Where are the deserts?

[1nstinct]

First this is not a a thread if deserts can lay viable eggs or not.
Im just curious, i see a lot of desert stuff coming up for sale since eggs are hatching. But i am not seeing desert females. Are people culling the desert females that hatch? or they just holding on to them just incase someone figures out how to get a desert to lay viable eggs?
thanks
remember this is not a do deserts lay viable eggs thread

[Andybill]

I know mike at pythonregius has some desert and tiger females for sale but hes the only one I have seen post any female deserts so far this season...

[1nstinct]

yeah i saw mikes tiger females. and I'm glad he took the time to state that deserts, seems to not produce viable eggs and will probably never produce for you but is a great pet.

[aalomon]

They are out there, just normally not in the title. Quick kingsnake search and I saw desert het pied, lemonblast desert, pinstripe desert, desert yb, desert spider, pastave desert, regular deserts......all female. Thats not even opening all the ads.

[Valentine Pirate]

Wish they'd come down in price, though I understand that as a desert gene they were an investment at one point. But if they're just going to be pretty pets I'd love to have one... Just needs to drop under $300 before I'd get a strictly pet-only ball python

[WingedWolfPsion]

I imagine they will eventually be under $100. Once it's widely known that they are only pets. I think the breeders need to come to terms with that, and the prices will come down as people slowly lower them, as the animals don't sell at higher prices.

[Crazygecko]

I saw one posted today for 400 so they are coming down for a strictly pet female.

[MarkS]

I think everyone is waiting for some foolhardy soul to price them at what they're actually worth as a non-breeding pet instead of as an investment animal so that person can be labled as a market crasher and various other nefarious epithets. After that initial scape goat has been tarred and feathered, then everyone else will feel safe to follow suit.

[zues]

I know earlier this season I saw a couple of ads that were buy a male get a female free.

[Serpent_Nirvana]

I predict (and I fully reserve the right to be wrong!) that desert females will be in the $200 and under range by the end of this season.

I'm already seeing 2012 desert (single-gene) males advertised at $500, and larger (2011+) female deserts for $400. (And nobody seems to be buying those $400 larger females, either, because those ads are still there.) Plus, as Zues mentioned, there are a number of "buy a male get a free female" ads ... Perhaps those buyers are hoping to give the females away with a more expensive male rather than selling them for pet prices, just to make the sale less painful?

I'm very curious as to what the future holds for the market on this gene ... I love desert combos and I think they're some of the hottest stuff out there, and I reckon they'd be some of the most desirable right now were it not for the problems breeding females. (It's not as if it's a mediocre gene with mediocre combos and problems associated with it -- these are good-looking snakes!) As it stands, though, I sure am hesitant to invest in a male right now, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

On the other hand, perhaps the fact that only one of the sexes can breed will keep the demand (for males) up ... I guess we'll see.