Differnce between a $75 and $175 pastel?

I have been wanting to get a pastel for sometime, so I have been searching around for them for quite a while. I have noticed that there is quite a difference in prices, especially in males.

I noticed on this website in particular http://royalconstrictordesigns.com/i...thons&start=50
I am not saying he is doing anything wrong -- in fact this is where I will probably buy from when I finally do. But obviously I don't have a trained pastel eye. What makes some of these males worth only $75 while some are $150-175?

I can tell that some of the cheaper ones aren't as bright, but some of the $75 ones look just as nice to me.

If I can't tell, should I save my money? I am planning on probably breeding in a few years...

Thanks!!

Typically the difference in blushing and orange versus yellow. Orange tends to turn to brown. High blushing animals with bright pastel yellows tend to hold their color. Some babies look great but eventually turn very brown. Experienced breeders tend to have an eye for what the future looks like in any particular snake. They typically will charge various prices depending on the quality of the animal. Obviously a brown pastel isn't going to be worth nearly as much as a bright lemon type. Different pastel lines tend to do better when it comes to keeping color and blushing. The better your initial snake the better the potential offspring can be. That isn't to say that sometimes you get lucky but on average the better looking your snake the better chances you have to pass that on to your offspring. Hope this helps a little.

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

I can tell that some of the cheaper ones aren't as bright, but some of the $75 ones look just as nice to me.

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That could have more to do with the breeder than the snakes in question. Some breeders still get good money for their pastels and some don't. After all pricing Isn't fixed...

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Originally Posted by hud556

That could have more to do with the breeder than the snakes in question. Some breeders still get good money for their pastels and some don't. After all pricing Isn't fixed...

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Right...but the range in prices is from one breeder.

I think the first response basically answered my question. I suppose the breeder knows what the parents look like as well, and therefore knows what the offspring should be worth?

Thanks!!

The way most people look at the quality of the looks of a pastel:

blushing - good

yellow - good

reduced pattern, less spots, less granite-y peppering - good

orange - bad

no blushing - bad

It's as simple as that.

Hi,

Yep the first reply pretty much nailed it.

Though it should be stated people might be loooking for different things in their pastles. Some might feel that reduced pattern is more important to them than blushing or vica versa.

Since you already know you will want to breed from it don't be afraid to hold out for the one that you like best.

And the better the snake you buy the better the chance of having great looking offspring ( though it is never just that simple :rolleyes: ).

If you can also see pictures of the parents that can also help you see what to expect as your snake ages.


dr del

I got 2.1 pastels from garrick a while back and I got both $75 males and one of them got darker kinda browned out a bit and I didnt like him too much(he was a mouser) so I sold him, I also sold him because the other one I got looks like this

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/...ns/Chester.jpg

and I think that's just fine...my camera is a piece of junk..he's a lot brighter in person and his blushing is more intense as well..

So really I think it can vary from pastel to pastel...

...........$100

That $175 male pastel on Garrick's page looks AWESOME to me!

The difference is years of selective breeding combined with a desire to still produce the best looking animals around whether it is 1 gene or 5. To me a guy that puts 175.00 on his pastels says "I worked my ass of to produce the best looking pastels I could, you want a damn fine pastel here but they carry a price" I'll respect that. Then there's the other side people that produce pastel by accident and could care less what they look like they've move on to bigger and better things..

Gem stones are the same way.. You can buy diamonds from Cartier or you can buy them from Wal-mart.. both are diamonds yes. The difference is in the details and the ability to be consistent when it comes to what they produce. If all you want is a pastel and price is your swing point then there isn't much difference, however if your swing point it striving to find and best examples of a morph you can and the price be damned then so be it..

You want catch me bashing people who sell their pastels for 75.00 hell I've produced some of those myself.

But don't expect Cartier at Wal-mart prices to become the norm..There is a difference, but the difference starts with the breeder and shows up in the animal..

Ask yourself which pastel is worth my money..
thishttp://www.robinsnestreptiles.com/im...astels_005.jpg

Or this
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/DSC_0635.jpg

:confused:
i don't want to hi jack the thread but i think it would fit here rather then making a completely new thread.

I know gerrick makes some nice pastels but i notice that the snake keeper's males are all $75 dollars and some some of them look like they can be $175. but is his not that good of pastels? any of you have bought a pastel form TSK?

I love pastels. I know that they are "low man on the totem pole" in morphs these days, but when I see a quality pastel, I don't hesitate to spend what the seller is asking for it.

For example - Garrick had this pastel female up for much more than $175.

I didn't hesitate - I knew that she would be a valuable addition to my breeding colony:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...l/IMG_6267.jpg

This is her more recently - though she's more yellow than the picture shows:
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...pastel_002.jpg

I produced this female:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...s/DSC_0160.jpg

And the male that Ed posted above. In fact, they are clutchmates.

Back in 2006, I paid $800 for their sire. Yes, that's what quality pastels went for then:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...ton/Winny2.jpg

Bottom line, still to this day, I'm willing to pay premium prices for stellar animals.

ive bought alot of balls from garrick and if i say so pay a little more to him for a better quality animal i have a pair of mojaves i bought from him and they are absolutely outstanding the female is blushed out like crazy and i love it! i also have a few hets from him and they are better looking than most hets i have seen my het albino male is almost solid orange instead of yellowish/brown and my het axanthic has a solid black line down his back absolutely stunning looking for hets

Bottom line you get what you pay for. If you like the cheaper snake and it looks good to you then by all means buy it. Just remember the bigger names are bigger names based on quality animals, so you might pay more but the odds are in time the snake will stay true to what it's supposed to look like.

Some sellers price all their XX morph at the same price. Some differentiate the A++ and the C quality versions of the morph by price variation. It's just how they do (or can afford to do) business. Big or big reputation names can ask more for morphs because people know they can trust them to back up sales and produce quality animals and not make beginner mistakes like mis-sex an animal. Though perhaps some BPs make it harder to be properly sexed... I'm more of a beginner in that sense!

It's like high white pieds selling for more than low whites, they tend to be more visually impressive, though in the case of pastels, visually impressive babies from impressive parents usually make prettier babies.

To the OP - I took a look at the pastels that Garrick has available right now. Were I in the market for a male right now, the $175 one would be my first choice of the ones he has availabe, with the second one priced for $150 being my second choice. The $75 ones have the most potential, in my experience, to brown out as adults, and some have already begun to brown out.

That's the difference in the prices. If you plan to breed, and you want people to be interested in the animals that you produce, you want to start your foundation animals with the best examples that you can find.

couldn't it also have something to do with the weight? I hadn't noticed the color differences as mentioned earlier, but I had noticed that there are differences in weights, not just in Garricks, but in kingsnake also.
I don't know, I could be wrong.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

To the OP - I took a look at the pastels that Garrick has available right now. Were I in the market for a male right now, the $175 one would be my first choice of the ones he has availabe, with the second one priced for $150 being my second choice. The $75 ones have the most potential, in my experience, to brown out as adults, and some have already begun to brown out.

That's the difference in the prices. If you plan to breed, and you want people to be interested in the animals that you produce, you want to start your foundation animals with the best examples that you can find.

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Plus, I never heard anyone think back and say "I wish I bought the uglier one"