• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Reasonable pricing question, how much to pay?

Q

queensrook

Lurking Learner
Let me know if this is inappropriate to ask here, it seemed the most likely place to put it.

I have a question regarding pricing for corn snake sales. Pretty much every 'infofact' blog/video/etc I see says that Corns can be found for, like, $30-50 bucks and are super good starter snakes as a result. However, I feel like I've not seen prices lower than $75-$100 on any sale sites, and those were babies, very few in number, and usually already sold. I also feel like that price estimation never takes into account the shipping costs. It's difficult to gauge what is a good deal when you're expecting $50 and getting $200 plus $50 S&H, imo. Am I just not looking during the right time of year to find the good deals?

If one was looking for a yearling-to-adult aged, pet-quality snake of a relatively common morph, in good health and from a reputable captive-bred source, what would be reasonable pricing to be prepared to pay? How much did you spend on your Corns, and when/how did you obtain them?
 
I wouldn't count the cost of shipping into the 30-50 price. Shipping is just the cost of doing business and is sometimes needed. Just like the cost of the tank, heat mat, thermostat, bedding and hides aren't the cost of the snake.

Corns can be found for 30-50. I've even gotten ones for free. If you are shopping places like Craigslist just be aware the animal might have additional issues you may have to deal with. For the $30-50 range you are mostly looking at normals or single genes like amel or anery. Reptile shows are a good place to shop. There are also several people on this forum in your state that are breeders.
 
A couple of things: obviously price is very dependant on morph. If you're looking for a pretty common morph (normal, amel, anery, snow, and a few others), you can expect to pay under a hundred dollars before shipping. Shipping in the United States usually costs between 40 to 60 dollars. It is kind of pricey, unfortunately, but it can be avoided by buying locally. If you're not looking for a rare or multi gene morph, you can probably find someone selling one locally. You can check Craigslist, Facebook, as well as this site, faunaclassifieds.com, and morph market. If you use morph market, you can sort by location to hopefully find someone local. You can also go to local expos or reptile stores. As a last resort, you could possibly buy one from a big box pet store, but only if you're quite certain that their snakes are cared for properly. So I would ask about feeding records at the very least.

The second thing is that if you're willing to wait just a month or two, there are going to be a lot more babies available (and potentially yearlings as breeders clear out their last year's holdbacks). Corns usually breed in the spring or early summer, so babies are usually hatching in the summer or early fall.

If you decide to have one shipped, definitely check reviews of the seller before sending money. Morph market has a review system or if you don't see reviews there, there's a Facebook group for feedback or inquiries.
 
I will have some lower cost hatchlings this year as well as some retired breeders that I'd like to go to a good home. Feel free to hit me up to see what I've got once you're ready.

-Tonya
 
All the local pet stores in my area say their lowest prices are 150 (and all they usually get are 'fancy' Amels, no naturals or other morphs) - which is probably cheaper in areas where cornsnakes actually live naturally. I suppose it balances out - pay the store $150 and its just like you paid shipping costs on top of a cheaper snake price. Cost of living so far from the midwest, I guess, lol.

@Tonya not quite ready to go the distance, but I'll definitely keep you in mind! Can't wait to see all the baby noodle pics, even if I'd be looking for older to start with.
 
You're good! I've eggs in the incubator for about another month and the retired breeders are gaining back their pre-lay weight. Keep an eye on my website, available snakes will be listed there.

Enjoy!

-Tonya
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top