragon is worth $4,000 U.S. currency. I know it is from a breeder in Southern Africa, so the import fee will apply as well.

*** I would invest in some imports from Italy. Or save that money on an Albino Bearded Dragon when someone produces one with Pink Eyes.

Its a morph, nothing wrong with that. Its interesting looking morph but I wouldn't pay that much for it even if I could afford to. The asking price can be anything the breeder wants, but its useless if nobody buys it. If somebody is willing to pay that much for a bearded dragon (heck, people spend that much and far more for ball python and boa constrictor morphs...why not in a lizard too?) then they will buy it at that price.

Its obviously not a morph everybody will like. I don't like translucent at all..find they all look sickly and half the purple ones look like well, what any animal would if their skin was translucent enough to see their internal organs through. But that is just my personal view on translucents. More than enough grow to adulthood so they must be healthier than they look as babies.

Morphs of various creatures are produced all the time, those that don't do well, either health wise or interest wise, eventually fade away. If nobody buys the morph or very few do, then eventually people just stop breeding them and move to other things. Its like any other supply/demand thing. Also everybody has different tastes. Translucents seem to be the 'hot' morph in dragons, followed by silks and leather backs...pretty much the only morphs that get talked about here over the last year. Neither are my cup of tea...though the silks and leathers do have their appeal, I just like the natural spikiness of bearded dragons. Without their scales, they don't look right, even though the lack of scales seems to allow the pigmentation of the skin to be more bolder. Though in my view, (and this has nothing against all the fantastic animals and breeders/keepers of these morphs) if I wanted a scaleless dragon, I would just buy a uromastyx.

All this said, understand that not everybody is going to like any given morph, or like the price a given morph is being sold for. If the price isn't what you are willing to pay, don't pay it. Either the price will go down in a few years if there is enough interest to keep breeding the morph, or it will vanish from the market completely. There are people out there paying as much as $20,000 for morphs in various different species...especially in new morphs discovered/created. Ten years later or even sooner, that same morph may only be worth $2,000 or even less. Some may even half in price by the time one can buy a baby and raise it up to start producing hets, then breed those hets back to a parent to produce the morph itself.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for your insight. I have never seen this morph before and not a lucy fan, so I didnt know what to take of it. I agree that for a lizard I would not pay that price. I do have several ball pythons, I am aware of their capable astronomical values. I would pay 1,000's of dollars for something with the longevity of 20-40yrs, not a reptile that lives from 10-15 statistically.

*** I appreciate your opinions, not trying to cause a feud on the topic.

If these wiblitz dragons sell well, one does have the potential to make alot of money, giving how productive dragons can be...at least at the start. With an average of 100 eggs per season, it is feasible to make alot of money. Unlike ball pythons who tend to average about 6-8 eggs per clutch and only have one per year.

Myself, I like the natural pattern in bearded dragons, would not be as interested to buy these patternless dragon morphs, even at a reasonable price. But there are enough people who like the patternless look in animals, I expect somebody making the investment to buy these wiblitz in the US and breed them here, they would sell them well enough, as long as they out cross them to ensure they are not too inbred and offspring are healthy. Probably get a few good years of sales before prices drop.

Definitely can see you would be more interested in spending thousands on an animal which lives 20 years or more, than one who averages 10 years.
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PHLdyPayne

I am with you. I think the reason for the price tags is people are interested in having something first. I am a fan of intense color. Wiblitz and Silverbacks are ok, but I have no interest in owning any.

I think the comment about sickly looking tranlucents is because of the overall poor quality of translucents and of dragons in general. People selling reds that are clearly orange. Grey dragons with a yellow stripe or two billed as citrus. Trans with normal eyes. Giving a dragon a name seems to make it more interesting. And people seem to want to pay way more than they are worth.

The ball python breeders taught us a valuable lesson. Don't mortgage your house to buy a pair of the "morph du jour". Next year, since everyone has them, babies will be worth nothing and you will be homeless.
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