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Ball Pythons, WTF?

Well, honestly I do think a few of the ball python morphs are rather attractive, but I did have ball pythons years ago, and to be perfectly blunt about it, they are just plain assed BORING. At least mine were. The only time I ever saw them was when they launched their head out of the hide box to grab a mouse, or I cleaned the cage and they had to come out. Maybe some of them do have personalities, but the ones I had could have just as easily been replaced by pet rocks.
 
Lol Rich. I think they are great looking snakes. My post is only relevant to the price gap and their (seemingly prevalence in the market). I think boring is okay, means I have someone to watch movies with without fear of them running off ;p
 
Rich Z said:
Well, honestly I do think a few of the ball python morphs are rather attractive, but I did have ball pythons years ago, and to be perfectly blunt about it, they are just plain assed BORING. At least mine were. The only time I ever saw them was when they launched their head out of the hide box to grab a mouse, or I cleaned the cage and they had to come out. Maybe some of them do have personalities, but the ones I had could have just as easily been replaced by pet rocks.
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Hahahhahah! They are pretty much lumps that poop, but not always. I like the low-key nature of ball pythons. It's nice break here and there from other species that are more "zoomie." However, I've got a good number that really inquisitive about what is going on. Open the tub and out they come to have to have a look around.

I believe it has something to do with more of them being captive produced than farmed. I can often tell the difference between a farmed baby and state-side captive born and breed baby based on how they react to handling. The personalities are very different and the ones than have been around people for several generations seems more active and outgoing. That is pure speculation, but it seems to be pretty consistent.
 
I haven't owned a ball python, but I love holding them at expos. I like how chunky they are and how they're so calm. I'm not a huge fan of the normal coloration, but I love bumblebees!
 
nicklandovich said:
Lol Rich. I think they are great looking snakes. My post is only relevant to the price gap and their (seemingly prevalence in the market). I think boring is okay, means I have someone to watch movies with without fear of them running off ;p
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The price tends to reflect the work that goes into breeding them. No 2-3 months off for brumation like the colubrid folks get. It's almost a full year round deal with ball pythons for an average of 6 eggs per clutch.

Here's a really neat chart by J. Kobylka Reptiles, the breeding schedule: http://jkobylkareptiles.com/pdfs/Breeding_Schedule_Doc.pdf

The cost of heating, feeding, and keeping a ball python collection healthy is a bit higher. Temps have to be kept hotter, 90 for a basking spot, 80's ambient and cool side, versus an 85 degree hot spot, and 70's on the cool. Food is bigger, rats weekly instead of mice on a 10-14 day schedule. So with all extra back end expense, paying $75 and up for morphs does not seem so bad. There are plenty of cool ball pythons out there for under $200.
 
nicklandovich said:
Thanks Autumn, this insight makes it more understandable for sure.
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No worries at all man. A lot of people don't see the back end costs it takes to maintain a collection and keep it properly. We try to recoup a little, or at least break even with the babies produced.
 
captainjack0000 said:
DSCF0746-01.jpg


This is from Daytona a couple of years back in 2011. Yes, that says $60,000.
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Maybe that's a nice way of saying "Not for Sale" or "Stay Tuned: Up & Coming", but then the vendor keeps having to answer the question "How much would you take for that BP?" or people keep making offers, so perhaps slapping a big sticker price on it will get that snake photographed and popularized a lot, or lead more people into ball pythons or something. Hard to say for sure, but then if you haven't had the experience of being on the other side of a vendor table at a show, well, it's just one of those things you need to experience a few times. A few years ago at Tinley a fellow had some black eyed blue ball pythons, Pewters I think he called them, something along the lines of a light blue dilute cornsnake translated to a BP, with a sticker price off the planet. Another breeder had what I think were the first pin-stripes for an even higher asking price.

