what would you do if you proved out a morph?

[hypersomniacjoo]

so i have two breeding females, one very normal and one that is a poss harlequin wide stripe. i have a very light normal male and several proven morph males all breeding both of them. i see people on kingsnake and fauna posting on the classifieds selling their new unnamed morph as a dinker project.

say i prove out either the harlequin mama or the light fire-ish male normal. lets take it a step further and say i breed the offspring back to the parents and create a super. what would be the next step regarding selling and getting the word out that there is a new morph that you created? selling a pair for $20k on kingsnake doesn't exactly seem like a good first move, nor does selling the pair for $450 just because you want to get some coverage.

[h00blah]

I see "new morph" posted on kingsnake and they're asking for ridiculous amounts of money for their "morph". The way I see it, if it's a game changer, if it can completely change numerous morphs, then it'll be worth the money. Say the super form changes pattern AND color, I would say let people offer, and get a feel for how much people think your snake is worth.

You can contact the big names if they prove out, and see how much they would suggest you charge for the new morph.

[hypersomniacjoo]

yeah im always surprised by how contact-able big names are whether it be kevin from nerd on facebook responding to comments on pictures or ryan buckley "friending" me. theyre very approachable.

[Brewster320]

yeah im always surprised by how contact-able big names are whether it be kevin from nerd on facebook responding to comments on pictures or ryan buckley "friending" me. theyre very approachable.

Hell, for Kevin if you're in New England all you have to do is drive up to Zoo Creatures/NERD and either ask for him or just walk up to him if you see him in there lol

Anyways I'm no where near an expert but I've seen a ton of these "new morphs" for sale on kingsnake or other sites and 95% of the time they just look like normals, no super form or anything, and they want some crazy price. I mean I know several morphs are not as obvious as others to the untrained eye such as yellow belly and fire but their supers are clearly obvious. If you're going to try and sell an entire project as a new morph I'd at least like to see an example of what I'd be getting into so I know I'm not just being ripped off for done odd looking normals. Just my opinion on the matter.

[jjmitchell]

If you prove out a a new morph unless it is amazing on its own... I believe the best thing to do is to post pics of the new morph and keep all the offspring untill you produce something incredible combo wise...Look at the orange dream.... how many of those sold before incredible combos came out and the price skyrocketed......

You can make money in creating a new morph but by selling everything you produce cheap if the morph isnt fantastic looking on its own.... In the long run you produce the combos yourself and then show everyone what you got on the more impressive combos........I think there have been several new morphs that the person that proved the morph out shot themselves in the foot by releasing the morph before they worked with it indepth

[RobNJ]

I'd say be 100% sure it's a new morph first...or at least one that's not known. Hit the forums with it, with the development/breeding/founding of it well documented. Depending on where you're located and how local shows are around you, bring it along to a show, or bring it to a local breeder to talk about it. Produce a few combos and see what comes of it. Don't over produce it...seems like that would be a pretty quick way to kill your own project.

[rabernet]

I would quietly work the project, building up my own inventory of critters so that even if I sell a few here or there (and be very picky about who I let into the project if it's something really cool), I can still be ahead of the game than the others.

I'd probably only let females go to begin with, so that someone doesn't jump in and start banging out a bunch of them with a male to try to make a quick buck (again, where being picky about who you let into the project is critical).

If it's really a game changer "new morph", and you founded it - you really want to be sure you know everything that you can about it and what it can do so that you can better market it.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I would quietly work the project, building up my own inventory of critters so that even if I sell a few here or there (and be very picky about who I let into the project if it's something really cool), I can still be ahead of the game than the others.

I'd probably only let females go to begin with, so that someone doesn't jump in and start banging out a bunch of them with a male to try to make a quick buck (again, where being picky about who you let into the project is critical).

If it's really a game changer "new morph", and you founded it - you really want to be sure you know everything that you can about it and what it can do so that you can better market it.

X 2

I would work with the animals for a while start making some combos and only start releasing 1 or two females.

If you are too quick to release animals someone else might take your project on a higher level faster than you would which would translate at someone else profiting/benefiting from your project before you do.

[hypersomniacjoo]

wow i never would have thought of any of that stuff. i'm in california so I can't just cruise on in and talk to Kevin but its good to know i met Brian Gundy at a show and had no idea he was a well-known snake guy until after the fact.

what would you do in the case of the wide-stripe harlequin in the chance that it proves genetic? the issue with harlequins is that they rarely prove genetic but the ones that do make some CRAZY combos (fire harlequin on reptileradio). would you sell for lots of money or hold back entire clutch and make your own combos before selling?

[h00blah]

wow i never would have thought of any of that stuff. i'm in california so I can't just cruise on in and talk to Kevin but its good to know i met Brian Gundy at a show and had no idea he was a well-known snake guy until after the fact.

what would you do in the case of the wide-stripe harlequin in the chance that it proves genetic? the issue with harlequins is that they rarely prove genetic but the ones that do make some CRAZY combos (fire harlequin on reptileradio). would you sell for lots of money or hold back entire clutch and make your own combos before selling?

This is the age of the interwebs! No need to cruise in on anyone. Just find his number or e-mail. Shoot him a PM on facebook. The "big breeders" are still very accessible. I find it odd, but they really are very down to earth people lol. For the most part.. . I remember when I first got into this hobby, I would e-mail some of the bigger names asking for availability on a certain morph, and I got ZERO replies ...