Well, I've seen in Quebec that people are looking for reptile that people don't have and that they are different and very hard to find on the market.
As for as I know, the most buyed reptile in Quebec are Geckos, beardie, Uro's, Ball python, Carpet python, cornsnake and sometime constrictor boa.
People are always looking for new ''hybrids'' or different ''morph'' of snake/lizard to make them more precious or unique compare to other keeper. But when you think about it, the only difference they had, is their coloration or pattern. It won't change the animal behavior, intelligence or aggressiveness in captivity if the pattern/size is changed.
Some ''mod'' has changed. General people are not anymore looking into the biggest snake to get, or the biggest lizard they can found on the market. People in Quebec are looking into a easy to care, cool attitude and as rare as possible animal. So that is why they are going into geckos, beardie and some small snake because they are more breeding and more different pattern.
Look at retics python as pure example. People are not looking into getting a ''regular'' reticulated python. They are looking into a dwarf, super dwarf, tiger, supertiger or another morph, but they are still retics python. It's the same animal, but only with a different color.
Now if we take the tegu as the second example. 2-3 years ago, everybody was looking into the regular Argentine Black and White Tegus, and the red tegu as a backup if the B/W weren't available. Now that blue tegus are breed aswell as crossbreed of Red/white, Blue/red, blue/white, etc. People are all wanting a blue Tegu or a ''new'' cross breed tegu instead of the regular black and white tegu. Why? Because they are new and that they are less available compare the the pure Argentine Tegu.
Third example, all of you guys know how cheap regular and albino burmese python are. You can find one of those big guy between 50-250$. At our reptile farm we have a male albino burmese python. This guy cost more than 2000$!!! Why? Because this guy is a eyeless burmese python, that's right, it doesn't have any eyeball and ocular hole. Does it make sense to pay such a price for an animal that has a big deformity like this? No...it doesn't make sense, but this animal is unique and make him more special because he is different. You can check on some reptile site, you can now buy two-head snake and two-head turtle for a higher price. Is it normal to pay a higher price for an animal that has a deformity like this...no. But people like uniqueness and special animal because getting one of those ''unique animal'' won't make them ''regular'' keeper.
The funny thing about it, is that for the moment, having a crossbreed or different reptile is not very popular and people are all trying to have one to be different compare to other people. But in a couple of years, when everyone will all have the famous different morph. The pure breed will become the ''rare'' pet to have, everybody will look for a pure breed specimen and breeder will jack up the price of pure breed...
Last edited by Ben3233; 03-07-2010 at 03:02 AM.
Ben
0.1.0, 2007, Bearded Dragon (Uresaii)
1.0.0, 1999, Hermann Tortoise (Tama-chan)
0.1.0, 2007, Redfoot Tortoise (Kame-chan)
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