Paying for possible hets

First, not everyone can just make a 100% het in each situation. Like some have said, sometimes you want a recessive gene but you can't afford the 100% het animals. If you really want the gene on a budget, then a possible het is an affordable way to try for it. Especially in combos, a poss het can add a lot of value even when it's just a chance at carrying that extra gene.

Yes, a possible het should cost less than a 100% het BUT... you can ONLY contrast the prices from the same breeder. As in, if I were to offer up snakes for sale and some were 100% het and some were possible het, then you would expect that the 100% hets would be higher in price. But you cannot take one 100% het from one breeder and contrast the price of a possible het from a separate breeder and say that the possible het price is unfairly high because it is the same or higher than the other breeder's 100%. Different breeders will set different prices. This is not unfair at all. It's THEIR animal and they are entitled to price it anywhere on the scale.

Some breeders may value a possible het more because of what they are working with. Some will already have 100% hets or perhaps they are keeping visuals out of the clutch and don't have any need for the hets(poss or 100%) so they are selling them cheaper. Many factors go into the pricing of any animal. So it's never a unfairly high price, because the breeder produced it(or the seller purchased it) and they get to set whatever price they like.

If you feel like you only want the "sure thing" and don't want to possibly waste time raising up a normal, then possible hets are definitely not for you. But it can also be quite exciting to get an animal that is possibly het for trait, and then prove it out yourself too.

I would like to more about markers. How reliable are they? I know het pieds show stripes near their cloaca, but is there something else? Also what other genes have markers?

If there was a pos het sunset male that was affordable to me, I would be in the market for 5 proven female normals instantly and easily risk producing a bunch of normals for the chance for producing more hets. Sunset price is way out of reach for me currently, but realistically I could gamble and be in the project with pos hets. If I didn't want to gamble it would cost me up front.

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Originally Posted by AntTheDestroyer

I would like to more about markers. How reliable are they? I know het pieds show stripes near their cloaca, but is there something else? Also what other genes have markers?

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Het Clowns also have markers, as for het pieds it's more than just the train tracks.

How reliable are they? So far I have proved out 100% of the animals I have held back based on markers. Lucky? I think not ;), future will tell if I am right about some of the PH I have right now.

Some normals may have markers similar to Het Pieds, some Het Pied may also appear not to have markers (again you really have to have an eye for it)

When you start stacking up genes it can become very difficult if not impossible to identify.

The bottom line if you buy Hets (not talking about PH) you should not buy them based on markers but based on the breeder, always buy hets from a REPUTABLE breeder (big or small) that will stand behind his animals.

If you buy PH it's a gamble anyway but you can always try to guess which one might prove based on what you see.