Market crashers

[elevatethis]

Because when you're in a "hobby" market that has a lot of small breeders that CAN and DO sometimes carry a bit of weight in market pricing... the hobby seems to be the first thing that goes when the economy is taking a crap and people need that money to spend on necessary living expenses.

Exactly.

But I agree, and Larry and BT said it best, we're paying more to care for these animals, should they not be increasing in value?

This sounds good at first, but maybe Larry and BT forgot their economics - Ball pythons aren't a commodity. They are "normal" goods. As people make more money, they demand more of them. As people make less money, they demand less of them. Combine that with the increased supply, and you've got a significant price drop.

I'd also argue that with the cost of energy, food, etc, going up, people have less money to put into housing, feeding, and breeding the animals, so the whole "breeder's value" in some of the animals could be going down as well.