So produce one pied and you are even, get lucky and hit 2 pieds and you will have almost doubled your money and still have your original snakes to produce many more for many years to come. How much of a profit did you expect to make in one breeding season?
I do think you are right about the other snakes eventually being around pastel prices. I don't think they will get quite that low, but I could easily see $100-$150 lesser, spiders, pins... in the next few seasons. That is why by that time you need to be producing double and triple combos.