Wait for a normal, or switch to a Jungle Pastel? Opinions welcome!

Hi there, I am a soon to be Ball Python owner and I've come face to face with a bit of a dilemma. I have a friend (not a breeder) who owns two normal BPs, and bred them. She now has 3 eggs, and was going to sell me a normal BP for $150. I know that's a little much for a normal, but I figured meh, she's a friend w/e.

I currently have my entire set up ready, and I'm pretty much dying from anticipation. The eggs are still about 20 days from hatching, and then I found out that she needs to keep them for at least one month, but probably two to get them feeding properly (and I know that that's a good thing, no dispute there :P )

So, I had previously asked a breeder about his prices on normal BPs, but he didn't have any available at the time, so I'd just forgotten about it. But he gets ahold of me and he has some Jungle Pastels currently available for $200, plus shipping.

So, what's everyone's personal opinion? Stick with the friend and the normal morph and wait it out? Or let her find someone else and get a pretty little Jungle Pastel in the next week or so?

- Also, I don't really have any idea what normal prices are for either of these morphs, except that the breeder in question told me he usually sells normals for 80. So any opinions are welcome.

Sorry if I rambled or if that was hard to follow = /

You can get normals for $20-$40 $150 is absolutely ridiculous. $200 for a Pastel on the other hand is reasonable.

Personally if I had a clutch or normals and I had a friend that wanted one I would just give him/her one lol

I bought this female pastel for $200

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...a/IMG_0002.jpg

$150 for a Normal is highway robbery! The fact that she's a friend makes that worse, not better. You can get a really smokin' Pastel from any number of breeders for less than $200.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

You can get normals for $20-$40 $150 is absolutely ridiculous. $200 for a Pastel on the other hand is reasonable.

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Yeah, my problem is that I live in Northern Ontario, so it's hard to find a lot of breeders in the area :P I think I'm going to go for the Jungle Pastel, as the pictures the breeder has shown me are absolutely beautiful. I'm just waiting to hear back from him on some shipping issues.

The city that the snake would have to be flown to for me to pick it up has a by-law preventing pet snakes, so I don't know if he'll even be able to ship it there for a pickup. I don't have any idea how strict they get about these things.

normal hatchlings are very inexpensive.

i saw normal males going for $15 at a reptile show a month ago, so $150 seems way way too much especially if its a friend that's selling it to you.

you can probably find a nice looking pastel male on KS or Fauna for no more than $130 shipped.

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Originally Posted by Slim

$150 for a Normal is highway robbery! The fact that she's a friend makes that worse, not better. You can get a really smokin' Pastel from any number of breeders for less than $200.

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The normal was 150, but yeah, I realize that that's not much better :P

As others have stated, $150 for a hatchling normal is insanity. You can easily get a number of differen't morphs for around that same price. Cinnamon, Pastel, YB, possibly a spider. :D

I reckon she'd be hard pressed to find non-friends to pay that kind of price.. I'm curious, have you asked what she paid for her snakes?

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Originally Posted by Ashleigh91

Hi there, I am a soon to be Ball Python owner and I've come face to face with a bit of a dilemma. I have a friend (not a breeder) who owns two normal BPs, and bred them. She now has 3 eggs, and was going to sell me a normal BP for $150. I know that's a little much for a normal, but I figured meh, she's a friend w/e.

I currently have my entire set up ready, and I'm pretty much dying from anticipation. The eggs are still about 20 days from hatching, and then I found out that she needs to keep them for at least one month, but probably two to get them feeding properly (and I know that that's a good thing, no dispute there :P )

So, I had previously asked a breeder about his prices on normal BPs, but he didn't have any available at the time, so I'd just forgotten about it. But he gets ahold of me and he has some Jungle Pastels currently available for $200, plus shipping.

So, what's everyone's personal opinion? Stick with the friend and the normal morph and wait it out? Or let her find someone else and get a pretty little Jungle Pastel in the next week or so?

- Also, I don't really have any idea what normal prices are for either of these morphs, except that the breeder in question told me he usually sells normals for 80. So any opinions are welcome.

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Nice friend, trying to sell you a $20 normal for $150:colbert: Its a no brainer, get the pastel. I wouldnt pay more than $150 for a pastel unless it was absolutely superb. Just my opinion, good luck on your decision:gj:

Lol. If you're set on a normal, I'll sell you a well started male & female pair for only the cost of shipping, and it would still be 2/3 less than what you're thinking about paying for the one normal hatchling ;)

In short, if you're going to spend that amount of money, look into the morphs, or get a normal from someone else who isn't overcharging you by 6-8 times the average price =)

Thanks guys! Its hard to find breeders in Northern Ontario, and I haven't seen many expos around here, so it's great to have you guys for advice :).

I'll probably end up going for the Pastel from the breeder, I know that I could probably get the same morph from another breeder somewhere, I've just been having a ton of trouble finding breeders here in Ontario.

Regardless though, I will not be buying the normal from my friend :P

lol just wanted to throw this in...Ive seen breeders throwing out specials like free normal males and females if you buy so and so morphs haha normals have my heart but they dont cost a thing :P

The pastel youre looking at is a female right? Other wise thats kinda high for a male pastel. I got my cinny male for $125 and the breeder gave me a free normal female baby with him. Exactly like what pythonaddict said ^

My 2cents, I see $20 normals at Repticon and got my Pastel male for $75 there. We also got my male Pinstripe for $175 at Repticon in Charlotte.

