Buying a 4 Figure snake

My mother was a farmer's daughter and I've been happily surrounded by animals my entire life. I've spent over $3,000 for a dog and I once flew from NY to CA to buy a kitten for $2,500. Having confessed to my sins, let me say this...

My rationale is quite simple. If I buy a dog for $3,000 and he lives 10 years, s/he only cost me $300 a year. That's less that $1 a day. I can assure you that every one of my babies is worth much, much more that $1 a day.

Beyond that, just make one trip to the veterinarian, take a look at the bill, and you will very quickly forget about how much you paid for your pet.

My bottom line is, if you can afford it, enjoy it.

My advice is make sure the breeder is reputable and well known. Also make sure you pay through Paypal and DO NOT pay through 'friends and family' option. If something goes wrong, Paypal will NOT take any recourse. What i do since the Paypal fee on the breeders end usually is about 10% more i believe, is i split the fee if the breeder mentions it.

And if you use Paypal frequently and have had an account for a long time as well as very low claims, if there is a problem, they will be on it like white on rice. I had a claim once in about 15 years and they immediately got it taken care of within a couple days. This wasnt with an animal though.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I was there years ago now I have a hard time imagining spending less than 1K on a BP

It' s all depends on your goals nothing wrong with buying an expensive pet, and if you plan on breeding hopefully you have done your homework and if you did than it should not be an issue.

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I'm with Stewart's reptiles... if you want to be a serious collector and a breeder, you need quality animals. If you just want a pet or two, then just get a sweet normal or something, they are all the same as pets. Just some people prefer amazing designer snakes! :D

When it comes to breeding, there is no point at all in breeding extremely common low end snakes like pastels and enchis and such. There are enough of them in the world already and they are going to cost you more money in husbandry and food to breed, than what you can sell them for.

Buy 4 figure animals and you will breed some hatchlings that will command a decent price.

As long as you can afford it and the breeder is reputable, I recommend going for it. There are more things I regret passing on than I regret buying. As the others have said, if this is a breeding animal, then high quality morphs are prefered. You also mentioned that she has additional genes you were planning to add, which in the long run will safe both time and money by being able to skip a generation.

You can have whatever you want as long as you budget for it ahead of time.

As animals go, reptiles aren't all that pricey. With all the $50 snakes out there, yes a grand for a BP seems extravagant, but only in comparison. I've seen tropical fish tanks, heck even goldfish tanks that ran into five figures (don't forget the koi pond). The larger parrots are commonly in the thousands. I once paid over $300 for a kitten, and I was still in my early twenties. No regrets. My budgies are all $20 birds, but I've owned several $100 goldfish. Everything paid for in cash - I stay entirely out of debt.

Buy what you like, as long as you can afford it.

I’ll add another thought about waiting. I’ve been keeping an eye on a particular ball on MM for a few weeks. Not a 4 figure animal, but still more than I’ve spent on a single animal. I finally decided to call on it earlier this afternoon. The breeder just called me back...the snake sold earlier in the week and he hadn’t had a chance to update the website. I’m really wishing I had gone ahead and made the purchase when I initially wanted to, but life goes on. :rolleyes:

Based on everything I read here, I sent the message to put a down payment on the snake and make sure she's securely mine. Am very excited to add her to the collection. When it's all locked in I'll share the details, but she's literally perfect for the project I want to work eventually.

Thanks for all your feedback.

Best,

Paul

Mazel Tov!

Cannot wait to hear more and see pictures!

Congratulations, I’m glad you were able to secure her for your project. We look forward to seeing her pictures.

Unfortunately, I don’t think most of us here are good at talking anyone out of buying something. :D

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Originally Posted by Dianne

Unfortunately, I don’t think most of us here are good at talking anyone out of buying something. :D

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That's one of my favorite things about this site 😂