Price of Vens?

[Pandora Pythons]

I remember when I first started getting into elapids, I was told not so long ago you couldn't give them away. But recently after purchasing a few myself, I have found that even a Red Bellied Black is around the 2 to 300 dollar mark and just another one such as Colletts are in high demand and hard to obtain, therefore fetching a higher price tag.

So I'd like to hear your opinions....Do you think the demand and price for elapids will rise or decrease in the near future, even as far as reaching to the higher cost levels of some of our top-end pythons?

Cheers....

Wayne

 

[mcloughlin2]

I think there popularity has increased in recent years and with that the price has also. I can't see the price of them increasing to what pythons fetch as they are venomous and thus the demand is lower for them. I have heard of some albino elapids that some people have offered large amounts of money to obtain but the fact is that would be an initial price that the animals are probably never going to sell for as the number of die hard elapid keepers is quite small. I mean the average joe bloke can buy some albino darwins to make money with little risk but not many would be prepared to buy a potentially deadly snake.

 

[Bushfire]

I found this interesting as well. When I got my first elapids in 1996, I paid $20 for a pair of colletts and $40 for a pair of Western Browns. Another interesting trend is when a species becomes too cheap many people stop breeding them and after 5 or so years they become really hard to get. Ive been stuck a few times with different species where I couldnt move them. I think now days the price is reflective of the amount of newer people coming into the market, the industry has come along leaps and bounds in the last 10 or so years. As for future prices I think they have already hit their peak, they will plateau out and go through periods of varying popularity.

I never thought that prices would go sky rocketing till I saw the price of the black head form of the Pilbara Death Adders. But even this I think will drop as more breeders compete for the money.

 

[baxtor]

I remember when I first started getting into elapids, I was told not so long ago you couldn't give them away. But recently after purchasing a few myself, I have found that even a Red Bellied Black is around the 2 to 300 dollar mark and just another one such as Colletts are in high demand and hard to obtain, therefore fetching a higher price tag.

So I'd like to hear your opinions....Do you think the demand and price for elapids will rise or decrease in the near future, even as far as reaching to the higher cost levels of some of our top-end pythons?

Cheers....

Wayne

I don't think the prices will ever reach the pythons but I have found the supply side a bit "tight". I think that is due more to the available offspring being snapped up by other keepers familiar with and known to the breeder which leaves very little supply left for public sale.

 

[BlindSnake]

Just wondering, what would people pay for a captive bred Krefts Tiger snake. As I know of only one person that has them ATM, and I don't see anyone getting a take from the wild permit for them anytime soon.