Hi,

What is the average price of a normal in Canada in Canadian dollars?


dr del

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

You can get normals for $20-$40 $150 is absolutely ridiculous. $200 for a Pastel on the other hand is reasonable.

Personally if I had a clutch or normals and I had a friend that wanted one I would just give him/her one lol

I bought this female pastel for $200

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...a/IMG_0002.jpg

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$125 for this hot babe.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...lushykelly.jpg

Normal males sell for $10/females $15 at almost every herp show.

For a $150 normal, it better speak at least 3 languages and be able to type.

:D

Although $200 for a pastel can be seen as expensive, $150 for a normal FROM A FRIEND is just... wow, seriously wow.

Ended up getting a Mojave for the same price from a different breeder. Shipping was much less as well (and from farther away, go figure!) and I am absolutely going mad with excitement! I much prefer the Mojaves to Pastels :)

Thanks for the advice though guys!

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Originally Posted by Salamander

$125 for this hot babe.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...lushykelly.jpg

Normal males sell for $10/females $15 at almost every herp show.

For a $150 normal, it better speak at least 3 languages and be able to type.

:D

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Well my girl is also 100% Het Clown... Pretty good deal to me at least

Wow your friends really sticking it to you, unless they just don't know prices, no question let your friend know normal prices or go after that pastel.

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Originally Posted by Rob

Wow your friends really sticking it to you, unless they just don't know prices, no question let your friend know normal prices or go after that pastel.

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I think that the decimal got misplaced lol 150.0 ~~ 15.00 :rolleye2:

but to be serious , I would hope that someone breeding snakes would know how much to ask for them ... but then again people are crazy

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Originally Posted by Salamander

Normal males sell for $10/females $15 at almost every herp show.


:D

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Sadly my herp show had normals at a minimum of $30-50.
Darn you California!!!

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Sadly my herp show had normals at a minimum of $30-50.
Darn you California!!!

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$30-$50 is more normal in Florida, but I have seen a few for $10-$15

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Originally Posted by Ashleigh91

Ended up getting a Mojave for the same price from a different breeder. Shipping was much less as well (and from farther away, go figure!) and I am absolutely going mad with excitement! I much prefer the Mojaves to Pastels :)

Thanks for the advice though guys!

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Good choice congrats on the Mojave.....hope you gave your friend a smack lol

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Well my girl is also 100% Het Clown... Pretty good deal to me at least

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I can't believe you got your pastel 100% het clown for $200!!! What a steal!
I've been searching everywhere and everyone is asking over 1K TT___TT

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Originally Posted by satomi325

I can't believe you got your pastel 100% het clown for $200!!! What a steal!
I've been searching everywhere and everyone is asking over 1K TT___TT

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Well there were some very special circumstances that led to the price tag... but I'm not complaining :D (nothing wrong with the snake or anything like that)

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Well there were some very special circumstances that led to the price tag... but I'm not complaining :D (nothing wrong with the snake or anything like that)

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Apparently VERY special circumstances wow

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

You can get normals for $20-$40 $150 is absolutely ridiculous. $200 for a Pastel on the other hand is reasonable.

Personally if I had a clutch or normals and I had a friend that wanted one I would just give him/her one lol

I bought this female pastel for $200

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...a/IMG_0002.jpg

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Such a pretty lady!

Also, I'm an idiot and they're het albino, so yeahhhhhhh -.- derp.

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Originally Posted by Natassja

Such a pretty lady!

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thanks, she is doing great. in the 3 months that I have had her she has put on 350 grams and eats like a champ. I couldn't be happier.

Wow, some friend. What a rip off. Glad you went with the mojave. Tell him/her good luck selling normals for that price.

Since it is so easy to ship snakes, you don't really need to find someone local to get a good price. Ballpython.com has a great selection for under $200.

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Originally Posted by paperaith

Since it is so easy to ship snakes, you don't really need to find someone local to get a good price. Ballpython.com has a great selection for under $200.

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The OP living in Canada does make it a little more difficult

Like I said, they're Het Albino, which I (idiotically) forgot about when I started this. Anywho it's all over and done with and its good. I don't really care about the price, I just want a happy healthy snake. I have bought one and am waiting for the lil guy to arrive :)

Also, it worked out number-wise with me getting the mojave because she got an albino for herself and one het albino that was spoken for :) So now no one is left wanting a snake and not getting one :)

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Originally Posted by Ashleigh91

Like I said, they're Het Albino, which I (idiotically) forgot about when I started this. Anywho it's all over and done with and its good. I don't really care about the price, I just want a happy healthy snake. I have bought one and am waiting for the lil guy to arrive :)

Also, it worked out number-wise with me getting the mojave because she got an albino for herself and one het albino that was spoken for :) So now no one is left wanting a snake and not getting one :)

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even if they were 100% het for Albino, $150 is still high

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

even if they were 100% het for Albino, $150 is still high

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They're more than that from the breeder I got my mojave from. But obviously I don't have much to compare with. There's not really a competitive market around here lol. I'm just happy to have a snake on its way to my home.

$150 isn't through the roof or anything, but not coming from a big breeder, I wouldn't pay much more than $125... $25 isn't a big deal though in the long run.

I'm glad everything worked out in the end.

Are you guys missing the small detail of her being in Canada, where their market is higher than ours.

Prices in Canada are Higher than US prices, so you cant compare 100$ pastels here and expect her to find them that cheap there. Be lucky to find a nice pastel in Canada under 250.


Not to mention most those on this forum saying ill send you some free, itll cost good 500+ to ship from the US to Canada with the CITIES Paperwork.