Why are Mojave/YB so cheap but BEL's aren't?

[Montessa Python]

Can some one explain why you can usually get a mojave for 150 to 300 dollars, and YB equally or lesser priced. But an Ivory or BEL is so much more expensive..
When you can simply breed 450 dollars worth of snakes and get a BEL or Ivory in a snap...
And why are people still breeding Mojaves to normals when they could be breeding for BEL's?
IF the BEL is so much more expensive, shouldn't the creating morph be a bit more pricey?
A het lavender albino is worth its weight in gold or platinum...and since a mojave is somewhat het for BEL... shouldn't they be more pricey??LOL
I realize there is a percentage chance of no BEL's per breeding...
But why are the parents so cheap and the offspring if BEL or other such as the Ivory, super cinny.. so expensive??

Just wondering
Carol

[Jyson]

Can some one explain why you can usually get a mojave for 150 to 300 dollars, and YB equally or lesser priced. But an Ivory or BEL is so much more expensive..
When you can simply breed 450 dollars worth of snakes and get a BEL or Ivory in a snap...
And why are people still breeding Mojaves to normals when they could be breeding for BEL's?
IF the BEL is so much more expensive, shouldn't the creating morph be a bit more pricey?
A het lavender albino is worth its weight in gold or platinum...and since a mojave is somewhat het for BEL... shouldn't they be more pricey??LOL
I realize there is a percentage chance of no BEL's per breeding...
But why are the parents so cheap and the offspring if BEL or other such as the Ivory, super cinny.. so expensive??

Just wondering
Carol

I think you just kinda answered your original question with another question But yeah, I think the reason why Bels are still so expensive is because people continue to breed mojos, ybs and lessers to normals or some other morphs, thus producing more mojos, ybs, and/or lessers, which is probably the reason why lessers, yb, and mojos, etc. have gone down in price and their supers haven't.

[Royal Morphz]

I just picked up a mojo breeder for 350 shipped and a great deal as the guy started his price at 550+ shipping but for the same mojo female ready to breed your looking at 1200-1500 and people just arent paying that so they would normally just breed that male to normals until they can afford the female or pic up a female BEL and then raise her up for 3 years

[waltah!]

I think Tim hit it right on the nose. Think about pricing on adult breeder pairs vs. hatchling pricing. Everyone is always talking about buying Pastel males for $100, but a female breeder may run over 1k. As Tim said, it takes years to raise up those babies. I also wouldn't say that you can get a BEL or Ivory in a "snap". It could take 2-3 breeding seasons to make that super. Also, the comparison to the Het Lav is not quite a fair one. When you are talking recessive traits, you can add a few more years to the time it can take to prove out.

[Jason Bowden]

Just because they are supers. Have you priced a super pastel lately? They are about four times more expensive than a pastel.
Mojo-$300 ---- $300x4 = $1200 Plus some extra dinero because BELs are the bomb.
The supers are also real "powerful" in the breeding arena!

[Jason Bowden]

I agree with the others that have posted in that codominant prices can't be compared to recessive pricing. Different ball game all together.

[MarkS]

It's not an automatic thing to get the morph you want just by breeding the parents. To get a Leucistic from breeding two Mojaves together you only have a 25% chance for each egg and before you can even try you have to spend an average of 3 years to get them to breeding size. Six years ago I bought a pair of het hypos. Their first year breeding I produced 2.2 66% possible het hypos. The second year breeding I only got three eggs and produced 1.1 66% het hypos and a baby hypo that was dead in the shell at hatching. This year, it appears that they're going to take the year off. Maybe I'll finally produce one next year, but by then I'm sure the cost to buy a hypo will be cheaper then I originally paid for my het pair.

[wolfy-hound]

What Mark said.

Also, the potential is much greater with the supers. A luecistic will produce all mojaves(or all YB or lessers, depending on what made the Luecistic), no matter what you breed it to. That makes a super more pricey, AND makes the original morph more common, thus less pricey.

Female supers are even MORE pricey, because of thier potential. And like mentioned... breeding a pair of hets, or a pair of co-doms doesn't automatically gain you the super(or homo) form of the morph. You can miss a lot, but still make the co-doms(again making them more common, and less pricey).

[kc261]

For simplicity sake, I'm just going to talk about mojaves and BELs, but the same applies to YBs and ivories.

1) - Supply - there just aren't as many BELs out there as there is mojaves. For every BEL produced from mojave x mojave breeding, there are roughly 2 mojaves. And that doesn't even count all the mojave x normal or mojave x other morphs breedings that are done. The supply of mojaves is huge compared to BELs. If you have any doubt about that, go to KS and count how many mojaves are for sale. Now go back and count how many BELs.

2) - Demand - BELs are more desirable both to those who plan on breeding them, and those who just want a cool looking snake.

3) - Cost of the "raw materials" - a breeder could produce mojaves this year by purchasing a male mojave and a 1000 g or so normal female last year. I'm not sure exactly what they were going for last year, but maybe roughly $500 for the pair? To be able to produce BELs this year, a breeder either bought a female mojave 3 years ago and raised her up, or bought a 1000g or so female mojave last year. Way more than $500, and that doesn't even count the male yet.

Finally, you don't produce any sort of BP "in a snap". Or at least you can't count on it. To get the prices you mentioned, you'd be buying hatchlings and raising the female up for 3 years. Even if you spend more to get a breeding size female, there is no guarantee she'll breed for you, and if she does, there is no guarantee you'll get the particular morph in question.