Michael Hicks

An adult male albino Texas Ratsnake was recently wild caught here in central Texas. Looks very different from the strain currently available. Mean as heck, so based on these two facts, and the good reputation of the person who field collected the snake, I believe it is as advertised. I have been negotiating for the snake, with the intention of starting a locality specific strain if I can acquire it. My question is, what do some of you think a fair value for the specimen would be? Based on what I think you could easily sell babies for ($30 to $40 a pair for Hets, maybe $50 to $75 for albinos) I offered him $200 for the specimen. Am I too low? Don't want to lowball the collector, but I don't think demand is going to be that great, there will be people who prefer to keep only locality stock (like myself) who will be interested. Captive born will be calmer if worked with, but they will never have the pet potential of a corn snake. He countered asking $400, don't believe I could go that high. I suggested he put it on Facebook, maybe even an auction page, but he doesn't want to do that. So , what would YOU pay for the specimen?😁