Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[rachel132002]

Just thinking as i like some have recently decided to take the plunge into royal morphs and however the market goes won't affect me as such because yeah to make some money off them would be awesome but i keep these because i love them too and if the market crashed tomorrow i wouldn't give up my royals but anyways.

Recently just around and on US forums etc you see prices for royals have been noticeably slashed and a lot of people are buying into royals but also a LOT seem to selling up and moving away in favour of other snakes.

Also comments have been made here and there on both sides saying that the boat has left and it's now too late for anyone joining the ball game to succeed and make anything from it while others are saying that there is still time if it's done right because a lot of people are jumping on board but falling back off because they're seein instant $£ signs which isn't the case.

I pride myself in keeping my snakes to the best possible standards and won't power feed or rush them to get them up to breeding size faster and all are kept in clean sterile envrionments alone and are only paired up when i want them to breed. Also morphs i'm selective in what i buy so that the pastel i have has a few females to breed to that will lighten up the overall appearence of babies not just breedng him to any female just to make pastels as most i see around now are nasty grubby little things where people just wanted the quick cash as opposed to waiting, planning and holding out for that top end pastel to make that high class sale of £800 instead of £400.

Overall though with regards to a large amount of people buying into and selling up on royals and these price slashes which are ridiculous where do those of you who have established royal collections etc see the market going?

Is there still a chance for newcomers or is it too late?
Will the market sustain or has it had it's time and on the decline now?

What do people think?

Rachel
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20 Corns
30 Royals
3 BCI
2 BCC
2 JCP
2 Leos
1 Beardy
2 Cresties

[Scott W]

Hi Rachel,

I guess I'm a newbie where the royal morphs are concerned, as of January of this year I had NO royals at all but now,less than a year later it numbers 200'ish.

Do I think it's too late??? Well that depends...certainly too late for the £10K spider sale or the £15K lessers......but to me that's great...that's the reason I bought in now.

My entire collection has cost me less than I know other breeders have spent on just 3 snakes a few years back, have I 'scrimped' on quality?? NO....I have direct bloodlines from Noah via Darren @ CPR, Nerd, Graziani & MarkusJayne....all top rated breeders.

People are thinking the market has crashed on ball pythons...well that's just crazy...it hasn't crashed...it's just dropped to a lower level...the plus side is that more people can now afford these stunning morphs.

Realistically anyone spending over £500 on a snake will want to breed it & recoup some money but under £500 and people are happy to buy ONE snake as a stunning living piece of art, a beautiful pet. This is when you will see the market under supplied....price will stabilize. Just think of how many people would buy a pied at £500

As for the people who has sold up and changed into something else...well a lot of those people probably never stuck at anything for long
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[SteveL]

i think that there will always be plenty of people who buy balls ..
im personally not into them they are well over priced right now imho but for the coming season i can see huge price drops on all morphs .
but aint it a gamble we take buying expensive snakes ,i for one like taking risks doing what i love looking after my snakes if i get just one hatchling i will be pleased..200 balls scott lmao i hope you got room for all there hatchlings in future
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[rachel132002]

Hmmm well Scott lol we're gonna hafta meet up one day i chat to you briefly at shows and i live probably 20mins from you i'd guess. I got my morphs through CPR and hopefully more shall come from Darren next year but finances are never great when you're 18, at college and skrimping every last penny but hey ho not many 18yr olds have what i do so i aint knockin it!

Hopefully i'll end up with some killer animals and eventually have a lot of my visuals and co doms het for something too which will add value but i guess we'll see how it all pans out.

Hopefully the market will grow and i do wonder sometimes if all the pesimism that comes from the bigger royal keepers who often think they own the market and should be respected above all others only throw out the pesimism because they don't like thought of competition and same for those with large royal numbers who slate the newer keeprs is that because we achieve dreams they still haven't 10years down the line?

I just hope the market gorws and expands and eventually lets more people in as some would LOVE an albino royal just to look at if nothing else but don't have the £1500 for one.

Rach
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20 Corns
30 Royals
3 BCI
2 BCC
2 JCP
2 Leos
1 Beardy
2 Cresties

[mark]

i agree im one of the people who want an albino royal but im not parting with that kind of money for one but prices are falling so before you know it they will not be so pricey
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boas and burms

[rachel132002]

Thing is co-doms will fall yes as they're easier to reproduce in large numbers but visual recessives will take longer to fall due to having hets and needing a bit more investment for visuals.

Rachel
_________________
20 Corns
30 Royals
3 BCI
2 BCC
2 JCP
2 Leos
1 Beardy
2 Cresties

[mike h]

Unless there is hundreds of albinos tucked away at places like NERD waiting to flood the market, i would be surprised if they dropped below the £1000 mark in the next few years.
There are not many albinos about.
I could be wrong but there you go.
mike

[ballmorph]

[SteveL]

i think they will be below a grand next year if you know where to look
they cannot sustain the same price with so many people breeding them theres gonna be a drop like it or lump it but enjoy them even more ...but cheaper
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[mike h]

We will see.
I have just got the Tracy and david barker all about ball pythons DVD.
When you see albinos like that they are (in my opinion) worth every penny of current prices.