Pied Market Question?

Hey all BP'ers...

I'm a carpet python guy, but still keep an eye on the ball "marlket" because it is interesting to say the least.

I have always loved pieds and the extreme look that they posess, and am considering a dinker pied project sometime soon.

I have noticed that the "asking" prices are very very stable on kingsnake, etc for pieds. I realize they are recessive, but they aren't dropping anywhere near as fast as some other recessive traits (ie albino). They seem to have been in the 1-2K price range for at a few years, and I rarely see any decent ones for under a grand.

So are people just not producing many of them or what? Is the demand that high for them that they can remain so relatively high priced?

There seems to be a glut on kingsnake but are people asking high prices and settling for less or what? I appreciate any thoughts on this.....again, I am a newbie to balls but not to pythons, and the carpet market acts like a whole different beast than balls.

Thanks,

Chris

I think that Pieds are still the "goal" snake for lots of keepers. It definitely is for me. That may help keep the market strong for them. I know the only way I'll end up with a Pied is to pick up a pair of hets and breed my own.

I don't think they are being produced at the level that albinos are, and demand is still fairly high on them. I'm waiting on a female pied myself. There's also the grading system with them (low to high white). I've seen some low whites going for around $800.

cool, thanks for the thoughts guys!

this looks like it may be a good project to start with for me.....

chris

just saw one for $800 shipped on kingsnake
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=32&de=701793

Pieds are what got me into the hobby. They are stunning, recessive, and a major goal for a lot of breeders, like waltah! said. That should keep their prices stable. Albino prices may be dropping, but 400 is the lowest Ive seen, and they started it all. How many other morphs can hold price like that?

I definitely noticed the bizarre price stability of both the albino and pied morphs. Pieds even moreso than albinos. The two oldest known recessive morphs, and here they are still over 500! It's impressive.

Yeah I would have thought pied would have gone down a bit. It's not that hard to produce.

thanks again all who commented, it will help me out a lot in my next decision.

I think pieds have held they're price well because 1 they're stunning and no 2 are alike. They're graded so there's a price gradient. And everyone wants one in their collection. They're the ageless morph. Albinos are as well but to a lesser extent. Albinos are usually the "next step" morph if you only plan on having a few.

You will get variability in other morphs, but not like the Pied. One person's low quality pied is another person's high quality (my wife like's my new low white pied female more than my high white male).

I think it will mix in nicely with just about every other morph.

With so many white snakes being produced, low white pieds are fast gaining popularity over high white ones, breeders are also concentrating on multiple combo genes with their breeder Pieds and therefore not as many visuals produced.

Still one of the most popular morphs out there! here's a clutch we just recently hatched :)
http://www.reptilescanada.com/galler...d_group_1b.jpg