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Re: The Future of the Ball Python
It's simple supply and demand--ball pythons are slow breeders, as has already been said. They only clutch once a year, they lay an average of 6 eggs (though huge females can lay double that or a bit more), and females take 2 or 3 years to reach proper breeding weight. Females sometimes fail to lay, or lay infertile eggs, even when paired with good males.
Corn snakes are somewhat more reliable, and can lay two very large clutches per year if managed correctly. Because of that, the earliest corn snake morphs have come down in price to the point where they cost the same amount of money as a normal corn snake on the pet market. Don't make the mistake of assuming that all corn snake morphs are that low, however--there are still corn snake morphs worth hundreds of dollars out there, and people are breeding new morph combos every year.
The lowest price for a ball python morph is still $30 higher than the pet market price for a normal, and $60 to $70 higher than the wholesale/show price. Interestingly, I noticed this year that the price appears to have bottomed out. Pastels were selling for 75-90 for males, and 150 to 200 for females last year...this year, they still are.
This may represent a lower threshold for ball python morphs, because pastels are unlikely to become as common as normals, at least not for a very long time.
Pastels do not fare well in pet stores--it's been tried. The general public does not understand why they are special enough to earn a higher price tag. They're just looking for a docile pet snake, and normal ball pythons can be very attractive. Albinos may do better, but the price of albinos is not sinking nearly as rapidly, because they are a recessive gene rather than a co-dominant gene.
I DO see a day when morphs such as mojave, spider, and lesser platinum are available in pet stores. But that day may be 10 years down the road, or more. For now, there is a thriving market among reptile breeders. Interest in reptile keeping is always expanding, and it appears to be enough to keep this internal market going. It helps that ball pythons are relatively inexpensive to keep. Even normals can pay for their own feed for a year, if they're bred.
The traits that are keeping ball morphs out of pet stores are the same ones that make them such good investments for breeders. Considering how MANY base morphs have been discovered, and how painstaking and long the process is of combining them, I don't see an end in sight. Which is good for me, because this is what I've chosen to make a career of. ^_^
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