Overpriced pythons in Western Australia...

[Adder6]

Originally Posted by spilota_variegata

O.K. here's a stupid question about to be asked, please forgive my ignorance. Why is it that snakes in W.A. are so highly priced when many are wild caught? It seems to me that if you catch them, you get them for free, therefore the prices should be lower. Sure there are fees, permits etc., but there isn't the initial purchase price. I've often wondered this and I'm sure there is a valid reason.

Aside from the supply and demand question, the fee structure in WA is unlike any you will conter in the East. Ifyou want to keep venomous snakes, it's $300pa. You get a recution if you pay in advance, so three years is $650. A "farmer"'s licence applies if you breed and sell two clutches/litters in any one years, and it costs $1,00pa. Sounds like a disincentive to breed to me... A taker's licence is $1,000pa. And wait for it, if you want to sell a reptile, you'll need a separate licence for that - $1,200pa for the top category (eg death adders, olive python) etc. All these fees, and there is a fairly restricted list of approved reptiles as well. No water pythons, no pygymy pythons, not rough-scaled pythons, etc.

Add all this together, and it's no wonder reptiles are the price they are. Over time, icreased supply might bring the prices down a little, but I doubt we'll ever see prices as low as they are in most other States, especially if there is a financial impost on breeding.

The system has now been in place for five years, and I suspect it may be reviewed at some point, so there is hope of ironing out some of the flaws. (Just thought I'd end on a positive note!!).

S

[Jen]

Originally Posted by rickyrat

its simple,phone ken at the reptile trader at rockingham on 95272245,and he will give you all the info you need.despite all the talk he is a great guy,and a better sales person so be warned.

Cheers, i'm actually in rocky, so i might try and make an appointment to see him.

[bigi]

sounds like with all those licences and permits it will probably keep snake numbers down for some time, and more expensive

[spilota_variegata]

Originally Posted by Adder6

A taker's licence is $1,000pa. And wait for it, if you want to sell a reptile, you'll need a separate licence for that - $1,200pa for the top category (eg death adders, olive python) etc. All these fees, and there is a fairly restricted list of approved reptiles as well. No water pythons, no pygymy pythons, not rough-scaled pythons, etc.

O.K., a taker's license is $1000, and a license to sell is $1200. You catch and sell 2 BHPs and your ahead by $800. You catch a few womas, BHPs, death adders, olive pythons and your rolling in the money like a pig in - well you know what.

Anyone breeding snake would have had to fork out the equivalent or more just to get two snakes that might not breed at all.

Good points Adder but it still perplexes me, the cost of W.A. reptiles. I'm sure if you're running as a business, these costs would be put down to the cost of running the business - in which case you could write the original license costs off to tax.

[beeman]

Originally Posted by spilota_variegata

O.K., a taker's license is $1000, and a license to sell is $1200. You catch and sell 2 BHPs and your ahead by $800. You catch a few womas, BHPs, death adders, olive pythons and your rolling in the money like a pig in - well you know what.

Anyone breeding snake would have had to fork out the equivalent or more just to get two snakes that might not breed at all.

Good points Adder but it still perplexes me, the cost of W.A. reptiles. I'm sure if you're running as a business, these costs would be put down to the cost of running the business - in which case you could write the original license costs off to tax.

You havent made an allowance for the royalty payments for each animal caught, and for the vast amount of travel these guys put into thier collecting of the animals. One of the collectors that i use travels from the south end of WA to the pilbara region to collect animals
and i dont begrudge them the prices that they charge

[spilota_variegata]

Originally Posted by beeman

You havent made an allowance for the royalty payments for each animal caught, and for the vast amount of travel these guys put into thier collecting of the animals. One of the collectors that i use travels from the south end of WA to the pilbara region to collect animals
and i dont begrudge them the prices that they charge

Very true and valid. I'm only fielding answers to a question that has been in my mind for a while. I have no idea whatsoever what costs are involved. If I were in a similar situation, I'd regard snake collecting expeditions as holidays - holidays that appear (IMO) to have favourable financial benefits.

I think it's a bit of the grass is always green syndrome. If I were in W.A., I'd be out catching snakes right now

[beeman]

Originally Posted by spilota_variegata

Very true and valid. I'm only fielding answers to a question that has been in my mind for a while. I have no idea whatsoever what costs are involved. If I were in a similar situation, I'd regard snake collecting expeditions as holidays - holidays that appear (IMO) to have favourable financial benefits.

I think it's a bit of the grass is always green syndrome. If I were in W.A., I'd be out catching snakes right now

Thats OK
I just get a little cranky when people start to belly ache about what these reps
cost with out knowing what goes into the gathering of them.

[PilbaraPythons]

I can not speak for all W.A Dealers, collectors etc out there, but I can offer some insight into our own situation that reflects why we charge what we do.
To collect say one woma python for example, it may take many, many nights of hunting (we spend an average nightly time looking for reptiles of 8 hours) without a guarantee of success.
As petrol is so expensive, our fuel bills are absolutely enormous.
As time goes in a business point of view, there has to be an hourly rate factored in as every hour spent searching is one lost hour working for somebody else for a living.
Then we have huge power bills because not only do we have to run multiple air conditioners continuously, we also have to have adequate heating (average power bill $1200 every two months).
Then we have ( and again ) large amounts of time treating subjects for parasites and then the regular chores like cleaning, feeding etc. on top of this we have to pay collection fees on each individual reptile. Then there is the enormous amount of paper work (and again large amounts of time). We have to record all details about each specimen e.g. date of capture, G P S coordinates, property address, property owner, weight, length, sex, and condition. These newly captured reptiles then are held under quarantine for close to a month and then transferred to another licence and similar paper work details apply.
In a given three year period and without counting labour, we have forked out about $110,000 in direct reptile related expenses. We have not yet broken even, but expect to do so eventually as the captive breeding program eventually replaces the expensive tasks of wild collecting.
As for the question of why a wild caught reptile might command a higher price tag compared to a captive bred specimen, Many people (in some cases myself included ) actually prefer a wild caught over a captive bred specimen and this is just one reason why we do not sell most wild caught specimens any cheaper.
All of the licensed collectors in W.A that I know really do struggle to make ends meet.
I am at least lucky in the sense that I can always participate in my given trade which I am regularly forced to do so.
Occasionally we read threads on various forums on the huge profits reptile collectors must be making over here but how far from the truth that really is.
This is not a whinge, as we fully knew what we were getting into and genuinely do love our life style.

Cheers Dave

[spilota_variegata]

Thanks for the info Dave, you've cleared up a lot of my questions. I'm watching life in cold blood at the moment so I'll keep this brief....

[simonchristie]

Originally Posted by PilbaraPythons

You can buy womas in W.A for $1500.
We have been selling womas in W.A for that price and also the Reptile trader of late.

Cheers Dave

do you sell your bred womas at that price? as im looking at buying one after january and the bred snakes on your website are pretty awesome

[PilbaraPythons]

Yes we have been selling captive bred womas at $1500 a piece but have very few left. Although on my site they are listed as $2500, it is just because I just haven't got around to changing the information.

Cheers Dave