A question on pricing & trade of males

[HerpAddict]

Hi,

First of all, let me say to all the vendors at the PCPC show that you all had fabulous little cresties and that I just wanted to take all home!

Now here is what I've come here to ask. I have 5 juvies right now (all bought). I was taking a look today, and my guess is that 3 of them are going to be males. The ones I think are males are all under the 13g mark, but I think I can see mini-bulges already. If my suspicions are correct, then I'm going to have to sell/trade two of them, as I only have room for one more male. I of course have enough room for females!;)

The following is a pic of one of two that look like this of my possible males (they are all from the same parents, and look almost identical)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/amandaheaton/Quarter-ExploringNewHome.jpg

They are from an orange pastel tiger line in the USA.


Here is a pic of the third, it's pretty old, but I don't have anything more recent:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/amandaheaton/Shae2-Quarter.jpg


My question is, if I do need to sell two or three of these, what is my best way of going about it? I've seen the classifieds section on here, but can't tell how successful it is as far as selling rates.

Another question is, do you think it would be reasonable to trade two males for a female? Or three for a female? It seems like the girls are hard to get a hold of this time of year.

Any feedback on the best way to do a trade, or how much you think these boys would be worth would be great!

Thanks for your time and any help!

Amanda Heaton
1.1.5 Cresteds
0.2.0 Leos
1.0.0 Humans

[Betty Miskie]

I have used the classified and have had great results. You get the odd one that "for sure" are buyers and tend to either not come or keep changing the time. The good out weighs the bad and I would still have to say the classifieds are great.
As far as selling, it all depends on the market. I have had no problem selling males. I find that the more qualities the crestie has (fire/harlequin/pin/structure/size/colour) the better the price. You learn. The first male I sold I underpriced it way too low. It sold very quickly! I had no regrets as it went to a fantastic home and I even got to have his first offspring............... Thanks Max and Frances!
Betty

[DragnDrop]

Another question is, do you think it would be reasonable to trade two males for a female? Or three for a female? It seems like the girls are hard to get a hold of this time of year.

Females are always hard to get, no matter what time of year. Most people still incubate eggs at the 'mostly male' temperatures, it's easier to achieve them so it's handier. They do get females but mostly males. I know if I'm looking for a male, I have all the choice in the world. If I find one that appeals to me, I get it knowing the odds are probably +80% in favour of it being male. Getting a female takes time. Find out how the eggs were incubated, temperature makes a difference (and days to hatching would help verify the temperature info). If you want to take a chance that it's female, then any age cresty will do. If you want a female and nothing else, you should ideally get one that's 8 or 9 months old, possibly older. However one that's 'probably' female will be expensive, one that's 'definitely female, no ifs ands or buts' could easily be 2-3 times the price it was when unsexed. Mature females, proven to lay eggs have even been sold with the 'future egg production' calculated in. That would be for a really good looking female (like creamsicle or particularly good specimen for the colour, morph or pattern).

My guess is that you will probably have a hard time finding someone to part with a verifiable girl for 2, 3 or even 10 males. There's not enough females, chances are the person has enough males already. The exception would be a stunning male - pinstripe, exquisite harlequin etc., or genetics; some people would consider those good enough reasons to trade a female for a male since the male can spread the looks farther than a female could.

[HerpAddict]

Thanks Betty and Hilde for your input.

I didn't really think it would be realistic to trade males for females, but thought it was worth asking.

I've never sold a gecko before, so I have no idea what I should list these guys as. I'm obviously not a well known breeder or figure in the crested trade, so I feel like it will degrade the price of my stock.

Do you have any ideas on how much a 6 month old crested like the yellow one I posted a pic of would go for? The one in the pic has some small dalmation spots, and it's siblings have few to none. They all fire up nicely, with that yellow color, and then tiger markings in a dark red. The dark red fires up along their crests, so they have two dark lines down their back, almost like reverse pinstriping.

I would really hate to part with these guys, but as I'm sure most breeders have experienced, I just don't have the room for 5 or 6 males right now, when I only have 1 female.

I guess my hopes are that I can sell two or three, and raise the money to buy a probable female.

I guess I'll just have to see what the future has in store!

Thanks again!

[HerpAddict]

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that I have some eggs incubating with the low temperature method, with hopes of producing more girls. It's about day 56, so hopefully I'm at least half way there!

[stickytoedgecko]

Dont short change them because they are male either. As Betty said we bought Guido from her at a pretty good price, but don't think there isn't always a market for males. I would suggest the classifieds, but to locate a female could be time consuming and expensive. You said they are all juvies, but how old are they? You really cant be sure they are male until the very minimum of 6-7 months (please correct me if I am wrong here!) even sometimes you wont know until 9-10 months.

[HerpAddict]

I bought the yellow/orange tiger dalmations about two weeks ago, and they were said to be about 4-5 months old (I bought three of them). The largest of the trio is 13g, the next one is 8.5g. They just look like they have a nice little mini bump down below, that is bigger than my adult female's in that area, so that's what is leading me to think that they are male.

I'm jumping the gun on this one a bit, but I just want to be prepared in the case that I get a bunch of males.

Here are some pics of the two orange tigers (the one that's a close up I had to lighten the image, so the colors are all off, as the original was too dark).

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/amandaheaton/Reduced-flash.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/amandaheaton/Reduced-Minibulge.jpg

I really hope they are girlies. I bought one from S & M that's about 5 months old now, and is flat as the plains of alberta.

[clint545]

I'd give them a bit longer to mature:) I think another rule of thumb is if by 20g or bigger and they're notshowing the bulge, chances are it's a female.

[little_dragon_]

I agree with Clint they are way too young to tell. Females have a slight buldge. I'd sit back and relax. Wait three more months and you won't get their vents confused!

[HerpAddict]

I agree that they are too young to definitively say boy or girl, I was just trying to guess. I'll just have to play the waiting game now!

Thanks everyone for your help on this topic!