Guy Buys a Piebald

It might sound like the start of a bad joke, but its not. I'm at the local reptile shop today and this guy comes in. He gives away a bumblebee or something like it. I am not to keen on my morphs, but it had plenty of yellow and very narrow black stripes. Either way, it was at least a couple of hundred dollar morph. Apprently it had been bit by a rat now was shy of larger prey items, and the guy didn't want to mess with it. The guy said to the clerk that the snake had not been eating recently, but to me (and the clerk after the guy had left) the snake looked fine, maybe a tiny bit on the thin side. There were a few damaged scales from rat bite, but the snake looked healthy. And then, he asks if they have any rare animals in the back, so the clerk comes forward with a piebald. The guy buys it, pays something close to $900 for it in cash. At this point, my curiousity has gotten the better of me so I ask the guy if he plans on breeding the piebald. He says something about never feed live to your snakes and that no, he has no breeding plans for the piebald. After the guy left I asked the clerk about it and their response was that maybe the snake the guy gave away has something seriously wrong with it.

But who the heck buys a $900 piebald, just because? I mean good for him if he can afford that, but I am a little surprised.

What did the Pastel say to the Spider? Don't you want to Bee with me? (har dee har har)

I cannot justify spending nearly 1k on an animal just because. However, people do it all the time with purebred dogs, so why not? The Bee thing is kind of weird. I would be very wary of anyone giving away an animal unless it was a really close friend or something.

I would be wary of it too, but from the store's perspective, a $900 sale is a $900 sale. I figured they would have knocked something off because of the trade-in, but the store didn't offer and the guy didn't ask.

The real danger is going to be if the trade-in is contagious with something. The profit from that sale can evaporate very quickly if all of the remaining animals become ill.

How much do people pay for a set of speakers for their car? How much do some people pay for a set of sort fancy shoe?

If you have enough money, $900 for a pet that can live 30 years isn't bad at all.

Myself, $900 is a LOT of money to spend on anything.

I think that is really shady and strange.
1) Honestly, if he has issues feeding live, then he isn't doing it right. There are responsible methods to avoid bites.
2) If the snake isn't eating, his set up is probably not correct.
3) He overpaid for his Pied. The market price is about $500-700 these days.

Either way, the poor bee and pied. :(

$900 is far from being unheard from, (probably better if I didn't tell you how much I spent on snakes last year ;)), yes it is overpriced but it is a pet store so the pricing will be higher than buying directly from a breeder.

You would be surprised the amount of people spend for a pet, and while most would not question spending $1000 for a dog they always seem shock if you tell them you pay that much or more for a snake.

$900 is pretty typical for a pet store. They have to make a profit over the original price, and the snake takes up display they could use for another animal. So they usually mark up.

EDIT: I'm not saying I would pay that much, unless maybe it was some kind of magical unicorn pied that pooped rainbows. And I give the price tags in my local pet store the stink-eye every time I walk by them. But that is about what they are selling pieds for right now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by satomi325

I think that is really shady and strange.
1) Honestly, if he has issues feeding live, then he isn't doing it right. There are responsible methods to avoid bites.
2) If the snake isn't eating, his set up is probably not correct.
3) He overpaid for his Pied. The market price is about $500-700 these days.

Either way, the poor bee and pied. :(

---

Where can you find pieds for that price? Everywhere i look they are 1000 and up

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

thats how much they are in canada right now. I bought mine for $450.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cowbully

Where can you find pieds for that price? Everywhere i look they are 1000 and up

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

---

Check the online reptile classifieds. (Fauna or Kingsnake)
I haven't seen hatchlings go for $1000 in over a year.

i think the price always depends on quality so $500-1200 is possible for now ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by captainjack0000

who the heck buys a $900 piebald, just because?

---

The people who support the pyramid scheme that is ball python breeding.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by REBELLMORPH

i think the price always depends on quality so $500-1200 is possible for now ;)

---

What does a quality pied look like? The gene is all random so i dont think there is such a thing as quality pieds, they kinda all have to be treated the same imo. Some do have cooler patterns but its not like that will get passed down to their babies.

In this case quality is all that matters because he's not breeding the pied. So the appearance is what he paid for, and the convenience of buying the snake in person, right away in a pet store means the price was higher than he could have gotten at a show where he could deal directly with a breeder.

I think wolfy-hound has got this one correct. The guy obviously was interested in buying something that day unles you can think of another reason why you might carry around $1,000 cash. If he wanted a piebald specfically, he should have shopped around, but he didn't. He was going to select from whatever they had in stock. I mean he looked at the piebald for maybe 30 seconds before saying that he would take it. It didn't seem like he was very concerned about the quality of the animal. I'm not saying it was poor quality, but I didn't notice any close insepction. It was like a kid who gets an ice cream cone- they're just excited to have ice cream.

I can understand spending a grand on something. I would think you would want to research it, shop around, get the best deal, and carefully make the selection. I did not get that impression from this guy.

I feel for the bumblebee and the piebald. If there is something seriously wrong with the first, it stands to reason it won't be long until there is something wrong with the second. Maybe he'll give it back to the store if that time comes around.

some pictures of that supposed bumblebee would be good .. maybe we would be able to answer if something is wrong with it and if actually is a bumblebee

There's been a male pied sitting on the shelf at my local vivarium priced at $900 for a good long time....and a male bee for $500 (I think). No takers thus far. I agree, it's a lot to plunk down on an impulse buy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

What does a quality pied look like? The gene is all random so i dont think there is such a thing as quality pieds, they kinda all have to be treated the same imo. Some do have cooler patterns but its not like that will get passed down to their babies.

---

High whites almost always seem higher priced than lower white examples...I suppose some would consider that higher "quality", even though like you said, it's random...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sho220

High whites almost always seem higher priced than lower white examples...I suppose some would consider that higher "quality", even though like you said, it's random...

---

Yea thats my point though lol. I personally love low white pieds bc i think pieds patterns are awesome. I mean, sure, id love to own some of each bc high whites are nice too, but if i had to pick id much rather have low whites. Once you start making the pied combos id think you'd want a low white pied to show off the other morphs in it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mainbutter

The people who support the pyramid scheme that is ball python breeding.

---

I TOTALLY have a pied I will sell you for that price. He poops rainbows and everything (*).


* NOTE: Actual snake may or may not poop rainbows after purchase. But he's possible het for rainbow pooping.