Normals aren't the problem! Normal ball pythons aren't the only animal being treated this way. If it wasn't normals, the idiots would be mistreating some other morph or animal. Lessening the normal population just puts another in their place.
What is HSUS saying about us? You're using the same argument, and it's not a very good one. They're trying to outlaw our pets because some people don't take care of theirs. Recently, in the Steubenville, OH area near me, there was a horribly abused dog found. It was horrible and the entire community is pissed at whoever did this to that poor animal. But does anyone thinks dogs shouldn't be kept as pets because of this? No! There's no reason for that. The millions of people nationwide who take excellent care of their dogs outweigh the bastards who don't. Same with our pets. The PETS aren't the problem.
I for one will never sell to anyone who hasn't proven to me that they know at least the basics of how to take care of them. They'll also get a recommendation for this site. That's no matter what kind of ball I sell them.
Also, the import market will be there no matter what. There's nothing you can do about pet store impulse buy ball pythons, so why even compete with them? Don't sell to those people. Sell to informed buyers if you really care about the welfare of the pet.
Also people who pay more for the animal are likely to have a good reason to do so. They are probably already educated about the animal and understand why the animal is worth what it is.
We're on common ground at this point. But breeding normals isn't the problem, it's selling them to the petstores and competing with imports and putting them in the reach of the idiots. As I said, I'll sell wholesale directly to well-informed and prepared customers. (Idea courteous of cooliotiffany, I think.)
