Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A question to some of you. How on earth do people come up with the money to spend 25,000$ on a snake. Im far from poor, but 25k is a car. I just dont see how people come up with that much money to put on a single snake. Maybe some herpers are just filthy rich.

Most of the time, these really pricey snakes like that are an investment. The purchaser is intending to breed them, or thinks he can resell for an even higher price.

Either way, it's a gamble to say the least. There's always a chance the the snake (since it IS a living thing) can just roll over dead before it gets a chance to breed, or that the snake won't breed, or that they won't find a buyer that will pay as much as they paid or more....a hundred things can go wrong.

I've seen Ball Python morphs in that price range...there's just no way that I would pay more than $50.00 for a Ball Python no matter what it looks like. But that's just me. I'm not interested in breeding Ball Pythons (or keeping them for that matter)...I have my hands full enough with Drymarchon and Pituophis.

I suppose somtimes people pay that much for a snake just to keep it as a pet. Seems a tad extravagant to me....
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I agree. I think I will stick to keeping my plane old run of the mill snakes. And Ill wate untill an unkown relative dies and leaves me 10 million dollars to start buying 25 thousnd dollar snakes.

I think they have lots o credit cards...or are just plain stupid
I doubt that there are many people with 50k laying around to spend on a snake...and of the people that do have it probobly hardly any would spend it on a snake

It's a funny thing. The most I've seen paid for a snake was about $17,000.00 for a pie-bald Ball Python. I would never pay that much for a snake. However, I have snakes in my collection that I've been offered ridiculous amounts of money for (much, much more than I paid or would pay), and I refused to sell them. Once you get them and have had them for a while, you don't want to part with them, even though the money offered is jaw-dropping. It's like they're worth more to you after you get them. So, what's the difference between paying that much and refusing that much profit?
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

While i do not have 50,000 cash to throw on a snake...I know people who do. One friend of mine had 100,000 with him in a combination of cold cash and a checkbook. This was "just in case." He also owns a few businesses and 2 of them are pretty much cash (nothing illegal if thats where your head were going). I know a lot of other people who pay cash for these. Ball pythons are a cash business and what you throw down on a snake is pretty safe. Especially if it is female. Your value will always go up with age. Now if you lose a snake then thats trouble. I know a guy who lost an albino recently. Thats a few thousand that would make people like you or me sick. To him is was more like..at least i didnt loose my pinstripe or mojave. He was still pretty upset but it is a lot easier to get over it when you have cash. I have a lot of snakes I love but I realize they will never be a lot of money. My ball pythons are my only snakes that can pay their rent space. Just my opinion.

Go to the NARBC shows and you will see cash. Many people have it and spend it. I know a girl who did not plan on anything that day and picked up a $2,000 retic just because she liked it. That is also where my friend had his 100,000 just in case. At the auction in tinley park a silly doll they called "the bill love doll" because they claimed it looked like bill love went for like $1500 and it was just a joke. Those people have cash.

Oh, I've seen a lot of people pay over a thousand for a snake....I've done that myself. I've only ever seen for myself one person pay over $10,000.00 for one, that was the piebald Ball Python for about $17,000.00.

To me there is no Ball Python in the world worth more than $50.00....but that's just my opinion. I'm not into morphs, so a Ball Python is a Ball Python to me. I've seen some really nice ones..strikingly patterned and all of that and I appreciate the beauty of them....but it's still Python regius.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is a lot of cahs thrown around and it isnt a credit business. I can only afford a few thousand cash but I am young. I have some friends though that have purchased pinstripes (25k) for cash and other high end morphs. The few thousands were just examples of petty purchases just for the heck of it. I plan on getting a spider this year (a few thousand) and I plan on paying cash. Cash I mainly get from selling snakes. And like I said, I am kind of young and do not have a huge collection (granted I may make nothing and might have to scrap into some savings). People in big cash business and selling lots of snakes can easily buy snakes over 20k. To you ball pythons may be only 50$. To me I think they will pay for themselves more than my anacondas I love (even my granites). I like ball pythons and I personally like to see them not seen as junk snakes anymore (maybe normal males). And since I like to post pictures because I am trying to improve my photo taking..here is a pic of my friends pied (i believe he paid cash for). I took this in his basement on a piece of wood on top of his trash can. The lighting was normal dark basement style open bulb lighting with no flash..how did I do?

