New price order?

I agree with others that the market will probably be fine. It will take time though. I see no need for price changes as most prices are dropping anyways. Other then that being said, the prices for snakes I could care less personally myself. I'm in the hobby 1st as a love for reptiles. I will cut back on other things before doing so on my snakes =) While I'm new to breeding snakes and yes one of the ones who at this point can't sex thier own snakes...I see learning how to do so as part of what I'm looking forward to in this hobby myself. I've always had snakes growing up and I just wanted to take it a step farther and be able to learn how and produce some of the morphs I like. Instead of just dropping $2000 on a morph and getting it tommorrow. I see more enjoyment and value myself of making that morph myself that I want reguardless of what it's worth in 3 years. I'm not and never will be in this hobby just for the money. Nothing against those who are. I wish them the best and hope they do well
Something though I could never put a price tag on and the ecomony will never change would be some of the awesome folks on here and off here I have met while getting more into this hobby To me their friendship is more valuable then any snake I'll ever produce

Perhaps the downslide of the economy will lead to less people coming into the trade who are merely looking to make money. We have seen more people coming to "flip" reptiles and an increase in scamming merely in order to make money. This may be a crazy line of thinking, but I have to think it will have at least SOME impact as the economy falls... JMHO

Originally Posted by johns6068

I agree with others that the market will probably be fine. It will take time though. I see no need for price changes as most prices are dropping anyways. Other then that being said, the prices for snakes I could care less personally myself. I'm in the hobby 1st as a love for reptiles. I will cut back on other things before doing so on my snakes =) While I'm new to breeding snakes and yes one of the ones who at this point can't sex thier own snakes...I see learning how to do so as part of what I'm looking forward to in this hobby myself. I've always had snakes growing up and I just wanted to take it a step farther and be able to learn how and produce some of the morphs I like. Instead of just dropping $2000 on a morph and getting it tommorrow. I see more enjoyment and value myself of making that morph myself that I want reguardless of what it's worth in 3 years. I'm not and never will be in this hobby just for the money. Nothing against those who are. I wish them the best and hope they do well
Something though I could never put a price tag on and the ecomony will never change would be some of the awesome folks on here and off here I have met while getting more into this hobby To me their friendship is more valuable then any snake I'll ever produce

agreeded.... somewhat

I started off this hobby back in '91 .... and it didnt take long for it to grow into an obsession. The first time I saw an albino BP it was going for around 30k .... at that time I knew I had to get one. Well I finally got my albino last year.

My life pretty much revolves around my obsession... lord knows its cost me a relationship or two..... but for me... it just made since to try and make a living doing something I love. Im not to the point I can quit my day job.... but one day I will be... and then I'll be happy.

Even though Im starting to breed to make a living... I will always have snakes that will just be pets... primarily my 'hots' and a few local species.

Even though Im running my hobby as a business.... it is still a hobby to me... and something I dearly enjoy. I cherish the day I can walk away from work and deal with my animals on a full time basis.

Even the cage cleaning doesnt bother me.... but then again... Im not producing the quanity that Rich and Kathy are either

Originally Posted by Southern Wolf

With that being said... I try to focus on what I think will sell in 3 years... this is just a guessing game. What may be hot this year... may not 3 years down the when the babies finally grow up.

I pay no attention to the "future" market at all when I decide what I am going to breed each year. I simply keep and breed what I am into, always trying to create that "perfect specimen" for my personal collection. Like this that I created this year. I wish you could see her in person, my camera work just plain blows.



Or this.



I will never own or breed an animal if I personally aint into that species or morph. I dont care what the market is demanding. It just aint why I breed.

Originally Posted by shrap

I pay no attention to the "future" market at all when I decide what I am going to breed each year. I simply keep and breed what I am into, always trying to create that "perfect specimen" for my personal collection. Like this that I created this year. I wish you could see her in person, my camera work just plain blows.


I will never own or breed an animal if I personally aint into that species or morph. I dont care what the market is demanding. It just aint why I breed.

Thats the way to be sammy! ^_^

Here, let me help you out though eh?

That is quality. and this girl, was part of the same clutch as the girl sammy just posted Thats what happens when you are SELECTIVE!

I totally agree, Sammy. Some of the favorite snakes in my collection are the bullsnakes - I breed them because I like to...if I sell the babies, great. Given my admitted approach to this, I often carry some over into the next year. If I have too many left in the spring, I don't breed certain things. This year, I will probably be carrying 30+ babies into the spring (unless I decide to start advertising them again, lol) - that's fine - I'll do some breedings to get me closer to some animals I want to see here...things I might not mess with if I was concerned with making the sales.
At $25 - $100 each for the bulls I produce, they aren't paying the bills - they're just great snakes!

That is quality. and this girl, was part of the same clutch as the girl sammy just posted Thats what happens when you are SELECTIVE

What beautiful babies... serves a great point!

The thing is that for some individuals breeding snakes has become a significant portion of their overall budget. Choosing the right animal genetics and its future market value might be the difference for them between being sustainable in the long run or not.

Best!

I understand what you are saying, Dan, and those people DO have to be aware of market trends and the economy. The fact that relatively few people are in a position to spend $1500-2500 on a baby snake is overshadowed by the fact that the market activity of the past few years makes them nervous about doing it.

`(I went off on a huge tangent here, and deleted it all before posting)

If someone had told me 10-15 yrs ago that I would make $X in 2008 selling snakes, I would have thought they were nuts...it just wasn't where my focus was. I hope to produce more (quantity and variety) next year, so I naturally hope to make proportionally more money. I don't rely on my reptile income...but I hope one day that it will be enough to allow me to change my current work habits without detrimentally affecting my income/lifestyle. I don't WANT to try to support myself this way...it would put an entirely different spin things. Sales would necessarily become a greater priority, and I wouldn't be able to to take the same attitude I have now. This is a hobby for me. I do it because I enjoy it...but I don't want to count on sales to sustain my lifestyle - period. (like I said before, I'm just not wired that way).

Originally Posted by hhmoore

but I hope one day that it will be enough to allow me to change my current work habits without detrimentally affecting my income/lifestyle. I don't WANT to try to support myself this way...it would put an entirely different spin things. Sales would necessarily become a greater priority, and I wouldn't be able to to take the same attitude I have now. This is a hobby for me. I do it because I enjoy it...but I don't want to count on sales to sustain my lifestyle - period. (like I said before, I'm just not wired that way).

We share similar perspectives there.

Best