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[Kersten]

Originally Posted by slimebo

we had meetings with parks and wildlife at rocky and they had all the appropriate legislation printed out and we couldn't find a way around it.because we have non-commercial reptiles there,they are classed as being used as advertising so we couldn't sell any products whatsoever.thats why queensland pet shops aren't allowed to have carpets or any other non-commercial reptiles on display in there shops,because they can bring in customers and money will be made from non commercial snakes.its a bit nuts and confusing but at the end of the day we couldn't find a way around it and i still have the paperwork and i'm still looking for a way around it.

Just to clarify further Sengir, while there is a vague possibility that there's a way around the legislation that was pointed out to Simon we're not keen to go in guns blazing and demand that we be allowed to sell either animals or products at this expo. First and foremost, because the purpose of this expo right from the get go hasn't been to make money (we really only want to cover the cost of running it) but as a way for keepers to meet eachother and for non keepers to have some positive exposure to reptiles. The area we live in is still basically a country town and the prevailing attitude to snakes especially is that the only good one is a dead one, and we find quite often when we do meet people who are interested in keeping snakes or who have them and either want to buy more or meet other people who keep they think there's no one around who does. We'd also like to give keepers an opportunity to show others the animals that they're proud of, and no I'm not just referring to breeders with dozens of animals, we're opening up the stalls to everyone who wants to join in right down to 10 year old kids with their carpet pythons.

If we can get the ball rolling on this for the first go and show QPWS that we're willing to respect their ground rules and are doing it with the best of intentions then we have a better chance of being able to find a way around our problems for the next expo, or the one after. And if we don't find a way around the laws (with their help) then at the end of the day it isn't the end of the world because we're still achieving what we set out to do initially.