What do you do with the extras?

[JohnNJ]

There's a lot of "breeders" around but my question is for the unknown local hobby guy that plays around with a few snakes.

You breed to get a certain morph and then keep breeding to refine your line and get the best (in your eyes) specimens, which could take years. What do you do with the snakes you don't want to keep?

I had one normal I wanted to place and it took weeks to find someone to take it for free. Do you actually find someone that would pay for a snake from a first time "breeder?"

JohnNJ

[Mitch21]

I've been wondering this exact thing for months now.... I want to breed on a small scale and produce just a few of my favorite morphs but I'm scared to get into and then be left over with tons of snakes that I can't sell off to good owners...

What to do???

[joepythons]

There's a lot of "breeders" around but my question is for the unknown local hobby guy that plays around with a few snakes.

You breed to get a certain morph and then keep breeding to refine your line and get the best (in your eyes) specimens, which could take years. What do you do with the snakes you don't want to keep?

I had one normal I wanted to place and it took weeks to find someone to take it for free. Do you actually find someone that would pay for a snake from a first time "breeder?"

JohnNJ

Well when i was breeding i never had a problem selling all my extras.It might be they places you are advertising in that was the problem.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I sold 16 normal males locally without any problem, I used Kijiji.com, they were gone within 10 days

[JohnNJ]

I sold 16 normal males locally without any problem, I used Kijiji.com, they were gone within 10 days

I just checked that site and there aren't any snakes for sale. I changed the city a few times also.

Maybe they just get sold quickly.

[ColinWeaver]

There is always a market for normal ball pythons. Depending on your market it can take some time to sell them. Many people getting a pet snake for the first time don't know any better than to go to the local pet store. If you want to sell the animals yourself you should locate any and all on-line classifieds that people in your area might use. You also consider using print classifieds. In the area I live there is a publication called the Trading Post that comes out weekly. It has an animal section you can advertise in. You can either pay a flat rate for the ad or pay-when-you-sell.

If you don't feel like taking the time and effort to sell them on your own you can just wholesale the lot of them to a larger breeder/reseller. They have the clientele to move these animals. You will want to find one that is local to you or take your animals to a local trade show (not all shows allow this). Shipping normal ball pythons is cost prohibitive unless you have a very large number of them. Many resellers will buy all your unwanted production "unfed/unshed" but be prepared to sell them for a comparatively small amount. Captive bred ball python baby prices will fluctuate depending on the time of year and you can expect to receive about 1/2 of what the current retail (by retail I mean reptile trade show price) is.

If you are in the Mid-Atlantic area contact me off-line and I may be able to point you to a breeder/reseller close to where you live.

Regards,

[rodentslayer]

I know that pet stores will take them with open arms. If you have any that are females, just keep them, get them up to size, and sell them as a breeder size female. There is always a need for normal females. Normal males are usually sold to people looking for a pet. I was just at a local pet store the other day and someone bought a normale hatchling for $80. And he bought the whole "snake habitat" on top of that. I know it made his day b/c he was smiling ear to ear. So I wasn't going to tell him that he could probably get a freebee from a local breeder.

[Bruce Whitehead]

I sold all my normal males, p-het males, and pastels the same as Deb on Kijiji.ca (Canada).

Got market price for all of them, and still get inquiries months after the last one has sold.

I will not sell to a pet store, I made that decision/commitment early on.

Bruce

[JAMills]

There's a lot of "breeders" around but my question is for the unknown local hobby guy that plays around with a few snakes.

You breed to get a certain morph and then keep breeding to refine your line and get the best (in your eyes) specimens, which could take years. What do you do with the snakes you don't want to keep?

I had one normal I wanted to place and it took weeks to find someone to take it for free. Do you actually find someone that would pay for a snake from a first time "breeder?"

JohnNJ

Hey there John,

Here in NJ I have had no problem getting rid of normals and even lower end morphs. I would not sell to most pet shops but the one that I get my feeders from do a lot of reptiles, I know them personally for the last 4 years and they take excellent care of their animals in the shop.
I get $15-20 a piece un-sexed normals, which I usually just keep a running store credit with for feeders and supplies. They also call me when someone comes in looking for a morph they know I produce or have the ability to get for them.
They actually sell out of them pretty quick and are always asking when I will have more available.

[stevenkeogh]

I have never had a problem selling snakes, whether it be normal males or morphs.
Like Bruce I also sell on Kijiji.ca and get inquiries well after they are all sold.
I get full market value as well.
I sold my male normals for $75CDN and male pastels for $200CDN for example.
Same as bigger breeders around here. And I sold out faster because I had less snakes to house.
-Steven