** ball python industry going under????**

[janett]

Ok, so basically im a little worried. I have a nice little selection of balls, a few babies, a few males and a few females. This is my first year breeding and already my male fire has been locked with 2 normals and a caramel albino multiple times. My spider has also locked with the caramel albino. Hoping to get some Caramel Albino x fires and Caramel Albino Spiders....

Anyway, I breed my own rats/mice but for some reason that aren't breeding at the moment so I have to go down to the local Herp Store and buy some feeders. The guy who owns the store here in Killeen,TX area, has a fair share of Venomous, non venomous, etc with a few balls but nothing fancy. Anyway, every time I go in there he tells me the same thing, "Stupid thing you are doing breeding morphs, the industry is failing. I recently went to a San Antonio show where Bob Clark and all the big name breeders are selling morphs for super cheap. The industry is saturated and there is no money in it. Its a waste of money and time, the Spiders are selling for under $80 and the Pastels are selling for about $50-$75!"

So, that is what he keeps telling me, I am wondering if there is any truth to this? I just got my website up, just got my other rack built and I LOVE these snakes. I would hate to see the industry go under.

I am a new breeder so to speak, but I did a few years of research and I keep very detailed paperwork of all my snakes from the day they are in my hands. I keep health reports, weigh in records, etc. I see a ton of "crappy" breeders out there on Craigslist, etc. that are selling sick snakes to people that have no clue what they are getting into. Its sad, and I just hope that with me being a legit breeder and with you guys being legit, that the industry doesn't crumble.

With that being said, I have invested some money into this (not as much as you guys I am sure) and I understand that I won't see a return on my investment right away, I know it will take a couple years and I'm ok with that. I love my babies and would keep them even if the industry flopped. However, I'm just concerned and not sure if I should invest any more money in this business.....

Advice?

[snakeman13]

Ok, so basically im a little worried. I have a nice little selection of balls, a few babies, a few males and a few females. This is my first year breeding and already my male fire has been locked with 2 normals and a caramel albino multiple times. My spider has also locked with the caramel albino. Hoping to get some Caramel Albino x fires and Caramel Albino Spiders....

Anyway, I breed my own rats/mice but for some reason that aren't breeding at the moment so I have to go down to the local Herp Store and buy some feeders. The guy who owns the store here in Killeen,TX area, has a fair share of Venomous, non venomous, etc with a few balls but nothing fancy. Anyway, every time I go in there he tells me the same thing, "Stupid thing you are doing breeding morphs, the industry is failing. I recently went to a San Antonio show where Bob Clark and all the big name breeders are selling morphs for super cheap. The industry is saturated and there is no money in it. Its a waste of money and time, the Spiders are selling for under $80 and the Pastels are selling for about $50-$75!"

So, that is what he keeps telling me, I am wondering if there is any truth to this? I just got my website up, just got my other rack built and I LOVE these snakes. I would hate to see the industry go under.

I am a new breeder so to speak, but I did a few years of research and I keep very detailed paperwork of all my snakes from the day they are in my hands. I keep health reports, weigh in records, etc. I see a ton of "crappy" breeders out there on Craigslist, etc. that are selling sick snakes to people that have no clue what they are getting into. Its sad, and I just hope that with me being a legit breeder and with you guys being legit, that the industry doesn't crumble.

With that being said, I have invested some money into this (not as much as you guys I am sure) and I understand that I won't see a return on my investment right away, I know it will take a couple years and I'm ok with that. I love my babies and would keep them even if the industry flopped. However, I'm just concerned and not sure if I should invest any more money in this business.....

Advice?

He is just saying that 'cause the pet shops are loosing buisness.
They don't have a corner on the market any more.

[VEXER19]

If you look on bp.net then you know that everyday someone new comes on if not a handful of new people come on and introduce themselves and are so excited to be BP owners. They also see all the collections and get addicted fast. I have noticed as with myself that owning a snake is like doing crack. Every day a future breeder gets his/her first snake. The more people own snakes over time the more people get use to snakes as pets/family. But I do understand that their is so much competition when it comes to selling and if you dont sell then you just aquired. My opinion is that if you breed known morphs at a quality but not cheap price then you will do ok. Also like everything in this world I believe that the quality of the parents passes to the offspring. But I dont see the industry dying any time soon. Dont compete with the big guys. Work on supply and demand for you state and promote. Then when you build a big enough business you can move on to big and better things. But that is just IMO. Good luck with your future BP endeavours.

[TheSnakeEye]

I dont think its going under, but I noticed you wrote you want some caramel albino spiders.... I hope that spider is het caramel cus if not you'll just get spider het caramels.

[Dave Green]

I can't speak for anyone else but my business is doing well and other breeders I know seem to be doing just fine. I guess you could say business is a little slower then in the past but you could say that for any business.

[LadyOhh]

I agree with Dave... I haven't been having any issues, just things being a bit slower to sell than before. That doesn't mean things aren't selling.

Pessimism doesn't get people very far.

People love Ball Pythons. Ball Pythons will be around for ever. Be it $5 or $10,000, they will be around.

[SlitherinSisters]

It's not going under. There are just so many morphs being created that the older morphs that are produced by the hundreds every year have to be sold for less in order to move them. Quality animals of that morph are going to hold their value a little better, but just look at the corn snake market. Really neat morphs are going for the same price of normal corns because they are made by the hundreds. The corn morphs that are more rare are still selling for several hundred dollars. I'm using corn snakes because they reproduce so quickly their prices have to stay low, yet the morphs that aren't made by every Joe Blow out there are still pretty pricey.

Getting into the business with low end snakes is of course going to take you longer to build up a good stock of high end babies to sell, but with patience, determination, and some money you can do it.

[Driver]

Its just supply and demand. The base morphs will continue to drop in price due to supply. They aren't going to go way down. But the price will not move as fast for the combo morphs and hets. I think its just a matter of what you plan on breeding.

[janett]

Thanks to everyone to help clarify this for me.

My Spider isn't het Caramel but hey thats ok, Ill just hold back a male het and try again in a future breeding!

Although Im not a crack user, I can completely agree because I for one am addicted to them. Not only the colors, and the mutations but because they are amazing animals. I find for the most part they are easy to care for. I have a cat that is just as demanding for attention as my 5yr old! I check on my balls every day (spot cleaning,etc) and some days I don't pick them up at all and they are totally ok with it. I really like how they have so much independence. They don't "need" attention. Unlike my cat and my Boxer.

I told the guy at the pet store that I love Expos. That Expos are "known" for cheap prices. It helps the breeder get rid of stock, and it helps the future buyers. Not all buyers are breeders, some are just collectors, like a stamp collector or whatever. That is what I have noticed.

Anyway, thanks for the info. I feel so much more relief!

[janett]

Its just supply and demand. The base morphs will continue to drop in price due to supply. They aren't going to go way down. But the price will not move as fast for the combo morphs and hets. I think its just a matter of what you plan on breeding.

That is one of the things that the guy at the store said, he said "No one will pay $5000+ for a snake, then you will be stuck with that snake along with everything else."

He also said, "I wouldn't be breeding right now anyway, with the end of the world and all in 2012!"

I thought to myself, why is he acting this way, I mean its not like im trying to "take his business", he doesn't even sell Balls really. He has like 3 of them, but for the most part he has Rattlers, Green Trees, Lizards, Reticulated, Burmese...but not a lot of Balls.

I think he is a "hater" on all the beautiful mutations you can do!