Morph prices

So I'm a noob when it comes to morphs. All I have is a (very pretty to me) normal female that is a bit over a year old now. There is a reptile show coming up this weekend and I thought I might buy myself a pastel male as they are the cheapest of the morphs as far as I know and try breeding them next fall. My question is there will undoubtedly be several pastel males there with different prices. I'm aware there there isn't a show standard similar to dog breeds where faults take away from the over all score of an animal. What do I look for to get the best pastel for my money? Does the pattern matter or is it all how light it is? Are there "faults" that would make it undesirable? What traits do I look for to get the best babies I can? My female was the lightest one of the batch and the guy selling it to me told me that she would stay lighter then others. She is still pretty light I think compared to other normals I've seen. Will this help in breeding her with a pastel?

Basically what makes one pastel for X dollars better then another for the same price or why is a higher price justified?

Thanks

Hello,

First off these are animals; there is nothing wrong with trying to find an economical choice for your budget, but when people start referring to them as cheap it just doesn't sound right nor look good.

Pastels have become very affordable but that doesn't mean that a quality pastel won't still have a higher price over a sub par animal.

If you want an animal that will stay bright you'll want to pick out a snake that has ideally no brown or orange running down its back. These colors will eventually brown out.

Other lines of pastel are not really known for their bright yellows but for their high amount of blushing.

Your female being light will definitely help the offspring if you were aiming for bright pastels.

I can't seem to find the edit button or I would correct the word in question.

Please replace "cheap" with "most sensible choice reflecting my current financial situation". Thanks

Would anyone be so kind and post pictures of good examples of what to look for in a nice pastel? I'm a visual learner and have a hard time understanding what you're eluding to. Also what does blushing refer to?

Really, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A nice pastel to me, might be sub par to someone else. I'd say use the search feature on this website and search for pastel, look up the pictures of them and get a feel for what you personally like.

A good example of blushing is in this thread. Those are "Super Pastels" so you won't find a regular pastel with blushing like that. Some come close though.

I bought my pastel for his contrasting color between yellow and black, I think this will eventually produce nice Bees. Some people prefer the high blushing animals; which is pretty much faded areas in the animals patter.

This is my pastel as a baby...
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/000_0053.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/000_0066.jpg

Him at 1.5 yrs

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/100_1658.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...100_1981-2.jpg

3yrs - Don't mind the little weird part on his head, he had a bad shed in that spot.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/100_2313.jpg

The first two picks are of a jungle pastel line where you have very nice blushing, good color but some browning..
The bottem pick is of a lemon pastel from a line who's mom had minimal browning and beautiful yellow coloring to her as an adult.

The jungles were priced lower then the lemon, and this lemon I purchased was higher then what most lemons i see go for. I paid more by choice for what I considered a brighter lemon then I have seen and documentation and pics of the mother over the last 2 years as I have watched her grow to see how she would progress. Not sure if this makes sense. Most people but not all look for least amount of browning and nice blushing in their pastels. Hope this helps...


https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ermark_560.jpg[/IMG]
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ermark_831.jpg[/IMG]
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...stel_00001.jpg[/IMG]

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First off these are animals; there is nothing wrong with trying to find an economical choice for your budget, but when people start referring to them as cheap it just doesn't sound right nor look good.

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Some people just need to adjust their sensitivity level.
The word "Cheap," when used in advertising, is used to reflect the price tag on the animal being offered for sale. Not the value of the animal itself.
When I see an Ad that uses the word "Worthless" to describe the animal being offered for sale, I will jump on this bandwagon.

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Originally Posted by rjk890

Some people just need to adjust their sensitivity level.
The word "Cheap," when used in advertising, is used to reflect the price tag on the animal being offered for sale. Not the value of the animal itself.
When I see an Ad that uses the word "Worthless" to describe the animal being offered for sale, I will jump on this bandwagon.

