Quote Originally Posted by rabernet View Post
I disagree - although I'd recommend buying a group of possible het clown females rather than a single one. That's what most folks do to improve their odds.

I've got a group of five 50% possible het clown girls that I'm considering letting go at some point, and I won't take less than $400 for them (no - I'm not advertising them, they're NOT for sale right now).

But I was asking around how much I should let them go for, and that was the least amount that was recommended. Granted, one is breedable weight, three will go next year likely and one was hatched this year.

Even normal females are under rated in my humble opinion. The great thing about poss hets is that it's a win/win. If they prove out - you really score, but if they don't you still have a great adult breedable female in your collection.
As a breeder, I would expect such a response. I too would not want to sell for the price of a normal, but as a buyer, I don't like the odds regardless of how many you buy. But the original post mentioned buying just one snake.

Not knowing the breeder, I gave her the advise I would use if I were buying an unknown snake from an unknown breeder. Sad to say, there are many breeders out there that will say it's a 50% or a 66% het for something or other. Is it or isn't it? Who knows. But I wouldn't put a huge premium on the snake just because some breeder tells me it het for this or that.

I own one het, and I only bought that because I know the the breeder very well, Adam from 8 Ball. I see him at many shows throughout the year and I trust him.

I can't see how buying a het and proving that it isn't is a win/win situation. If you are a small breeder and you're counting on that het to prove out, you've put the program behind by 2 years. Not to mention that as a small breeder, that one failure could be the difference between you staying in the hobby or not.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying I disagree. If the OP wants to buy just one snake, I wouldn't pay much of a premium for a possible 66% het for anything. Maybe a small premium, depending on the size of the snake. Say somewhere between $20 for a neonate, up to $50-$75 for a breeding sized female.

Just one man's opinion,
Jim Smith