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I used to breed these great geckos and had to take a break for a while. I'm getting back into it, and I just don't understand why prices are even higher now. Particularly for females.

These are sooooo easy to breed. I know there's all kinds of "fire" morphs and such, and maybe breeders can get away charging more for those, but I just like them, even the drab ones.

I just bought two at a Petsmart of all places. One definitely a male and a younger one that may be a male.

Anyone else here breeding these with any regularity?

I never even incubated eggs. I'd just wake up in the morning and find two tiny ciliatus babies ready to rock and roll.

as any animal grows in popularity, the price will continue to escalate with that popularity, especially at retail stores. however, as with most things in this world, you do get what you pay for.

i don't particularly trust animals that come from chain stores because it is completely impossible to find out anything about the animals background, where it came from, the conditions it was kept prior to being shipped, etc.

i would rather invest my money in high quality geckos from online independent breeders that put importance on care and genetics, and whose collections are also healthy and parasite free. prices have gone up, but if you look at the geckos now, compared to 5 years ago, it's easy to see why, some of the crested geckos and gargoyle geckos today are amazing to say the least.

in my opinion, it's all up to the individual, what they consider to be a reasonable price, some may consider a $500 100% pinstripe reasonable, others may see it as ridiculous, it all depends. in my opinion you get what you pay for and a good breeder deserves to retail their animals at higher prices because they are premium animals compared to what you would find elsewhere.
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RhacRoom.com An Online Rhacodactylus Community
www.rhacroom.com

The prices are arbitrary, but the demand is still high. Ball pythons are pretty easy to breed too!

Let me clarify my statement. When I said that the prices are arbitrary, I simply meant that there is not a guideline that specifies, initially, the prices of the geckos. Yes, the market dictates the CURRENT prices and trends, but it is hard to put an initial value on an animal aside from the obvious time and expenses. Dry goods are far easier to price since you, in most cases, know the value of labor and expenses. A breeder who "creates" a new gecko morph has to decide the initial price of the gecko. If the gecko morph doesn't sell for the specified price, adjustments have to be made.

The quality and appearance of Cresteds is ever evolving. The public sets the demand for the top tier animals, and breeders fill it at a cost they are willing to pay to own these prize geckos. No worries though, there's plenty of $29-60 Cresteds for you to buy. Just don't surprised, as so many have, when you almost have to give away their offspring.

The people getting top dollar in this market know it’s about high-end designer investment quality animals. Yes breeding is reasonbly easy, creating a stunning specimen through that breeding isn't...
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-Randy May
www.neoscales.com
Email Me

I've been breeding them for almost 2 yrs now...it's true, some kinds and in higher demand so prices are higher

also, major players who are breeding top geckos put a lot more $ into everything than small time breeders...it's easier to trust a well known and respected name also

the lower price range ones are usually buckskin in color...
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Rachel
Hatching Herps
1.0 bearded, 2.4.9 crested geckos, 0.1 gargoyle gecko, 2.2 corns (reg, ghost, butter, caramel), 1.1 ball python, 1.1 sinaloan milks, white's tree frog, orange belly newt

This really isn't a difficult concept...it's the basic rule of supply and demand. The ones you see for "ridiculous" prices are the ones that more people want and they usually display traits that take a long time to develop and refine, making them less common. Buckskins, on the opposite end of the spectrum, are more commonly available and are less popular. The math is pretty simple to work out once you come to terms with these two realities.

The individuals producing these ridiculously priced high end animals have either spent a great deal of time or a great deal of money to acquire these highly coveted specimens. As such, I find it absurd that anyone would honestly expect those people to sell their offspring for the same price as the guy who puts no effort into producing better looking geckos.

While, I can completely understand why patterns and colors aren't high on your priority list (Crested Geckos are great animals, regardless of color), but you need to understand that some of us really love producing living works of art.

Another thing to consider is the conditions in which the animals are raised. I raise mine by clutch...two per container. By doing it that way, I spend a great deal more time per animal than the mass producer who houses 50 hatchlings per cage. For example, consider how long it takes me to feed or clean cages of 50 hatchlings when they're housed in twos, compared to feeding or cleaning a cage containing all 50 hatchlings. It's a big, big difference. Sure, the way I do it seems like a big hassle, but the results are well worth it to me.

And finally, be careful what you wish for. If I priced my red harlequins, creamsicles and pinstripes for the same price as your buckskins, you'd have a pretty tough time selling your geckos.

