Opinions on the market and stuff? Just curious

[sorraia]

I agree with this appraisal.

The hobby is not to the point where most people are willing to shell out $3K on a snake, whereas even casual people will do that with dogs no problem.

You can see this trend in the big box stores; they don't carry morphs, they carry regulars. Because they know that most casual pet owners are going to buy whatever they see at the store instead of a specialty morph.

The petshop in my town has only had one morph in the last 4 years I've been selling them mice (and they just got it in 2 weeks ago)...a pastel!! Talk about a morph letdown; if they stocked some pies or a spider in there the BPs would fly off the shelves. But they know that most people are just looking for a "whatever" snake, so they don't carry the more expensive ones.


Hopefully this field will work like the canine breed field; in the future it will be accepted that quality snakes cost more, and should be bought from breeders, etc.

Some of that may depend on geographical area too. Around here I've seen pastel, spider, and normal (I don't think I've seen any other morphs... but I feel like there may have been one other, like mojave or butter) in the big chain stores. At reptile specific stores I've seen a number of other morphs available, but that's also serving a more targeted audience (whether they are breeders, or merely reptile enthusiasts).

I do think people can be driven to pay more for quality snakes from a quality breeder, if the education is out there. It does happen in the rat hobby. There ARE people willing to pay $30 or more for a pet rat from a quality private breeder, when they could go to your average pet store and buy one for $3 (or maybe $10 if they want a so-called "fancy" rat from a big chain). I've actually had people pay $75 for my rats before, granted those rats were neutered, but it shows people are willing to pay a higher price tag for an animal that is higher quality than what they would get elsewhere. There are always going to be people looking for the cheapest pet they can find, but that's true no matter what animal it is (even horses, dogs, and cats). But put the educational material out there showing (not telling) people why it is better to purchase from abc source instead of xyz source, and if you provide sufficient evidence, they will do so. If there is no evidence, or it isn't sufficient enough to convince the masses, then they won't change.