Why are mojaves more expensive than pastel?

Let's take a basic approach.

They are both codominant if I am not mistaken, so shouldn't they be closer to the same price? Mojaves usually go for quite a bit more than pastels.

I suppose it could have to do with people simply liking mojaves more, is that the only reason? Thanks for your input, just curious.

could it be because if you cross 2 mojaves you have a chance of getting a blue eyed leucistic? last i checked BEL's are FAR more expensive than super pastels.

just a thought.

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Originally Posted by katia

could it be because if you cross 2 mojaves you have a chance of getting a blue eyed leucistic? last i checked BEL's are FAR more expensive than super pastels.

just a thought.

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Hmmm, oh yes that is another factor. I didn't think of that.

The main thing I'm thinking is that people could just produce as many mojaves as pastels, and their prices would go down.

Why are pastels not more expensive? Mojaves and pastels are key for a lot of gorgeous combos, they deserve to cost more.

Maybe its because Pastels are more commonly kept, therefore the supply of Pastel hatchlings is greater. Possibly the demand for Pastels is dropping, but Mojaves haven't yet reached this state.

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Originally Posted by pankthesnake

Maybe its because Pastels are more commonly kept, therefore the supply of Pastel hatchlings is greater. Possibly the demand for Pastels is dropping, but Mojaves haven't yet reached this state.

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Thats exactly what it is. Overproduced.

Hmm, good points pank and pavlov.

But I don't understand why pastels would be produces more, I imagine people would look to buy mojaves just as much if not more.

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Originally Posted by omnibus2

Hmm, good points pank and pavlov.

But I don't understand why pastels would be produces more, I imagine people would look to buy mojaves just as much if not more.

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That's exactly the point. If the demand for Mojaves, or any morph for that matter, exceeds the supply then the price will remain higher. Until it reaches the point when supply is equal to demand or when supply exceeds demand the price will not drop sharply. Another point to consider is that, as prices in general drop every year, more people can afford to buy combos such as Bumblebees and Pastaves and bypass the base morphs such as Pastel and Mojave.

Pastels are almost everybodys first morph (vast generalization). They want to get into breeding, buy a pastel because theyre typically cheaper, make more pastels, flood the market.

Overproduced and Poor Quality. Pastels was one of the, if not the, first Co-dominate morphs on the scene, so naturally it's price took a nose dive when everyone and their sister who had invested in them started producing Pastels, and unfortunately most of them out there aren't worth more than a "fancy" normal...

Last Pastel I owned I bought for $175 and sold for $200, I didn't have a use for him and a friend of mine really wanted him since we thought he was a nice pastel.

Pics:
http://leon2ky.com/leon/griffith_004.jpg

Pictures really don't do him justice, he was a nice pastel. But that was the last pastel I owned, I'm currently in line for Robin's Lemon Pastels :).

Oh i see, thanks for clarifying a lot, past 3 posters. Now I understand it.
Anway I hope mojaves drop a bit in the next year or two, I plan to get one.

You want them to drop lower than $200? They're barely higher priced than a pastel as it is. _I_ don't want to see them drop lower, they deserve more attention than they get.
Of course, like the pastels, I have seen some butt-ugly mojaves lately...adults that I seriously would have passed by as just normals.
I would like to see them quality-priced soon. People are just getting into the swing of that with the pastels. I personally hate to see any morph drop under $200, and I suspect that the supply of those cheaper morphs will start to decline because of the price drop. I wonder if it will ever go back up again as a result?

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

You want them to drop lower than $200? They're barely higher priced than a pastel as it is. _I_ don't want to see them drop lower, they deserve more attention than they get.
Of course, like the pastels, I have seen some butt-ugly mojaves lately...adults that I seriously would have passed by as just normals.
I would like to see them quality-priced soon. People are just getting into the swing of that with the pastels. I personally hate to see any morph drop under $200, and I suspect that the supply of those cheaper morphs will start to decline because of the price drop. I wonder if it will ever go back up again as a result?

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Within the next 2-3 years I can see Pastels, especially the lower quality ones you mention, becoming the Ball Python equivalent of the amelanistic corn snake, which reached saturation point many years ago. Amel corns sell for, in the UK, just a few pounds more than a normal, and snows sell for around the same price.

Even if many people stop breeding Pastels, they will still be produced as a 'by-product' of, say, Bumblebee x Normal pairings.

Pastels are so essential to so many truly beautiful combos, what I think we'll see is some truly GOOD pastels starting to actually get the price tags they deserve. It just takes some brave person to make some high-quality pastels, and give them a high price tag to go with it. Perhaps they'll sell, perhaps they won't--but if the animals are good enough, I bet they WILL sell. The value is not in the type of morph alone, but it how it's going to influence the appearance of the hatchlings it produces.

The ordinary run-of-the-mill pastels will continue to drop until they're little more than a normal, I agree with that. They haven't quite bottomed out yet, but they're dropping in $10 increments per year now.

Personally, I think the price difference has mostly to do with their respective super forms... since a super Pastel usually sells for around $700-850, but a super Mojo (BEL) can go for over $1000. I have each of these morphs now, and honestly I'm excited about BOTH of their potential.

For the record, I paid $125 for the Pastel and $240 (priced at $300) for the Mojo - both males. And if I must say so myself, they are beautiful examples of the morphs. :) I plan to mate the Mojave with a Lesser or Butter eventually, in hopes of making BELs; Toby the Pastel will start with a normal, and then we'll see!

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Pastels are so essential to so many truly beautiful combos, what I think we'll see is some truly GOOD pastels starting to actually get the price tags they deserve. It just takes some brave person to make some high-quality pastels, and give them a high price tag to go with it. Perhaps they'll sell, perhaps they won't--but if the animals are good enough, I bet they WILL sell. The value is not in the type of morph alone, but it how it's going to influence the appearance of the hatchlings it produces.

The ordinary run-of-the-mill pastels will continue to drop until they're little more than a normal, I agree with that. They haven't quite bottomed out yet, but they're dropping in $10 increments per year now.

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This coming season, because of the growing waiting list that I have for Winston babies (my lemon pastel) and because I don't have any morph females ready to go this season, Winston will be selectively bred to 3-5 of my lightest females. He will be going back to the female that produced my holdback female (she can be seen on my website on "The Nest" link), and other females that I feel confident will compliment his offspring.

Quality Winston babies will be priced for more than your average pastel. I have no heartache about keeping all his offspring for myself if they don't sell, but I'm really not concerned about them not selling. Of course, they will be graded and priced accordingly.

I have a handful more females that will also be ready to go, but will not be paired with Winston, because I don't believe that they will compliment his offspring. Instead, they will be paired with other males in my collection. I truly believe that selective breeding is the future for ball pythons. I don't want to produce animals for the sake of producing them. If it means I can't put a Winston baby each person on the waiting list's collection this year, then so be it. I won't compromise quality for quantity. And I don't think that people who are waiting for his babies would want me to either.