Leopard vs Traditional Het Pied

[TheSnakeGeek]

with wild type het pieds being close to normal pricing, and the price of leopards dropping (as all morphs do), it wouldn't surprise me if one day the leopards completely replace the traditional "het" pieds. regardless of whether the traditional piebald is actually a recessive gene or an incomplete dominant like some claim, there's no denying the leopards are easier to pick out that the traditional "hets." plus, a leopard pied would throw a lot sweeter offspring (leopards) than a traditional pied (low expression [if any] piebald hets).

do you think once the price of the leopard drops enough, it will render the traditional "het" piebalds obsolete?

[Chkadii]

I would hazard a guess that leopards will hover above "regular" het. pied prices, and I don't think the hets would disappear entirely- though a lot more of them might end up in wholesale. My reasoning is that leopards will be valued exactly for their ease of identification- people already pay extra for "solid" het. indicators (railroad tracks, etc). On the other hand, there are also people willing to take a chance on possible hets because those individuals fit their budget better. In a few years, I wouldn't be surprised if it became a choice of leopards at ~$200 (or about half of whatever pied prices end up being) and hets around where pastels are now (~$70). Big breeders may find it easier to just sell hets along with "normals" in wholesale arrangements, rather than spend the time marketing them individually as het. pied (similar to what some do by not raising prices for morphs with low percentage possible het. genes). But smaller breeders will probably keep "regular" het. pieds alive.