A different thread on the pro's and con's of the tendency of some to advocate for "the hard and fast rules" that we use to steer new keepers in the right direction and hopefully help them prevent/avoid any serious difficulties got me thinking about how it also applies to another very common thread topic here.
Namely, that of prices on new morphs dropping "too quickly".
After thinking about it I have to say breeders sticking to the "charge more for your females" is directly responsible in part for the speed at which new morph prices drop.
Look at it this way, which has more value to any breeder interested in getting involved with a new morph?
A female that may take an extra season to get up to weight and can only produce one clutch with the gene at a time or a male that can breed multiple females and almost always reaches sexual maturity faster?
Every single male sold can represent multiple clutches each year. Those clutches will be competing with your own on a market that is quickly seeing more snakes available than there are people willing to pay X amount of dollars for.
While any female sold will have a good chance of taking an extra season to produce only one clutch to compete with your own.
So, both from a supply and demand view and a value to the purchaser, logically speaking males should be the more valuable snakes.
I don't expect this will change anything, or that breeders will suddenly change strategies. It is just an idea I am kicking around in light of thoughts on how sometimes we accept ideas without entirely analyzing them critically.
Well, that is my 2 cents. What are your thoughts on the subject?
Reply With Quote