Is the hobby on a downward spiral?

[Wookie]

thats great and all for us keepers who cant afford to fork out thousands but it also allows any tom dick and harry to buy a cheap pair and have a crack at breeding which then means there are snakes that cant be sold. I'm pretty sure someone who buys a cheap pair to try and breed and makes money rather then for the love of the animals is going to properly care for 10-20 snakes he/she cant sell. With the positives comes many negatives

But the lower profit margins might deter the hordes of people who buy a pair in an attempt to breed and earn some quick cash. No?

 

[Wookie]

Next year I was planning on breeding a pair of real blonde spottes and 2 pair of womas but I now have the mind set that there will be 1000'sbof each for sale so I just won't pair them up. It is a pitty because it was going to be my first year of breeding and I would love to learn that side of rep keeping but I can not afford to look after that many young if I can not sell them. So I am one first time breeder who has been put off the thought of breeding due to the current climate of snakes

Dude, breed one pair?

 

[dottyback]

Water rat, totally applicable to this subject, a thread started 5 months ago!
The hobby is not having a ‘down hill spiral’ but prices of reptiles are!



http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/herp-help-38/green-pythons-pricing-advice-139888/

 

[Laghairt]

Funny isn't it dottyback, prices of GTPs are even lower than those reported in that thread. I was offered a GTP hatchling for under $1000 yesterday and that seems to be around the going price at the moment. I knew it would get to this point eventually but wasn't expecting for it to happen so quickly.

 

[CodeRed]

Some GTP hatchies went for $700 each a couple of weeks back from a well known breeder.

 

[turtle_alex]

i think that the hobby is not on a downward spiral, more of a plateau. 10 years earlier and there were only a small number of people keeping reptiles and prices were very expensive, as years went on people would breed and there would be a greater number of reptiles which equals more keepers....the greater the number of reptiles the lower the price and more people obtaining such animals.

i think yes the price drop in reptiles in the last 5yrs would of hurt breeders, and people in the hobby to loose money in there investments, but would help in greater numbers of keepers or future keepers in the hobby.

i think the future of reptile keeping really depends on government laws and $$$
for this hobby to go further there has to be more of exciting times ahead, i know myself when i see a significant colour change in an animal, i think wow i would like one of those, and then so the obsession of owning such an animal begins

a hobby to me is doing something that you enjoy and when you start slaping government law and more $$$ on it to me it doesnt stay a hobby, but more of an industry. so i think price drops to a certain extent and new and exciting morphs are a good thing to keep people interested
anyway thats my 2 bob
cya

 

[Slateman]

Why people think that hobby is on spiral downward because reptiles are more affordable. I just wander. There is more people in the hobby now then ewer. We just will see in the future that some big breading stations operating as business will stop operating due profit decrease. Our hobby will be again hobby and not industry.

 

[Danish]

The hobby will never die,there will always be true enthusiast who do it pure
for the love of herps and dont give a s@#$ bout how much money they make or what there herps owe or cost them.
The people in herps to make a millon will die off
and move on to there next money making venture,
good luck to them!!!!!!!!

 

[Colin]

A lot of the comments in the thread seem to be concerned with prices coming down and people not being able to sell their animals. personally I dont think the hobbies in that bad of shape.. theres more people keeping reptiles, more people becoming interested in them and thats a good thing in my opinion.

I like to breed animals because it interests me, its fun and I enjoy seeing the results, colours, patterns etc. Im always aiming to try to produce better animals than I did the year before.. Its always good to be able to sell some and recoup money spent and offset against expenses etc but if you cant get the same prices as you did a few years ago well thats life..

If animals are harder to sell.. breed less numbers of give a few away to friends, good customers or some kids you might know that are starting out to give them a helping hand..

Enjoy your animals and the pleasure they bring you..

 

[Waterrat]

Why people think that hobby is on spiral downward because reptiles are more affordable. I just wander.

Not because reptiles are more affordable, because too many are being produced and this trend seems to continue. Where are they all going to end up?

 

[cockney red]

No

 

[snakescene]

I breed snakes and rats and cannot keep up with the food demand. Up here in Qld, don't have any trouble moving on hatchlings or rodents.

 

[Wild~Touch]

A lot of the comments in the thread seem to be concerned with prices coming down and people not being able to sell their animals. personally I dont think the hobbies in that bad of shape.. theres more people keeping reptiles, more people becoming interested in them and thats a good thing in my opinion.

I like to breed animals because it interests me, its fun and I enjoy seeing the results, colours, patterns etc. Im always aiming to try to produce better animals than I did the year before.. Its always good to be able to sell some and recoup money spent and offset against expenses etc but if you cant get the same prices as you did a few years ago well thats life..

If animals are harder to sell.. breed less numbers of give a few away to friends, good customers or some kids you might know that are starting out to give them a helping hand..

Enjoy your animals and the pleasure they bring you..

Well said & my thoughts also
Cheers
Sandee

 

[Slateman]

Simple.
Animals will be sold for cheaper price and when that comes to point that breading for business will be not profitable, big guys will stop and hobby will be again hobby. Not industry.

 

[chase77]

i've only just got into herps, and have only 1 stimson (with another couple of snakes and lizards to come). I have however 'helped' the industry cause i have spent hundreds on books, food, hygene products, heat matts, lights, thermostats etc etc. I would not have got into snakes had the prices of reptiles not been so resonable/cheap. More people will come to the hobby if we promote the positives. So back to the topic question. Is the hobby in a downward spiral, probably not, people will still want to own snakes, and even the guys out there who wont breed now will still be hobbyists, cause your not going to give them all up.

Chase.

 

[mattmc]

The demise of the hobby will not come from the price of the snake and the mass productions of the snake (snake being a general term for reptile in this instance) but however, The ever rising price of neccesities in life:
electricity
water
gas
fuel
food
taxes
oxygen

I for one have not bought that monitor lizard I have been wanting for a while because I cannot afford the electricity required (let alone the food)

Now I'm sure there is a thousand people in the hobby that are rich enough to not even take a second glance at the prices of neccesities, so good for you guys, but 'Tom, Dick and Harry' will slip and slide out when the wake of life overcomes the reality of a hobby. And I'm sure there will be some of you who say that what I just said contradicts my original statement, and yeh, it does, but average Joe will say good day to face reality.

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

You know I was actually thinking about this particular topic the other day, I blame it on the rising prices of electricity bills, taxes and other expenses - everybody is so busy trying to pay off mortgages already - but they have all these added things getting even more expensive, how are they supposed to afford to continue with the hobby?
Hell, it's up to $1800 a year in energy alone now, and it keeps getting higher! before we know it most people will be homeless and simply having a refridgerator would be considered a high privelage.
This is just my personal theory. It's sad that the world is shooting itself in the foot like this, maybe one day we'll have some politicians who actually give a crap about the average Australian family.

 

[Wild~Touch]

It's not the hobby spiralling downward, it's the morale of some of the people involved

Look on the positives and build on that

Come on Aussie, come on

 

[Elapidae1]

If people love their hobby that much they will find away to indulge it. If you cant afford everything you want choose a favourite and enjoy keeping it. Electricity to high look for alternative heating. If you still can't afford then maybe volunteer somewhere if that's not possible go bushwalking. People with enough passion in any hobby will find a way to indulge in it and for that reason it will always be alive and well at some level and in someones life even if other individuals are getting out of it what they expected.

 

[baxtor]

Hell, it's up to $1800 a year in energy alone now, and it keeps getting higher!

I would think it was christmas if $1800 covered my power bill for a whole year.