Guess I should have read the whole thread before replying to the first post, I see Autumn already covered most of that. As with anything, be it a dishwasher or auto or the latest morph of budgie or BP, the newest & latest models usually fetch the most dollars when rarity is perceived. Kinda like those Purple Princess Beanie Babies that were $600.-
 
As others have said smaller clutches make it harder to hit the target morph. I'm Hoping to make cinnamon pieds but its only a 1 in 4 chance so out of six egg I might get one. Ball pythons eat more food so the price to produce them is more. Therefore is passed along to the buyer.
 
Nothing wrong with BP's !!!

Heck, I own one myself!! ;).

I guess it just like anything else in the world....

There's the cheapo version.... Then there's the "top of the line" version.

All depends on what ya wanna pay!
 
I love our Pinstripe, Bugsy. They have such a unique personalities. I see bps more of a greenish yellow and white. Now sure where everyone says they are brown.
 
I was relating it to more if the standard car on the planet was a pinto and the next model up the ladder is a Ferrari. Just looking for more of a middle ground.
 
There *is* middle ground. Quite a few morphs are well under $200. Let's call those the family sedan that gets passed down to the kid when they graduate high school. Then, there's a few more under $500. Those can be like a Mustang. $1000 and under would be the Lexus family. Anything higher than that can be your Ferraris, Lambos, etc.
 
rich333 said:
Just a few more years..... And it will back into the corns favor!!

Every month I go to the Columbus reptile show.

3/4 of the floor is ball pythons. Oddly enough.... They all pretty much look the same.

Then you see the one that is in fact..."different",

Problem is.... You could buy a 2013 vette cheaper!! ; ).


In Daytona last year.... I took a pic of a ball python that had a price tag

Of $40,000. And I suspect, there are more expensive ones out there!
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Haha this pretty much every expo I have been to, you summed it up perfectly with how many tables have BP's and they all look exactly the same.
Lol, I would take the new vette over the rarest ball python or any snake for that matter
 
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I really love the corn snakes for their variations and semi-easy accessibility. The BP will be my 3rd snake and I prefer the standards to most the fancy morphs. The grey/black bps are nice but IMHO, corn snake morphs > bp morphs
 
RobbiesCornField said:
There *is* middle ground. Quite a few morphs are well under $200. Let's call those the family sedan that gets passed down to the kid when they graduate high school. Then, there's a few more under $500. Those can be like a Mustang. $1000 and under would be the Lexus family. Anything higher than that can be your Ferraris, Lambos, etc.
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That is really spot on. There is a ton of middle ground with them. So many are under $200 and really really nice ones for $100, just like corn snakes, then you scale up from there. Not every ball python is $1,000.

If you can pay to play, there is money in ball pythons. I paid for a large portion of my house with ball python sales in 2012. It's not for the faint of heart though, lots of gambling to be done, but the payoff is huge when it happens.
 
BloodyBaroness said:
That is really spot on. There is a ton of middle ground with them. So many are under $200 and really really nice ones for $100, just like corn snakes, then you scale up from there. Not every ball python is $1,000.

If you can pay to play, there is money in ball pythons. I paid for a large portion of my house with ball python sales in 2012. It's not for the faint of heart though, lots of gambling to be done, but the payoff is huge when it happens.
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I second that you have to pay to play. I know I have invested a lot and got some good deals and just lucked out. I made a gamble and hopefully it will pan out. I have a lot of breedings with bps that will range from 200$ to 600$ offspring and then the more expensive morphs Ill have to hold back to make the 2k to 4k animals in a few years. I just don't see the corn market recovering fast since things are selling so cheep nowadays and I have decided to shift to a more stable market that can help support my hobby. My BP breedings will actually support my cornsnakes. 500$ every three months for food is hard to get out of cornsnakes sales at 20$ to 50$ a snake. But in saying that Ill always breed corns. Its just as exciting to see 15 heads pip as one really expensive BP pip.
 
Y'all just don't get it!!!

I got started on corns, but ball pythons have my heart. They're more expensive to start, but you can sell them for more.

BloodyBaroness has covered pretty much everything I wanted to say! You have to breed ball pythons to know ball pythons.
 
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