Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering what determines how much you charge for a snake? I emailed this one guy when he may have some more blue beauties and he said he couldn't tell me a price until they hatch...is it something as simple as how many actually hatch and feed or is there more to it than that? I've seen "agressive feeding" blue beauty hatchlings on the classifieds that range from $45 to $100 and was wondering what causes such a vast price difference...is it just simply that everyone thinks theirs are worth more than anothers or some people would rather get rid of the clutch than make a lot of money?

Just curious,
Chris
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)

I often don't set prices until the snakes hatch. It gives me time to research current market value, and see what kind of sex ratios I ended up with. A few reasons I've sold animals below standard market price:

1. The clutch is really heavy on males; I may sell the males for less.

2. I want or need to sell the hatchling quickly (usually this pans out as end-of-the-season wholesale lots).

3. Quantity. With corns, for example, I ended up with far more crimsons than any other variant this year. As a result, I'll happily sell them for a little less.

My theory on vast price differences such as the one you mentioned, is that the higher end likely reflects "current market value" for that species, and not necessarily a breeder who thinks they have something special (which would probably be noted in the advertisement). I don't think I'd classify "aggressive feeders" as anything special, by the way. The snakes should be eating regularly, period. Whether they eat if left in private for 30 minutes or with great gusto is irrelevant, IMO.

The lower price range probably reflects breeders who, for one reason or another, want to sell the hatchlings quickly. This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- I can think of dozens of legitimate reasons why someone would sacrifice price to make sure the animals sell quickly.

Of course, I could have it all backwards, and the low prices are current market value and the high prices are just very optimistic breeders! I try not to get too hung up on prices, and worry more about the breeder, the animal's history, is the animals exactly what I want, etc.

Just my thoughts on the matter. Sorry for being long-winded!

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Ronda Van Winkle
Northwest Herpetoculture

Blue Beauties are likely a highly variable snake if the dozen or so adults I've seen are any indication. It might be that "high yellow" specimens, for example, will yield a higher price.

So instead of "morphs" this is an example of a continuously variable trait that the breeder is waiting on. Something that is possibly subject to selective breeding.

Examples include the Ball Python, Jungle Carpet Python, and California Kingsnake markets to name a few.

How and whether this relates to hatchling blues I don't know for sure.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

What species is that in your picture? I want one!

Id like to add that sometimes price seems to depend on how good looking they are. Ive seen price lists vary for a clutch for specific traits, being more expensive per individual with more or less of a certain color etc.

Ronda............Good job covering the issues most breeders face when it comes to pricing one's animals. I'm going to bring up one point that I seldom see mentioned. While folks are willing to pay that premium for a single female, I maintain that your most important investment should be in a quality male stud when starting a breeding project. That's the way the game is played with race horses and champion dog breeds. Those people know what they are doing. Starting off with a screamer male on a new project is very important in developing a reputation as a breeder of exceptional quality animals IMHO. Smart money will pay a premium price for your animals............Steve G.

Dwight Good mentioned the importance of males to me a few years ago and darn if I didn't learn it the hard way. He told me that on your projects that you want to produce real well, you should have a backup male. We think of projects being 1.2 or 1.3 at the beginning. If you only have one male and something happens to him for any reason, it can throw your project back several years. That means you have breedable females not producing. I happened to lose the only male I had during hibernation a couple seasons ago. The only male that I could get from a quality bloodline that I wanted would be a hatchling from that season. I mention to people sometimes to look at the classifieds on this website in the spring. Almost every want ad looking for adult males is someone who lost their male during hibernation and needs one for the females he has. Guess what, no one wants to give up their adult males until after their females drop eggs so that means you may possibly miss that breeding season. Great points everyone. Now I'm going to go back and raise all my prices since reading this thread. LOL

Terry Parks

>>Ronda............Good job covering the issues most breeders face when it comes to pricing one's animals. I'm going to bring up one point that I seldom see mentioned. While folks are willing to pay that premium for a single female, I maintain that your most important investment should be in a quality male stud when starting a breeding project. That's the way the game is played with race horses and champion dog breeds. Those people know what they are doing. Starting off with a screamer male on a new project is very important in developing a reputation as a breeder of exceptional quality animals IMHO. Smart money will pay a premium price for your animals............Steve G.

Well, yes there are a lot of variants that come into conflict when it comes to pricing ones animals. One as mentioned, is quantity on hand, and another already mentioned is the stock that one holds in the animals personally, with interest in the overall "value" of the snake.

To say much more would really be hard to cover without it being called "advertising" on some level. I would be glad to discuss my views on "value based" issues in person for anyone who wants to e-mail me, or shoot me a line(I'm a chatter...lol).

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Conrad
Too Fast Reptiles
www.toofastreptiles.bravehost.com