BP prices.

[Phantomtip]

My girl is the sweetest thing. The only time she has a "temper tantrum" is when I don't feed her right when she wants. She's a greedy thing now that she is getting a steady diet. She's a gorgeous normal also to me. I wouldn't trade her for the world. I have heard and this is just hearsay that some of these new morphs coming out aren't so pleasant to be around. I also have a yellow belly boy and he's a sweetheart too but the one I prefer is my original girl. I only have the 2 BPs and am thinking I will stick with them till I find the right morph, sex, and temperament that I want. Also thank you all for making this a good informative conversation instead of a jump down the throat because I asked a question thread. I like discussions like this. Thanks again and lets keep this going some more.

[MarkS]

He said it was a het though, deserts are codom aren't they?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Yes it's a codominant/incomplete dominant (or possibly dominant) mutation, and yes it's also heterozygous for that mutation (there are no homozygous deserts)

[Dave Green]

Just some thoughts...

I've had this question come up quite a bit when I was doing shows. I once heard another breeder answer this question with "why is a Mickey Mantle baseball card worth so much?" It's a photo and some stats printed on the same cardboard as the Joe Smith card. It's based on rarity and/or demand.

I've also heard the truck/car analogy but if you put two cars in a garage you'll never come home to six more. Most people who spend a lot of money on a snake do it as an investment as they plan to breed it and make more, combos, etc.

If someone wants a pet but wants something more "exotic" then a normal there are plenty of neat options that are affordable, Lesser, Mojave, Pastel, Pinstripe, Spider, etc. You can also spend a bit more if you have the means, albino. pied, etc. There are also folks who may spend more.

[SnowShredder]

Yes it's a codominant/incomplete dominant (or possibly dominant) mutation, and yes it's also heterozygous for that mutation (there are no homozygous deserts)

Yeah I think he's thinking of desert ghost...which is recessive. And those hets are worth every penny!

[Phantomtip]

Very nicely put. See now this is explaining why. I like looking around at all the morphs out there and seeing what is going on. I have noticed a lot of high priced single gene morphs. I love the thought of getting a low white black pastel pied but can't afford iy and know I can't. So even though I love the look I don't go near it because I know I would get it lol. Now iF and its a big if something comes of my husband's accidental breeding of my yb and normal I do plan to keep a yb female. I like the looks. Especially if they come out as dark as the possible momma.

[Crazymonkee]

Also recessives will remain higher priced because of the extra time and effort needed. I have always found myself drawn to recessives for some reason, even in GSD I based on the sable gene

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[PitOnTheProwl]

What is my time worth?
In the garage you pay me for what I know, not what I do.
In my reptile room, you pay me for what I know AND what I do.
You do pay more for quality as well.
Some people like clean and others like dirty patterns in certain morphs.
Bottom line is that it is only worth what people will pay however I am not one to drop a price on my labor of love either.

[liv]

The prices are high because people will pay that much. Heck, in the few short years I've been in the hobby, prices have come down drastically. It's a buyers market for sure.

As for the multi-thousand dollar animals, money is often not even exchanged . There are a lot of value based trades between breeders (at least from what I have seen).

[Tzeentch]

That's funny, prices are not high. A female desert is about $300, that's not expensive.
Prices drop every month its ridiculous. I paid $900 for my male Albino Spider a year ago and just last week they were selling for $450-$550.
You blink and the price drops $100.

[Phantomtip]

I have seen people willing to trade for certain morphs, but I would not give up my girl for any kind of trade even for a panda pied lol. I would eventually like to get into breeding but not for a long time. My husband probably wouldn't let me till I built a building for it away from the house and the boys were in their teens lol. He still doesn't see why I like my snakes. I am just looking around right now and seeing whats what. I do wonder if people that are trading between each other really know about the other person. I saw a post of fauna about a guy who traded 2 breeder girls for 5 babies and 2 had nasty bite wounds. I wouldn't want that to happen to me, or to anyone.