• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Something to think about in the future of reptiles

Here's my take on things...

I've owned a Ball Python for almost six years. I decided that since I love Ball Pythons, I might as well make a little cash too. I did the whole business thing -- buy low, sell at a profit if needed. Within a few months, I'd recouped my original investment and was working on pure profit. The animals, racks, and miscellaneous supplies were basically free. This was good.

The problem started slowly, eating away at my heart until I couldn't take it anymore. Everywhere I looked I saw more and more money, greed, jealousy, and lies. Scammers were filling the boards left and right. The corruption was overwhelming. I felt like I wanted to scream at everyone in the Ball Python world. (Okay. Not everyone. I know several kind breeders.)

The point is...my personality doesn't mesh well with the Ball Python market. I value honesty and kindness. I like to indulge myself in positive vibes. I enjoy the simple things like watching a leaf blow in the wind or chasing minnows through a shallow pond. I try to avoid anyone or anything that could jade my childlike wonder of this world.

The Ball Python market started to jade me. I felt it coming for some time. I tried giving away animals for free in order to help me focus more on the truth. And the truth is...snakes are beautiful and graceful. They are mysterious and wonderful. And I had started to forget.

I left the Ball Python world in favor of snakes that wouldn't blind me to the truth. I chose a species that was fun and affordable, colorful and common. I chose Cornsnakes. And in the very moment that I made the decision, I felt an immense weight lifted from my shoulders. I could breathe again. And I haven't stopped smiling since! =)

I guess the point I'm trying to make is this:

The Ball Python world does revolve around money. No matter what anyone says about their personal motives, money is a big factor. And money is not a bad thing. Money is paper and ink. Money has no motives. It is only when our interest in money begins to outweigh our interest in the animals themselves...


Chris
 
Well said Chris, but I think there are many many good people working with ball pythons just like there are working with other animals. Many of the "just for money" guys will fade away as it gets harder and harder for them to sell their animals and fewer and fewer people want to talk to them about their classifieds and posts. You guys should all read RDR's current journal post about the ball market.
 
I agree. There are many good people working with ball Pythons. And I've had the pleasure of doing business with a number of them. It just seems that the number of bad people is increasing daily and starting to outweigh the number of good people.

I hope this changes soon.


Chris
 
My view from a little guy new to the hobby. I have not bred my ball pythons yet at this point but am watching the market with curiousity. Like Chris said anyone buying ball python morphs are in it for the money. They may like the morphs as well but I guarantee you will be breeding them to recoup the costs they put on purchasing them. Ralph talks about all these people breeding high dollar snakes and low balling the market. True but who sold them these snakes to begin with? I think the big names have done very well for themselves and will continue to do so. To complain about small breeders crashing the market maybe true but someone had to produce all these snakes for all these small breeders to acquire and I am pretty sure those people are sitting pretty well right now. It seems to me to be bitter sweet. Breeders want to sell their snakes for high costs but don't want others to breed them. Unfortunately those who pay the high costs aren't getting them to look at and are breeding the co dom males like mad to as many females as they can put them on so they can pay off their loans. In my opinion the ball python market was a created bubble and it is just starting to burst. Kind of like how technology stocks were, overpriced yet everyone wanted in on the action and many paid dearly. Personally I like the ball python morphs but at this point won't spend thousands for one snake. I will spend hundreds and and take my time. So I won't make 800 hundred with a pastel male. That's ok I will enjoy the breeding, hatching etc... aspect and hope I can make a little to continue my obsession. I do agree with Ralph if you want to make it work you have to spend a lot of time and produce quality animals, but I also think it was the little breeder that helped make it possible for Ralph and the others. Now one just needs to be patient and see how far the bottom is going to drop. Those that didn't dump their life savings into balls will be fine and we will see some pay dearly. I think the rest will take care of itself. It is a fad for many but I don't think they are going to go the way of the beanie babies completely.
 
Regarding the recent views of Ralph Davis...

I agree with most of what he says. Breeders shouldn't be so impatient to sell the young hatchlings. But impatience isn't the only factor in low pricing. I know several breeders who sell animals at lower than market prices because they personally don't believe the specific morph is worth the higher price. I, myself, normally base pricing on what I need at the moment versus what the market dictates as the standard value. For instance, if I have an animal market valued at $2000, but I want to sell it in order to fund a purchase of $1500, then my own PERSONAL value (as opposed to MARKET value) is only $1500 which is $500 less than market value. (Did that sound confusing?) If I need $2500 to fund a purchase, I may advertise the animal at $2500 cash. Please note...I am by no means asserting that my personal method of establishing value is superior. I am only stating that low pricing is not ALWAYS due to breeder impatience.

One thing that bothers me is the constant complaining about low market pricing. Day after day, I read threads complaining about smaller breeders advertising below market prices. The posts seem almost visciously opposed to any price that falls below the accepted normal market price. While this bickering in and of itself is not bothersome, it is the absolute hypocracy in the complaint that drives me mad. The same breeders who complain night and day about below market pricing are also the ones who stalk the classifieds every fifteen minutes for that once-in-a-lifetime awesome deal. I say that if a person is so adamant that no sale falls below current market price, then that person should also refuse to pay less than full market price. In other words, if I have an Albino male advertised at $1000 cash and the established market price is $2000, then that same complaining breeder better insist that I take an additional $1000 cash. If the person does NOT insist on paying full price, then that person is flirting with hypocracy. And I would wager that not many breeders would insist on paying an additional $1000 for any morph.

To sum up: I don't care if someone wants to sell below market price. They have their reasons, and impatience is not always the reason. And if someone wants to complain about below market prices, they had better have the strength of conviction to PAY full market price...every time.

I'm rambling again...


Chris
 
Market price, by it's very definition, is what the market will bear. It's not what Ralph or anyone else thinks something is "worth", it's what people will pay. And not after waiting six to twelve months, but in a reasonable time.

If there are six hatchlings in a clutch and the seller wants to sell them all, he may not want to (or be able to) wait a year to get what someone else thinks he should get for the first one. He needs to price them so that they all sell in a month or two or three. And that is why these "small breeders" price lower. They don't have a million dollar collection like some breeders do. They may need the money to fund their ongoing projects, or just want to cash out. So their price actually is the market price, which is, as we all know, the point at which supply equals demand, where one can sell all that one desires to sell. It's simple ecomonics.
 
Back
Top