Hey Everyone!
Just wanted to get some thoughts down. Hope you will enjoy the read.
There are lots of new people coming into Blood and Short-Tailed Pythons which is great! This group of snakes make very rewarding captives and have come a long way in the last 20 years. They have so much to offer from purposefully bred normals to level up morphs. We will get into the meaning of those descriptors in a bit.
With the recent interest in these animals more of them are being produced and some incredible things are being done with them. But it is important to think beyond just the price tag. When you are looking for a new addition price is just a small factor when considering bringing a new animal into your collection. A lot of factors go into pricing these snakes. Can the breeder provide parent pics? Can the breeder explain why those animals were paired together? Does the breeder answer questions in a reasonable amount of time? Reachable for questions as they arise? Does the breeder have a Vet to monitor the health of their collection? This list could go on and on. We work very hard on these things and are continually making improvements.
It is important to us where our animals end up and what the plans are for that animal. Breeding is not the only option, having a great pet you are proud of is just as important. Yes, we sell these snakes for a living, however getting rich is not the end game. We realize it is a gift to be able to do this and share these snakes with you. It is an incredible career and rewarding in so many ways. That is why we continue to push quality over quantity
Our goal when pairing these animals is to create offspring that move the species forward in terms of color, temperament, and hardiness. If we believe the offspring will be better representations of their parents, we will breed those animals together. None of our pairings are done just because. If you look at our growing collection you can see this play out in real time. It has taken us 10+ years to get to this point and be able to offer up some gorgeous animals, and we are going to continue to push on with each generation. It did not happen overnight and it wont happen by just throwing animals together without a vision. Your vision does not and should not be ours. It is all about what your goals are. Think long term, not just “how much money will this clutch make me”. That's a recipe for failure.
This is where “purposefully bred” and “level up” come into play. Pair with a purpose, hatch animals that level up your collection. Buy that dream animal of yours from someone that gets this idea (doesn't have to be from us, but we will be happy to help you if that's the case).
What does all this mean? Well, sometimes our animals are a bit more than other sellers. At this point, we hope you see why. We do not believe to chasing the lowest common denominator. This is not a long term strategy for us or for YOU. We want you to be successful if and when the time comes that you sell offspring from animals you purchased from us.
We believe that supporting what you like and who you believe in is very important. That is why we take what we do very seriously. These animals live a long time, so grab something that wows you every time you look in their enclosure.
Here is a real life example just to show that we aren't just talking the talk. in 2009 we purchased a pair of adult Matrix het Albinos for 12k. Yes, you read that right. Now the price of Matrix is much lower but what is important to realize is that this pair of snakes have produced incredible animals for us. Including Albino Ivorys and the Female Matrix het even produced the first Electrostatics (Albino Ivory Batiks) for us last season. Pictured below. Moral of this story is, even if you invest in an animal, and the price goes down season after season, it does not make your animal have any less value. The important thing to do is breed with a purpose.
Lastly we just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout this journey. We could not do any of this without you all. Feel free to reach out to us anytime to discuss this further or any other aspects of Blood and Short-Tailed Pythons.