What do you think makes a species popular?

[N4S]

How about 10,001 morph possibilities?

[jjspirko]

If importation of ball pythons was stopped, how much would availability drop? How would that drop effect popularity?

Legal issues is another factor that plays into how popular an reptile is in captivity.

How many kingsnake keepers are there in Georgia since legislation prohibits them? Kingsnakes are one of the most available snakes out there....yet they can not own them.

On BPs I don't think it would matter much any more. Go to any herp show and you find breeders practiclly giving away normals even ones very close to breeding age. The import market for balls kept prices in check for a long time but there are thousands of breeders now, hopefully soon it will kill off the market. Honestly the constant search for the next killer morph is doing more to keep it going then the general market today.

Legal issues do have an impact and Georgia is one of the most retarded states in the US (government wise). Their laws are moronic beyound words even a morph corn snake is illegal. That said many many residents of Georgia keep corns, kings, etc. At least for now no one is searching homes or anything. If I were ever forced to move to GA I would damn well keep my corns and simply keep my mouth shut about it.

[jjspirko]

In addition to Jack's points(shich were very good), I would also like to add a few:

1. Ease of care. A new keeper killing a pet within a few months is a big turnoff to some. Also, if a breeder sells a reptile to a person and that reptile dies because the care was too difficult, the chances that the person will be a repeat customer decreases. People like easy....Why do you think Crested Geckos have become so popular? Easy, Easy, Easy

2. Specialist. Most keepers avoid specialist. Some snakes are strictly lizard eaters, frog eaters, and egg eaters. People like animals that are easy to feed. You will never see Eastern Hognoses or vine snakes as a top pet snake. With lizards, horned lizards are a good example because they eat only harvester ants; yet the are some of the neatest creatures out there.

3. Cost. For both the consumer and the producer. This includes the cost of the initial animal purchase as well as vet care, housing, food, and husbandry equipment.

4. Incubation time. or 'quick turnover' if you look at it in business terms. Some species of lizards take almost a year to incubate the eggs. Not a couple of months like most snakes. Other eggs go through diapause and must be incubated at various tempeatures. If you had to wait a year for your ball python eggs to hatch how would that change your business?

That is just a few other factors that I think are part of the equation....and I am sure there are several more

Absoultely awesome add on. I would like to combine your points and mine into an article at some point if you are ok with it. I would give you credit in the byline of course,

[kavmon]

On BPs I don't think it would matter much any more. Go to any herp show and you find breeders practiclly giving away normals even ones very close to breeding age. The import market for balls kept prices in check for a long time but there are thousands of breeders now, hopefully soon it will kill off the market. Honestly the constant search for the next killer morph is doing more to keep it going then the general market today.

i don't think we are even close to producing the same quantity of cbb normals compared to imports.

i don't know of any breeders striving to produce normals in mass quantity.



vaughn

[jjspirko]

i don't think we are even close to producing the same quantity of cbb normals compared to imports.

i don't know of any breeders striving to produce normals in mass quantity.



vaughn

Is that because there is not real money in it? That would be my guess but again like I said if you want a CB normal it is not hard to find them for like 25 bucks for neonates and perhaps 50 -65 bucks for very well started young adults. There had to be over a hundred in those ranges at the last Lone Star Expo which is a quite small regional show,

[kavmon]

for me, it's the wow factor of morphs. one look and i was hooked.


imports come in by the thousands and tens of thousands every spring/summer. i just don't think the cbb ones are close to that. maybe one day? fresh blood, new morphs will be around for years to come, imo.


vaughn

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

My personal OPPINION varries.
-Combinations and variety. You aren't gonna get bored with the same old normals when there is always something new coming out to keep us on our toes
-Availability. It seems every big new species is readily available. Balls, Boas, Bloods, Retics, GTP are all or have all been heavily imported in the present and recent past.
Just a couple of my idead I have put together over the years as to why some species are more popular and others aren't.

Again, my oppinion and thoughts, not fact at all

[daniel1983]

Absoultely awesome add on. I would like to combine your points and mine into an article at some point if you are ok with it. I would give you credit in the byline of course,

Sure but I am sure you could take the points and word them a bit better than myself....ha ha

I find this topic very interesting. It is kinda funny that the most popular animals are not that way because people 'like' them...it has a little more to it than just people liking the looks of the snake.

I think it is interesting how animals can change in popularity as well. What causes that change? How did we go from corn snakes to ball pythons? From leopard geckos to crested geckos? Very interesting to think about.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Sure but I am sure you could take the points and word them a bit better than myself....ha ha

I find this topic very interesting. It is kinda funny that the most popular animals are not that way because people 'like' them...it has a little more to it than just people liking the looks of the snake.

I think it is interesting how animals can change in popularity as well. What causes that change? How did we go from corn snakes to ball pythons? From leopard geckos to crested geckos? Very interesting to think about.

An article in Reptiles Magazine Is always a sure fire way to get a species a kick start

[daniel1983]

An article in Reptiles Magazine Is always a sure fire way to get a species a kick start

ha ha....yep.

It is kinda sad that most people are so easily influenced by something like that. But most people do not spend hours looking up random reptiles on the internet like most of us..ha ha..or at least me. If the animal is not in the latest reptiles magazine or on display in a pet store, they have no idea it exists. Popularity has alot to do with marketing....but then again, if you could not produce the animals or had trouble keeping them, what would be the purpose of marketing them when nothing is available to sell?