-Anthony

>>I used to breed these great geckos and had to take a break for a while. I'm getting back into it, and I just don't understand why prices are even higher now. Particularly for females.
>>
>>These are sooooo easy to breed. I know there's all kinds of "fire" morphs and such, and maybe breeders can get away charging more for those, but I just like them, even the drab ones.
>>
>>I just bought two at a Petsmart of all places. One definitely a male and a younger one that may be a male.
>>
>>Anyone else here breeding these with any regularity?
>>
>>I never even incubated eggs. I'd just wake up in the morning and find two tiny ciliatus babies ready to rock and roll.
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Anthony Caponetto
www.ACreptiles.com

. . . I recently had to raise some money to pay my beloved gov't in April, so I decided to sell some cresteds. I had some really nice ones - ones that wre produced from top breeders and some from top breeders that I purchased.

I literally could not GIVE them away. I ended up wholesaling orange ORANGE juveniles that top breeders sell for 100 dollars and more. One sub-adult male that I picked up from AC - not even a sniff - an it's a very cool multi-colored dark harlequin. Another top tiger male - stunning - I almost gave away until I came to my senses.

My point of all this is not to moan and groan - but to point out that a few of the guys out there work really hard to cultivate a good name in the rhac area. I thought I had a fairly decent rep from raising leopard geckos for many years, but it was worth squat when it came to getting what thought was an extremely fair price for high end cresteds.

Marketing, good photography, good rep - that all goes into it.
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Monte Meyer
Powergeckos
Email

I think that the crested gecko market can be compared to the leopard gecko market. You can find $15-20 leopard geckos, and you can find $1000 leopard geckos. They both make excellent pets. I receive at least 1-2 emails a day asking about the crested market and if it is a wise investment. What happened to the hobbyists? It is a wise "investment" if you want a great pet that will give you countless hours of enjoyment. If you want to make money, you are not going to do it with herps unless you have six figures or MANY years to invest. In addition, the fundamental love for the animals has to be there. Do I make any money breeding geckos? Sure, I make a little, but it is pittance compared to how much I've spent over the last 16 years. Most of the money I make goes right back into the collection. Do I think it is shameful to make money in the reptile industry? Absolutely not, but I think that dollars signs can cloud judgment. There's a problem when the bottom line becomes more important than the health of the animals.

Well said. I was in the same boat for years breeding birds. You have to love the animals FIRST and FOREMOST and not be afraid to put all the money back into their care and maintenance.

When the love and welfare of the animals is secondary, you need to get out of it!! Most of the time I was happy just to have the birds pay for themselves. I have since retired from breeding them and they have retired with me. Still living here but now TOTAL FREELOADERS!! LOL!!! As are all my geckos, frogs, fish, turtles, etc.

Steve

Funny how the people defending the inflated prices of Crested "Morphs" are also the people charging those obnoxious prices. In order for the prices to come down, people simply have to stop paying them. $300-$400 for any crested is simply ridiculous. It's time for people to get past this myth that only the people breeding the largest numbers (or talk the most) have the best animals. It simply isn't (necessarily) true. I've bought all of my Rhacs (cresteds and gargoyles) from breeders producing smaller numbers at realistic prices (never more then $80) and all of them are just as healthy and, in most cases, better looking then anything offered by the "Top-Breeders" at 3-4 times the price. It's simply a matter of looking around and refusing to get suckered into the insane world of "morphs" that's taking place with reptiles of all types right now.

I'm afraid I have to agree. Yes, there are some beautiful geckos out there, but, since the total number of original geckos imported was very small, how much inbreeding has been occurring to get these high dollar 'investment' geckos? What problems will eventually crop up as recessive characteristics become fixed in some breeder's lines?

I, also, have never paid a huge price for my geckos. I don't have buckskins; they are all quite colorful, and I laugh when I see one that is colored identical to mine advertised at over $300. Yes, my hatchlings are all kept two to a critter keeper, too. And my careful search for breeders that are as unrelated as I can get them, and the records I am keeping to assure that there is no inbreeding among my animals, will hopefully assure healthy lives for my babies.

When I sell my babies, it will be to hobbyists who want beautiful works of art that they can afford. Hatchling size, 'eating well' babies won't be sold out of my collection! Do I intend to get rich? Ha,...no. Will I become a well known breeder? Doubt it. Will I have fun? You betcha!

Leslie