Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The pricing of ball pythons is a question I am often asked about by new customers. They are confused as to why in some mutations the males are more valuable and in others the females are more valuable. When a mutation is first proven genetic the males are more valuable to investors because they can be bred to multiple females. As more and more people start working with these mutations and they start crossing them with other mutations to create new things the pay scale flips and the females become more valuable. There are a couple of reasons for this one is supply and demand. Let’s use the Pastel Jungle as an example. The first Pastel Jungles followed suite and were priced in the same bracket as the Albinos in 1997 at $7,500.00 for both males and females. In 1999 the first Super Pastel Jungle was produced and the price for Pastel Jungles went to $10,000.00 for males and $8,000.00 for females. Producing new mutations tends to increase or maintain the pricing of the base mutations. After the Super Pastel, Spider Pastel, Spider Super Pastel, Pinstripe Pastel, Woma Tiger Pastel, Pewter Pastel and Platinum Pastel the female Pastel Jungles became more valuable to most breeders because they need multiple females to cross into there other mutations. This also makes it more affordable for new breeders to get started because they are more interested in males when they start there breeding projects. The second reason that breeders price there females higher than the males is that in most cases 1 male breeds 5-8 females and the breeders need to hold back multiple females to progress in there breeding projects. After seeing what could be done with the Pastel Jungles and the new market for high priced ball pythons, breeders started pricing females higher than males right off the bat. Take the Cinnamon Pastels for example in 2002 when they were first produced the males were priced at $7,500.00 and the females were $8,000.00. Then the Pewter Pastel (Pastel Jungle X Cinnamon Pastel) was produced in 2003 and the price of the Cinnamon Pastels increased to $10,000.00 for males & $15,000.00 for females. The ball python market is just like any other business market in the world, once you understand how and why the market is doing what it is you can make smart investments. The ball python craze started in 1992 with the first captive Albino ball pythons and has continued to be an extremely strong industry due to the people who have a passion for this little African python.

Ball Python Mutations

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Bryan

Very very well put.

Jared Horenstein

An excellent synopsis of the market, Greg. Thx for this post.

Alan Bosch
Alan Bosch Reptiles

You've been able to accomplish great strides through your vision and breeding integrity. It's not rocket science but it does take a great deal of dedication and passion. In the world of ball pythons you have certainly secured a place in the history books. First with the Pastel Jungle, the first seed to your success and many others, and then the Cinnamon Pastel and combination of both, the Pewter Pastel!

Congratulations once again to you and Jackie! The best is yet to come!

Mark & Jayne
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