Yea, like i said, or at least think i said, ive seen a lot of people pay rediculous amounts of money for snakes. But it's a pet, NO pet is worth 25k just because its got a large area with no pigment, at least not to me. Now yea, i can see paying 1,000, MAYBE even 2,000. But i will never spend the price of a car on a snake. Then again If i had a job where I was making 120 thousand a year, only had myself to support, and lived modestly car/house wise i might spend more. But for now ill stick to my un-expensive snakes. Easpecialy sence im not big on breeding.

On a side note, I was talking more on a pet based point of view. Very big difference when you are breeding and the snake goes in to you breeding a large profit.

I do not think anyone is buying ball python morphs as just "pets." If you do not plan on breeding then you should wait 15 years when the market price has dropped a lot. I do not consider any of my snakes pets though. Every one is a huge responsibility and the term "pet" does not accurately describe my snake keeping. These anacondas I feel were worth every penny even without intent to breed. But I love anacondas

And just how many penny's was that? (you can put it in to dollar form if you want)

They were not too bad actually. The market for anaconda morphs is not nearly as high as the BPs. I purchased those to wti a pastel ball python and another deal from a friend so it is hard to give the price I paid for them. I can tell you he was asking 1000$ each orginally and then he dropped the last 2 of 8 down to 750$ to move. I got a good deal which ended up being less than that even. I will likely breed them but I do not see them as something I will make a lot of cash on.

15 years for the price to drop?? how about a couple years...have you looked at how cheap albino balls are now compared to a year or two ago...i know somone who has already lost a grand on his albino ball and he bought it this year

they are still in the 3000 range and to me that is not the price most people are willing to pay. The ball market should stay strong for quite a while and will not be down to the 1-4oo$ range for a long time. Maybe pastels will be in a few more years but its still hard to say,

Well, considering the circumstances you shot the photo under, you did pretty well. I think you could probably bring the shadows out a little more with Photoshop if it's a digital photo and not a scan of film.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I dont know anything about editing..thats how it shot. I dont think I have photo shop...I just put it in paint brush to shrink it down to a size that KS would let me download

If you want to email me the file, I'll fix it (best I can) in Photshop and send it back to you. germag@bellsouth.net
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

With the BP market dropping so fast i cant believe people are still dropping thousands into them

if you pay attention to the market you will see it isnt dropping that fast. Pieds are still pretty similar and pastels have been around the same for the past 3 years. I also do not see albinos dropping below 2000 for quite a while. This is also not even getting into designer ball pythons. The market is there, you just need to follow it.

I feel that it is dropping but i dont pay that much attention to it either...i am pretty darn sick of every ball that looks a little different being called a morph...

if your friends ball dropped a grand this year.....its because he payed a grand too much

the albino ball has been around for 15 - 20 years and it had stayed at 5-7500 for most of that ....until recently

i dont see them ever gettin under a grand due to their small clutch size and age at which they reproduce

and i agree with the new "MORPHS"......which arent moprphs as much as "phases"......(but im not gettin into a terminology debate) bein all too crazy and everyone has something "NEW".....most look the same to me

someone show me something DIFFERENT!!!!!!

prices are investment.....wish i had the cash to put out on a trio of pieds!!!

i wouldnt hesitate

keith
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I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.

Albinos will get under a grand i am sure...will just take a little longer.....they can be easily found now for 2200 bucks...
just look at albino burms....super spendy along time ago..now you can pick one up for 150 bucks....it will just take the balls longer to do it.....but that just my opinion and i really have little interest in balls so even if they got cheap i still wounldnt buy one.....

I don't think all people are making an investment, some people are just that excited about a particular species.
At the same time, some people aren't rich, but actually give up some mighty expensive things for their hobby.

Speaking of cars....

Back in college, one of my favorite geology professors was Steven Haggarty. He is among the (if not the top) leading authorities on diamonds.
His love for diamonds (especially the rare ones) was amazing. The big grin on his face, the gleam in his eye. The guy was a riot.
Well, I always wondered why I saw him taking the bus around town and riding a bike. I mean here is a rather big name in experts, shouldn't he be making big money at the university? I asked around and according to the rumor (I never got a chance to ask him) he traded a near mint porsche for two huge Carbonados, AKA black diamonds. VERY rare, but next to useless. He got them simply because they were unique in the world...the two largest ever found. I actually held them...big rocks I tell ya.

I suppose snakes might be the same for other people. Some people just go the extremes. Its not bad.

Heck, I've always wanted an aldabra tortoise. Not to breed, not as an investment, just to have. Same goes for a black headed python, or those wicked red eyed, true white rosies I see ads for every now and then.