The price of babies explained

[splashy07]

Every year I hear the question 'why are they so expensive'?
So let me explain. Breeders take an extreme risk every year as the breeding process is quite violent. One or both participants can be severely injured, crippled or even killed.
Babies are work. Especially for those of us who work full time. They eat a lot therefore go to the bathroom a lot. You need a lot of space so they do not pick at each other, and a lot of food. They go through bugs like crazy, and although I breed all my own feeders there are those who do not. Not everyone wants thousands of bugs in their house.
Caging is not cheap. And you need a lot of large cages if you don't choose to keep them in racks (which I don't)
Pairing does not always work. Therefore, you need more than one pair. Good bloodlines cost money. A lot of it. You have to add new blood if you choose not to line breed. (Which I don't)
Caring for large litters takes a lot of time if you care for them properly. They grow alarmingly fast and must be provided for if they do not sell right away.
And then there are the promised sales that are cancelled last minute, which is why I no longer keep a waiting list.
So next time you think we just hold our hands out for payment while you just go off with your pretty little lizard think
of what went into producing this wonderful little life.

[mb606587]

Well said. There is so much work behind the scenes that is put into raising these guys. You're forgetting the cost of replacing heat bulbs, UV bulbs, high electricity bills, backup heat generators for those of us prone to losing electric during the winter, and substrate changes. Also realize that the guy selling the skink for $200 at the expo or the pet shop has never quarantined his animals. They most likely don't know the subspecies or even the species of skink they are selling. And they surely don't know if the skink will even survive for 3 months without antibiotics and medication as these animals recently came from a shipping crate along with other sick and weak skinks that did not even survive the trip from New Guinea. Many are found dead on arrival, while the surviving skinks are sold, sometimes days later at your local expo. More often than not, paying an extra $100-$200 upfront for a captive bred and healthy skink from a reputable breeder is a wiser investment than purchasing a wild caught skink that may potentially cost that same amount of money if not more in vet bills with the added stress in nursing a sick animal back to health with daily injections and follow up vet visits.

[Herpin Man]

Supply and demand is a significant factor as well. There are other herp species that involve similar risk, effort, and expense that don't command high prices, simply because supply is higher and/or demand is lower. Or, to put it another way- if the supply of CB skinks were to grow rapidly over a short period of time, without a proportionate increase in demand, would they hold the prices they command now? Almost certainly, the price would drop.

[splashy07]

Of course it would, and those doing it for monetary gain would cease their operations. Look what happened with bearded dragons. Supply and demand is a factor in any type sale, being it animal or otherwise.

[Janella]

This was very well said! It does take alot to breed and raise well cared for skinks.

[ellbanger]

Supply and demand is a significant factor as well. There are other herp species that involve similar risk, effort, and expense that don't command high prices, simply because supply is higher and/or demand is lower. Or, to put it another way- if the supply of CB skinks were to grow rapidly over a short period of time, without a proportionate increase in demand, would they hold the prices they command now? Almost certainly, the price would drop.

Of course! That's why you can take your pick of Eastern babies here for absolutely nothing (lowest I've seen is $10, lots of ads around $30-$50) whereas they fetch much more in the US - they're so common, and kind of seen as a "meh" reptile to bother with. I mean, these things are in pretty much every suburban backyard on the eastern seaboard, they're hardly exciting or exotic Those prices are for CBB babies from licensed breeders/hobbyists, too - it's extremely illegal for us to collect them from the wild, and whilst it does happen, the vast majority of owners abide by the requirements of our license.

On the flip side, we can't get any Indo BTS species here on the pet market as importing them is illegal. Licensed zoos can, but it's a difficult and extremely strict process. We won't be making the cane toad mistake again

[kingofnobbys]

Supply and demand is a significant factor as well. There are other herp species that involve similar risk, effort, and expense that don't command high prices, simply because supply is higher and/or demand is lower. Or, to put it another way- if the supply of CB skinks were to grow rapidly over a short period of time, without a proportionate increase in demand, would they hold the prices they command now? Almost certainly, the price would drop.

Of course! That's why you can take your pick of Eastern babies here for absolutely nothing (lowest I've seen is $10, lots of ads around $30-$50) whereas they fetch much more in the US - they're so common, and kind of seen as a "meh" reptile to bother with. I mean, these things are in pretty much every suburban backyard on the eastern seaboard, they're hardly exciting or exotic Those prices are for CBB babies from licensed breeders/hobbyists, too - it's extremely illegal for us to collect them from the wild, and whilst it does happen, the vast majority of owners abide by the requirements of our license.

On the flip side, we can't get any Indo BTS species here on the pet market as importing them is illegal. Licensed zoos can, but it's a difficult and extremely strict process. We won't be making the cane toad mistake again

Which is why the big hobbyist breeders (only ever heard of one or two PROFESSIONAL breeders aka Snake Ranch) focus on the very hard to develop and rare morphs , that hence demand very high prices , set up is expensive , but the running costs are the same (I expect) as run of the mill common morphs , this is what makes their operation a money maker.

Unfortunately Snake Ranch had also been involved in reptile trafficking and it's owners are now in prison.

[ellbanger]

Of course! That's why you can take your pick of Eastern babies here for absolutely nothing (lowest I've seen is $10, lots of ads around $30-$50) whereas they fetch much more in the US - they're so common, and kind of seen as a "meh" reptile to bother with. I mean, these things are in pretty much every suburban backyard on the eastern seaboard, they're hardly exciting or exotic Those prices are for CBB babies from licensed breeders/hobbyists, too - it's extremely illegal for us to collect them from the wild, and whilst it does happen, the vast majority of owners abide by the requirements of our license.

On the flip side, we can't get any Indo BTS species here on the pet market as importing them is illegal. Licensed zoos can, but it's a difficult and extremely strict process. We won't be making the cane toad mistake again

Which is why the big hobbyist breeders (only ever heard of one or two PROFESSIONAL breeders aka Snake Ranch) focus on the very hard to develop and rare morphs , that hence demand very high prices , set up is expensive , but the running costs are the same (I expect) as run of the mill common morphs , this is what makes their operation a money maker.

Unfortunately Snake Ranch had also been involved in reptile trafficking and it's owners are now in prison.

Totally - if you're able to produce those rare morphs, it definitely becomes profitable because there's just not that many people out there producing them compared to the "boring" normies

On your other point: any "breeder" (professional or hobbyist) OR average pet keeper, involved in animal trafficking deserves all the prison time they get as far as I'm concerned. What a disgustingly abhorrent thing to do to innocent animals, all in the name of $$$. Nothing "unfortunate" about what happened to old mate Kennedy.