Ball pythons are absolutely bred indiscriminately, and as a result, a lot of normal and single gene snakes are going to be produced, driving demand down. Even recessives are being affected, though pieds have been around for almost 20 years I believe, so they were bound to come down in price eventually. That said, I paid $600 for my pied female this summer, after drooling over her for weeks. The seller stuck to her price and she did sell. I feel a lot of people are too anxious to get rid of their babies.

However, I think when all these pretty, cheap snakes start hitting pet stores, the hobby will see a spike in interest and some new blood may help move things along.