Cost Question

The breeder that I got my male lesser from is going to sell me a possibly gravid normal female. This week, she'll be giving me pictures of the females as well as info on their weight, who they were paired with, and how many/when locks occured. I will pick one after that info. I'm realy hoping for a female who was paired to a mojave because I really want a mojave female. How much would you think she would cost me? I'm betting she'll be about 1500-1800g (the females that the breeder was willing to sell back in October where around this weight). I'm guessing she'll cost me around $200? Back in October, the breeder was selling them for $160 a piece without being locked with a male. Will the fact that they are possibly gravid change the cost that much?

Wow. Normal females of breeding weight here are about 200 250 so that is a deal already. But never heard of anyone selling gravid females before unless like me you bought out another breeder.Can't help you on price there but seems sort of sketchy, I would never sell a gravid female I would hold on to her till I got eggs and then sell the babies so you may end up paying on a speculation of 50% mojave in the clutch at whatever amount of eggs she produced in the past.

The breeder and I actually kept in touch quite a bit. I consider her more a friend than a just a breeder. I was looking for an adult normal female so I sent her an e-mail since I knew she was selling some of them back in October. She e-mailed back and said that she would be happy to sell me one before she warms them up in February (she cools her snakes) since she knows that I am an aspiring breeder and a friend. We haven't really talked about payment yet, not until I pick the female I would like to have (she's only offering those she's willing to sell). I don't really mind if the female isn't gravid because I wasn't searching for a gravid female...just an adult one (I was wanting one 1000g or more to breed next season). So really, if she doesn't produce eggs, no hard feelings since that wasn't something I was expecting. She may want first pick of the clutch, which is fine by me too. We'll really see once I figure out which one I would like. I was just curious about how much I should offer/think is fair.

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Originally Posted by TROYG

Wow. Normal females of breeding weight here are about 200 250 so that is a deal already. But never heard of anyone selling gravid females before unless like me you bought out another breeder.Can't help you on price there but seems sort of sketchy, I would never sell a gravid female I would hold on to her till I got eggs and then sell the babies so you may end up paying on a speculation of 50% mojave in the clutch at whatever amount of eggs she produced in the past.

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Yeah I don't get the reasoning behind selling any female that you know is gravid before she drops eggs. If I can make money off of those eggs, why would I sell the snake and eggs to someone else to make money off of them? But if it is real then sounds like a good deal. Around here you can get an adult female for $75 - $150. I really haven't seen any normals in the $250 - $300 range unless they're dinkers.

Like I said, the breeder and I have rapport with one another. It could be just a special thing she's offering for me since she knows me and has seen the way I care for my animals. -shrug- I don't think she's being shady at all. She's a very nice woman and this is a hobby for her. She's very attached to her snakes (like...she almost cried when I took home one of her adult normals back in October) and she only wants what's best for them. This isn't a business for her. She's generous and may just be doing something nice and non-selfish for a change (I'm not saying you are selfish by any means...just that this is something within her character that she likes doing). I'll just stop the thread here and we'll see what happens when she gets back to me today. I'll walk this road blindly. The last thing I want to do on here is ruffle feathers.

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Originally Posted by snakehobbyist

Like I said, the breeder and I have rapport with one another. It could be just a special thing she's offering for me since she knows me and has seen the way I care for my animals. -shrug- I don't think she's being shady at all. She's a very nice woman and this is a hobby for her. She's very attached to her snakes (like...she almost cried when I took home one of her adult normals back in October) and she only wants what's best for them. This isn't a business for her. She's generous and may just be doing something nice and non-selfish for a change (I'm not saying you are selfish by any means...just that this is something within her character that she likes doing). I'll just stop the thread here and we'll see what happens when she gets back to me today. I'll walk this road blindly. The last thing I want to do on here is ruffle feathers.

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It wasn't meant to offend or claim the lady was being shady. It just wasn't a common occurance or something you hear about often. if she is willing to sell gravid then all the better for you. From your original question it is hard to tell you a price for a gravid female as most people don't sell gravid females.

i was at a retile expo saturday an i saw 3 booths selling gravid females and im asumeing they were norm x norm because 2 of them were 100 each and one booth was 350 for a norm gravid female he clamed she was breed x super pastel the other 2 booths didnt know but claimed somtype of morph that the group breed them say 3-4 males in and out so ...id say dont pay over like 200 if u know her just to me at lease.

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Originally Posted by hitman3303

It wasn't meant to offend or claim the lady was being shady. It just wasn't a common occurance or something you hear about often. if she is willing to sell gravid then all the better for you. From your original question it is hard to tell you a price for a gravid female as most people don't sell gravid females.

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I wasn't offended at all, I was more concerned that you were offended! I hate unintentionally offending people. I guess that's just my nature. Oh well! Can't change that now!

I realize it wasn't common practice and I was just curious if anyone new a ball park range. I was planning on going in with about $200 for her. I do trust the breeder and I'd take her word on who the females were pared to. If none of them give eggs after only being paired a few times, then I paid well for a nice normal (I love the normals she was selling in the past).

The other female I was thinking about buying at the pet store is a 1900g normal female who is being housed with a normal male. I've seen them lock on three different occasions just from going into the store to get feeders. However, I think I'd rather take a chance with a female from a friend who was supposedly bred with a morph male than buy a female who was only bred to a normal and from a pet store for about $20 less than getting the one from the breeder. Ya know?

I think $200 sounds about right, of course she might ask more since she's possibly gravid, but I wouldn't pay much more unless you knew for sure. Normal females (1,500+ who aren't gravid go for $100-$150 at shows.

Shouldn't be too hard for the breeder to determine if she has a Gravid Ball to sell you…The snake will have follicles…

If you want a Mojave female the best thing to do is buy one…Not buy a Normal female that may or may not even produce a Mojave (female at that).