Where will morphs be in a few years

[AjBalls]

I know someone who says that paying so much for a ball morph is pointless because in a few years they will be like corn morphs. Can find all under $100. Apparently corn morphs used to be over $1000 when they were first produced. I don't know anything about that because I am not into corns. But do you really think that ball python morphs will really go as cheap as corn snake morphs, all being under $100???

[Patrick Long]

look at pastels. on reptile radio they were talkin how the first was about 2000, now there under 100 sometimes

[Freakie_frog]

Think if it like this with all the corn morphs out there they were all created with 12 base mutations. Will we see ball morphs at 100 buck sure. Now look at the ball morphs there are some thing like 66 current known base ball morphs we have just barely scratched the surface as to the possibility's of ball morphs and combos. Will we see all ball morphs and combos around 100 but yep..But not FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS. there are some thing like 400 million different combo possibility's with the current 66 base morphs.

[Ssthisto]

I think the future of the codominant morphs is simple and will follow the same trend as leopard geckos have (Mack snows) - the base genetics will become cheap, but combination morphs and selectively bred, stunning examples of a base morph will retain a much higher value. A pastel that browns out heavily and is almost indistinguishable from a normal at adulthood will wind up being worth about the same as a normal eventually... but one that's been bred from a line that stays bright and clear coloured will be a lot more valuable - not just because they're nice looking in themselves, but they will also improve the results when they're bred for combinations.

And I don't see a Butter Super Pastel Spider Pinstripe Granite Albino going for pennies any time soon either.

Recessive morphs will reduce in price slowly - they're harder to produce, since you need two gene carriers to tango - it'll be a long time before you can pick up an Albino Royal for £50.

Keep in mind also that not ALL corn morphs are less than £100 - there are still base morphs which have quite a high value as they're not very widely spread yet. But we'll see rapid decreases in prices on corns faster than royals simply because corns routinely lay clutches much larger than royals do - so a quadruple homozygous recessive morph is just a matter of picking the right breeding stock and having a bit of luck. I have a pair now that have 1:4 odds of producing double homozygous offspring, 1:16 odds of producing triple homozygous and 1:64 odds of producing a quadruple - Amelanistic Anerythristic Lavender Stripe, AKA "Glacier Stripe". Not EASY odds, but well within the realms of possibility for a 16-egg clutch, and given that corns can pop out thirty AND double clutch successfully, I'd put reasonable money on hatching out at least one Glacier Stripe in my breeding female's lifetime and possibly within the first two or three years she's bred.

I wouldn't place that bet if I was talking royal pythons and the same quadruple-homozygous animal!

[Ginevive]

I still see Ball base morphs as a good investment. I always buy for the particular snake, because I can't live without That snake. But that aside.. let's say that I pay $700 for a base morph right now, a female. Let's be conservative and give her three years to grow before breeding. By then, her morph's price could be down to $100. But in the years to come (and maybe even that year) her babies should pay for her original price, not factoring in the price for care, etc. And combos by then using her, should definately not be too low; maybe around her original price? A snake that can be bred multiple times and years; its offspring make a nice return investment. This to me is why it's OK to spend a lot of money on one snake; not withstanding the fact that there are certain snakes that I bought that I could not have left the store/website without owning. That alone makes them worth their price to me
I believe that anyone who is willing to shell out money for animals now, with hopes of breeding them for profit later, shares my view. Unless you simply have to have that snake, now, and money is no object.
I cannot wait for my female morphs to be up-to breeding size, though. I believe that combos are the future! And double/triple/mega hets from respected breeders.

[Ginevive]

I think too, that with base morphs, quality will be a much larger deiciding factor once their prices drop more. Someone who was before willing to plunk down a little money for just any pastel, just to say that they owned one, will now be more discerning as better-looking animals' prices become more attainable to the average person.
I also think that adult morphs, ones that stand out, will still sell for nice prices. People get impatient and want something to breed Now. Others who are more educated on what morphs Should look like quality-wise, will hold back and buy only stellar examples of that morph.
I unfortunately also predict a glut of lower-quality animals that I am not sure where they will end up. I am likening it to horse breedings, I think; go look up horse rescues, or horse slaughter, and see how many unwanted horses have gone to that end. Yet top trained show or race horses can sell for thousands, and even millions!

[JeffFlanagan]

I unfortunately also predict a glut of lower-quality animals that I am not sure where they will end up. I am likening it to horse breedings, I think; go look up horse rescues, or horse slaughter, and see how many unwanted horses have gone to that end. Yet top trained show or race horses can sell for thousands, and even millions!

I agree there will be a glut of pet quality morphs and normal snakes, but don't know if it has to be a problem for anyone but the African snake export business.

I plan to support my BP habit by breeding and selling beautiful morph combos, and see being able to bring low-cost simple visual morphs to entry-level snake lovers at the same time as a benefit.

Why stock import normals in your pet shop if you can buy a healthy $50 visual morph, or $5 normal from a local breeder instead?

[Emilio]

I know someone who says that paying so much for a ball morph is pointless because in a few years they will be like corn morphs. Can find all under $100. Apparently corn morphs used to be over $1000 when they were first produced. I don't know anything about that because I am not into corns. But do you really think that ball python morphs will really go as cheap as corn snake morphs, all being under $100???

I call this ball python hating.

[West Coast Jungle]

When you buy a brand new car it drops dramatically in value when you drive it out of the dealership. Why did you buy it then?
Because you like it. Not to mention a car can't produce more cars.

I buy a certain snake because I like it, breeding it in the future and selling some of the offspring is just a bonus. If you just want to make $ on an investment there are much better avenues to follow that are more secure and do not involve living breathing creatures.

If all you care about are future values maybe you should ask yourself why are you doing this?

[hgrub]

Price for morph will drop, but if you get it now in stead of 3 years later then you won't feel like you're losing money though.

Let say from my own experience...female Caramel Albino If you wait three years yeah its price will drop but the price for 3 years old female Caramel Albino will still be high. I got mine in December '06 for $x,xxx, now she's 1,300 grams and will be ready later this year. Last time I saw advertise on 1,000+ grams female Caramel Albino, the price tag is way higher than I paid for mine and that price is close to other sellers' price tag for 3 years old female caramel. Hope you understand my English.

Last time I post something about ball python price I got slap by negative point(the guy didn't even leave the name though), hope I don't get hit agian this time lol