Oversaturation Of Market

I don't think it is any secret that the Ball Python market is grossly over-saturated. I never thought I'd see the day that a high white pied of any gender would sell for just $200 but those are the moving prices right now.

I was told by another breeder that this sort of thing happens every few years. People get in to it to make money and over produce. Then they get frustrated and quit and those that weather the storm see price go back up.

Is that your experience as well?

But honestly, I am thinking of scaling back my breeding collection greatly. Right now, I am not even making enough to cover the rats. It used to be self sustaining but not anymore.

It happened with everything else, I'm talking about other species. It's supply and demand. It should settle somewhere and go up a bit eventually.

I agree it looks pretty over saturated, the prices some of these animals are going for is pretty staggering. I mean like morph colubrid territory.

Ball pythons are absolutely bred indiscriminately, and as a result, a lot of normal and single gene snakes are going to be produced, driving demand down. Even recessives are being affected, though pieds have been around for almost 20 years I believe, so they were bound to come down in price eventually. That said, I paid $600 for my pied female this summer, after drooling over her for weeks. The seller stuck to her price and she did sell. I feel a lot of people are too anxious to get rid of their babies.

However, I think when all these pretty, cheap snakes start hitting pet stores, the hobby will see a spike in interest and some new blood may help move things along.

I've gotta admit that I greatly scaled back my collection. I've got a friend who also breeds a lot of balls and he didn't put together a single pair this past year. But yeah, it'll pick up again in a few years.

I saw someone listing visual clowns for $200/$300 yesterday.
I wouldnt have believed it.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I saw someone listing visual clowns for $200/$300 yesterday.
I wouldnt have believed it.

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I don't know if people remember there was a point they were not a popular sought after morph at all and the Barkers themselves were listing them for $350-400, I'm sure of it...and this was years and years ago. So I guess they are really an example of there and back again, but now they are just over popular...maybe...lol

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I've gotta admit that I greatly scaled back my collection. I've got a friend who also breeds a lot of balls and he didn't put together a single pair this past year. But yeah, it'll pick up again in a few years.

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Interesting that you and your friend have cut back. I know very few others who have. Most people complain about the overproduction and cratering prices, and in the next breath they state that they're going to be pairing more females this season than last season.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Interesting that you and your friend have cut back. I know very few others who have. Most people complain about the overproduction and cratering prices, and in the next breath they state that they're going to be pairing more females this season than last season.

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And those are the people who will get frustrated that they're making even less next year and get out of ball pythons entirely the following year. I figure It'll be a buyers market for the next few years and we'll all be able to pick up some really nice animals for dirt cheap

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I've gotta admit that I greatly scaled back my collection. I've got a friend who also breeds a lot of balls and he didn't put together a single pair this past year. But yeah, it'll pick up again in a few years.

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For years I have produced 100 plus clutches a year...I produced less than 10 clutches this year...

Prices won't come back up on an animal once they drop. Prices may fluctuate a bit...Clowns,Pieds, Bananas (and others) are never going to command thousands of dollars again.

I don't know why, but almost everyone wants to become a "hobby breeder" on the second day of owning their first BP. I don't know how many threads i've seen that start with "not sure what im doing but want to breed!" (that was sarcasm but i'm not that far off).
I personally don't understand it.

Surprisingly, it's encouraged and welcomef by many veteran members on here. Im not saying shoot people's dreams down, but maybe tell them the reality of breeding instead of suggesing them to buy four females and one male.

I know that the number of these people is very small and that it probably won't make a difference, but it's a start in the right direction.

It definitely seems to be a reptile thing... You don't see people getting a dog or cat and spring up a breeding operation the next week. Ofcorse it's a lot easier to get a rack and cram as many animals in there as possible. Lol...

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