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Well said... in my opinion its all part of promoting your sale, simple marketing strategies. Granted I am not in this for the money, it is a hobby and a passion for me.... so respect for the animals its a must, but I don't think anybody should take offense to an ad price labeling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rjk890

Some people just need to adjust their sensitivity level.
The word "Cheap," when used in advertising, is used to reflect the price tag on the animal being offered for sale. Not the value of the animal itself.
When I see an Ad that uses the word "Worthless" to describe the animal being offered for sale, I will jump on this bandwagon.

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To each his own, you can refer to your animals as cheap all you want :gj:

Pastels:
Contrast-
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...Slideshow5.jpg
Blushing-
http://vtw0da.bay.livefilestore.com/.../Schiznitt.jpg

Peach tones will also brown out, so avoid those as well if you can.

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Originally Posted by CBI

Well said... in my opinion its all part of promoting your sale, simple marketing strategies. Granted I am not in this for the money, it is a hobby and a passion for me.... so respect for the animals its a must, but I don't think anybody should take offense to an ad price labeling.

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The reality is that people do take offense, granted those people may not be your target market and that's fine. It does exist though and sellers that refer to their animals as cheap or title their adds "CHEAP!!!" don't even get me to click on it. Perhaps I'm too sensitive but thats me and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

There's just something not right about calling animals cheap. Paper clips are cheap.

I have never used the word "cheap" to advertise my animal.

I just don't get offended easily, and am not so obtuse that I can not read someones Classified Ad in the context it was intended.

The word "Cheap" in advertising is a catch word, or a buzz word that reflects on the price tag.

If I saw the exact same Chevy PU for $5000. at one dealer, and $8000. at another dealer, I would purchase the "Cheap" one.
The word "cheap" does not devalue the truck that I purchased, nor would the word "expensive" increase the value of the $8000. truck.

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Originally Posted by rjk890

I have never used the word "cheap" to advertise my animal.

I just don't get offended easily, and am not so obtuse that I can not read someones Classified Ad in the context it was intended.

The word "Cheap" in advertising is a catch word, or a buzz word that reflects on the price tag.

If I saw the exact same Chevy PU for $5000. at one dealer, and $8000. at another dealer, I would purchase the "Cheap" one.
The word "cheap" does not devalue the truck that I purchased, nor would the word "expensive" increase the value of the $8000. truck.

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We obviously view the issue from opposite ends of the spectrum.

http://www.oakworks.com/Oakworks-inf...nexpensive.asp

Read this rjk890... or consider going to Pm with the argument, it's starting to detract from the Op's post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CBI

Well said... in my opinion its all part of promoting your sale, simple marketing strategies. Granted I am not in this for the money, it is a hobby and a passion for me.... so respect for the animals its a must, but I don't think anybody should take offense to an ad price labeling.

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Perhaps, but I don't even open ads that describe their animals as cheap, so for many people - that is poor marketing. It is a pet peeve of mine as well. Advertise them as "affordable" if one wants to be a smart marketer.

However, I'm also one who is extremely selective about the quality of animals that I purchase, so "cheap" animals don't interest me.

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Originally Posted by NorthernRegius

http://www.oakworks.com/Oakworks-inf...nexpensive.asp

Read this rjk890... or consider going to Pm with the argument, it's starting to detract from the Op's post.

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Oh, I'm so bookmarking that!

My favorite part - it's going to be in my signature now! LOL:

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You buy cheap; you get cheap. You buy quality; you get quality.

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To the OP - when shopping for a nice pastel, look for the most faded head that you can as a baby, as well as the least amount of orange. Orange translates to brown as an adult.

You can see my pastels by following the link in my signature and going to "The Nest" link on my page.

The pastel line that I work with are the lemon pastels. Minimal blushing (and blushing is the faded area between the patterns on the back) but nice contrast between black and yellow.

Thank you all for the info, links and pictures. I like the "contrast" version better than the "blushing" version. I'll see what's at the show and will post a pic if I pick something up.

Thanks

Well I didn't find any Pastels that jumped out at me but I was rather fond of this Spider. It was a bit more but he's almost a year old already and should be more then ready for having a go at my normal female next year.

Thanks for all the friendly advice. Pastel is still on my want list if I find a nice one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...8/pregiusm.jpg