Ball Python's not selling?
 

I am new to the snake breeding community (if you haven't been able to tell by some of the questions I've been asking), and have just started to build up my collection (1.1 GTP, 1.1 BP, it's a small collection, but growing!). My question is: For those of you who have been around a while, are Bp's selling right now (or any snake for that matter)? Does there seem to be a slump? And also, if we are in a "snake slump", do you see any signs of things getting better?

The way I see it.. from the threads and the reptile shows everyone wants to be a breader so there are a market full of snakes and noone wants to buy... so prices are droping like crazy. took me 4 months to sell a single spider!! High white great contrast no wobble very nice looking spider... Others may have better luck and this is just my view on things.... hell, I just started breading in 2008 - 2009 season so I'm a newbie my self....

I think there is a slump for not just snakes, but the reptile community as a whole, more people are breeding, and less are buying right now, but it will get better, history repeats itself.
It will get better with new morphs of bp, or even new morphs of different species that will come into light.
But then it will slump again.
Never ending cycle.
Stephen

The improvement won't be what people are hoping for, IMO. Too many people overproducing animals, then cutting prices to get rid of them. Sure, improvements in the economy may bring more people to the buying table, but the only way to strengthen sales will be to reduce production (especially of lower quality animals that shouldn't be in the breeding pool anyway)....and we know that isn't going to happen. For every person breeding carefully selected morphs, or getting out of the game, there are handfuls more coming in with their bargain basement animals producing as much as they can, just because they can.

Well the way I see it... It is capitalism. When you have alot of people producing the same thing you are trying to sell, The prices will drop and each person will sell less. There are alot of "Breeders" out there. The only animals that will move easier will be the higher end (the ones that everyone doesn't have). It will get better when the economy rebounds (and it will). It will get even better when have of the fortune seekers figure out that they are not going to get rich and lose interest. If you are looking to make some money raising snakes... be willing to spend the money and buy the best animals before they get so cheap that everyone has one (like spiders, pastels, and some of the other base morphs).

I agree with Stephen and Michael. I'm actually not going to breed my leopard geckos this year because I haven't been able to sell the 14 babies I hatched this year, and my rack is full. It's disappointing because I reinvest all the money I make back into my reptile collection, but what are you going to do? Prices are too low, I don't have enough space, and the animals need to be cared for regardless if they find new homes or not. And, I refuse to drive the market down even further by having "blowout" prices. I'll keep them until I sell them for what they're worth. It seems like everybody who is buying right now are looking for "deals", and I've gotten some really insulting low-ball offers for my animals.

Thankfully, this is just a hobby for me, not a business, so I have the luxury of cutting back production. It's just a disappointment because now I'm not going to be able to buy anything for myself this year.

I have a job that pays me well more then enough to support my family. I didn't get into this to make money, I like the animals and have seen many amazing BP being produced. I am a small scale beginner that is trying to be picky about what I buy and what I make. I am not rushing to feed mine like crazy to get them to breader size since they are my family pets so I have time to chill and wait and see how things go... I did end up trading or selling all mine last year, but I only had a clutch of 8.. and that took 4 months!!! 4 sold and 4 were traded... I would hate to be one of these guys just buying anything ( bad gened morphs ) that don't care about the animals and producing like crazy and then be stuck with them all and have to feed them all.

I pretty much agree with everyone here on what has been stated. One thing that has not been mentioned as a contributing factor to the decline in sales is the number of shows currently running. There are so many shows that there is no reason for any one buyer to make a descision to buy on an impulse.

I have been going to shows since the 80's and have seen many changes in venues. Quite frankly it is getting old, and becoming alot of work going to a show once a month and sometimes two. Dont get me wrong, I love this business and most of the people in it, but we need to cut down on the amount of shows. It is not benefitting anyone except the promoters.

True, but also many people have gotten into reptiles in that past few years just to try and become rich off of it. Very soon they will find out that this is not the case, and then they will get out of the industry and move on to their next big buck maker. And the ones that are left are the ones in it for the love of the hobby, and it will get back to normal.
At least I hope lol
Stephen

Awesome post
 

I agree.. This Is first and foremost a Hobby, The ones thinking $$$$$$$$$$$$$ are the ones selling junk... and move on fairly quickly..