Keeping a pet snake can be a fun and educational pastime for owners with a variety of experience levels. While many varieties of snakes can be purchased for a reasonable price, itʻs always fun to wonder about what we could afford if we suddenly had unlimited money, right? For your dreaming pleasure, here are the 12 most expensive pet snakes in the world and how much of your hard-earned cash youʻll need to shell out to get one.
The 12 Most Expensive Pet Snakes in the World
1. High Blue Green Tree Python
One of these snakes, a rare color variety of the common green tree python, reportedly sold for $1.8 million. Native to Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia, high blue pythons are solid blue with brilliant silver eyes. This striking coloring, combined with the rarity of its appearance in nature, combine to push the price of this snake to astronomical heights.
2. Lavender Albino Ball Python
The most expensive ball python in the world is always going to be whichever morph is newest and rarest. At one point, the lavender albino ball python was just such a morph. One sold for $40,000, making it the highest known price paid for a ball python to date. At the time, these snakes were extremely rare and their coloring was striking enough to attract attention and dollars.
3. Stranger Ball Python
Stranger ball python morphs were first discovered in 2012, making them a fairly new variety and one of those new and rare morphs that are fetching a high price lately. These snakes can sell for $20,000 or more, depending on whether they have another morph coloring as well. To make matters more expensive, most stranger ball pythons are bred outside the U.S.A, meaning you could be looking at high shipping costs on top of the high price of the snake.
4. Reticulated Python
Reticulated pythons are one of the biggest pet snakes you can own and can be one of the most expensive to buy. At one point, they were considered one of the most expensive pets in the world, period, with prices ranging from $25,000–$50,000. Today, you can find reticulated python morphs that still go for as much as $40,000.
5. Sunset Ball Python
Sunset ball pythons display a unique and beautiful red-orange color. The genetics of creating this morph can be tricky which adds to the expense of buying one. Sunset ball pythons can cost as much as $15,000 depending on their coloring and markings.
6. Monsoon Ball Python
Monsoon ball pythons have been around since 2015 and their gorgeous pattern morph produces some truly beautiful specimens. These snakes could cost as much as $12,000 to obtain. Even a ball python whoʻs simply a known carrier of the monsoon gene could cost several thousand dollars because theyʻre so sought after for breeding.
7. Leucistic Western Hognose Snake
Thanks to a lack of pigment, the leucistic western hognose snake is born without the normal brown color and pattern. Instead, they are pale white, with blue or gray eyes. Thanks to their rarity, expect to pay up to $8,500 for a leucistic western hognose snake.
8. Paradox Ball Python
Paradox ball pythons are expensive because they occur randomly and not as a result of a breeding program. These are snakes that have mismatched markings or colors that usually donʻt occur together. The appearance of these snakes will impact their costs but they could go for as much as $9,000.
9. Palmetto Corn Snake
Palmetto corn snakes are a leucistic variety of this species that are white with random colored scales speckled across their bodies. They have white or blue eyes with huge black pupils. When first bred and sold in 2012, these snakes were going for $4,000 each. They are more common now but you will still usually have to pay between $500–$1,000 for one.
10. Scaleless Ball Python
Instead of scales, these ball python morphs are covered in smooth skin. First created in 2013, scaleless ball pythons could cost up to $10,000 depending on their color and pattern. Thatʻs a bargain compared to the reported $125,000 offer that was made for one of the original scaleless ball python babies.
11. Black-headed Python
These snakes are native to Australia and have a truly unique look. Black-headed pythons are hard to breed in captivity, making them expensive to purchase. You could pay as much as $2,200 for one of these snakes.
12. Angolan Python
These snakes are closely related to the more common ball python but appear much more rarely in captive breeding programs. Native to southern Africa, Angolan pythons are dark with a highly contrasting light pattern. Angolan pythons generally cost about $1,000.
What Are Some of the Most Affordable Pet Snakes?
Okay, so you donʻt have thousands of dollars to spend on a new pet snake. That doesnʻt mean you canʻt experience the joys of reptile ownership.
As you can see, many of the snakes on our most expensive list have much more reasonably priced versions available as well. Make sure to research what type of lighting, housing and heat your new snake needs and get their space all set up before you bring them home.
Conclusion
It’s always fun to check out luxury models, whether it’s admiring Ferraris at a car show or crashing open houses in wealthy neighborhoods. These 12 snakes are some of the most expensive you can buy, but at the end of the day, they’re all still just regular reptiles in need of safe homes. Before committing to a snake, no matter what it costs, keep in mind that they can live for a long time.
Featured Image Credit: Natnaphat, Shutterstock
