Questions for QLD breeders??

[NCHERPS]

I would be interested to hear about your experiences in relation to the reptile trade in QLD since pet shops were allowed to sell reptiles in there shops.

Did you find that as breeders, you weren't able to sell your captive bred offspring at a good price, or at a price that you were able to before the shops were licenced?
A few years on, would you say your answer to the question above is now different?

Are you still able to sell your offspring for a fair price? Has the price come down since as a result of the Pet shops being licensed, or maybe because they can only sell a restricted number of species, it hasn't really impacted on you at all ?

Maybe you have noticed that the shops have made reptile keeping more popular, increased the number of people in the hobby, and thus have found that you have more people than ever approaching you for your captive offspring?

Have you ever sold any offspring to the pet shops in QLD? Did you get a fair price for your offspring?

Please only comment if you are a QLD breeder.

Thanks in advance for your time and responses.

Neil

[ponybug]

hi neil,
over the last couple years i've sold to a few petshops, and also taken friends reptiles and delievered them to petshops, i sell wholesale rodents to 7 different petshops in nth qld, of these i've sold reptiles to 4 of the 5 that sell reptiles,
i've always put my price on my reptiles and they have paid it, the only time they ask to change the price is when they offer to buy extras and want a cheaper bulk price,

i don't have any troubles still selling my reptiles from home and still get the same price as i did before the petshops started, mostly because they only sell a few different reptiles and the fact that most times they have to pay the same as i used to sell mine for, i set my prices to the going prices i see on the net, so the shops never have anything to do with my pricing,

i have found the petshops have increased my sales as they are getting lots more interest in reptiles, they also do a lot of advertising in my local area, i have a lot of people call me and say they saw the snakes at the petshop but wanted a bigger snake, or didn't want to pay the big prices,

i know there are downsides, some petshops mistreat the reptiles, and we could make a long list of bad petshops and bad things they do, but how many privite keepers also mistreat their reptiles and can't care for them, so in the end it's up to the good keepers to keep watching for ANYBODY that mistreats their reptiles as we do with any normal animals,

i must say neil this is a very good question and i hope to see what other qld breeders say,

cheers,
steve....................

[Aussie Python Lover]

Well a friend here in the nt went to sell his hatchlings to a pet shop and they said they would give him $90 for each hatchling and there like stick it where the sun dont shine mate these snakes are worth more then $90 and said you give me $90 for these snakes you will sell them for $280 so get stuffed lol I mean how pathetic is that crap....

[The Devil]

Yes, I guess that the price is the sticking point. A couple of years ago a pet shop approached me wanting spotted s. I had some that were 6 or 7 months old and said that they could buy them for $120. each.
I was told that they only pay $95. max, so I told them (nicely) where to go.

Having been in business for many years I fully understand all the costs associated with running a business and of co**** there is the possibility that 1 or 2 may fall over but to only offer $90 and then sell for $295. is pretty poor to say the least.
At times I sell to URS for similar prices. The difference being that Tim will usually take all you have whereas pet shops usually only want a few at a time.

[Aussie Python Lover]

Due to experiences Ive heard from ppl going through things like that if it ever came down to me breeding and selling I refuse to sell to pet shops.... Cause asking for small prices for them and then selling them at a higher price is unfair to the breeder how are they to earn money back on selling the hatchies if pet shops ask for small prices for them to buy them off you. you know....

[geckodan]

I occasionally sell to petshops. As I have sold birds to shops for 20 years I am already aware of their limitations and needs. When the animals are offered, I dictate the price (usually offer abour 60% of normal retail) and it is a bulk price (5 or more or you get offered none). If you develop a repoire with a shop and supply them with quality stock they will respect your prices and wan't to deal with you again. If you go in thinking you can offload heaps of animals at retail price forget it. They have to make a profit. Many of the chain stores do not dictate the profits, they are set out in their franchise agreements. Some shops are not worth dealing with because of this.

[NCHERPS]

Interesting reading guys, thanks alot for your responses.

Keep them coming.

Neil

[TrueBlue]

ive never needed to sell to pet shops in old, all my stuff flys out the door every year.
If i ever did thou, they would pay the same as everyone else or miss out.

I used to sell in bulk to a few dealers down south, but havnt for a few years.

[elapid@]

I wouldn't , not the one's where i live any way ,ive aked questions just to test there knowledge as in qld i was concerned about the animals welfare when there licences to sell came into place.one of the questions i asked was when i was buying a thermostat for $115.00 what temperature should i keep my stimsons at ,and he said 15c - 31c and then he also tryed to convince me to put the thermostat on a timer that would be bought from his shop, i think he was more interested in his sales then the welfare of the reptiles.Then i tested him some more and asked him if i could have a look at one of the stimsons (hatchling) he used a 1m long hook to try and get it out of the container. i told him dont worry im not buying it any way, not for $350. i made out that i did not no any thing and played dumb.Im not saying that all pet shops are as bad as the one i went into but they should have more knowledge before giving advise let alone given a licence to sell reptiles. but i agree that its made more people interested in the care of reptiles and consivation in some way. A shop should breed there own any way. that would make it more better for there finance. also idiots bash on the cages's and tap glass etc.
cheers steve.

[ari]

Generally speaking what I keep and breed, appart from a couple of species Pet Shops are not allowed to sell. The species I keep that Pet Shops could sell are to rare in captivity & or skidish and thus wouldn't even attempt it, i.e N. laevissimus & N. Asper. I seriously can't see a Pet Shop being able to sell N. Laevissimus as the constant interference would cause death probably in less than 48 hrs.

Yep Pet Shops being able to sell certain reptiles has increased the hobby and most likely their profits as the varied Pet Shops in Cairns start of with a small section catering for reptiles and now it seems to have enlarge - generally a good indication of popularity.

[S.D.]

Well I don’t breed anything that Pet Shops in QLD here are allowed to sell, but never-the-less I have noticed quite a big increase in “reptile awareness” if you will since they’ve been changing their stock so to speak - and after witnessing all this first hand, I would have NO INTENTION AT ALL of selling any of my animals to a Pet Shop even if I were allowed.

A few years ago the only hint you’d get that anyone here kept snakes was that one of the Pet Shops here kept a few frozen rats in the freezer from time to time. Now there are two newly opened stores here that are dedicated to selling reptiles, spiders and anything else slightly “out-there” and the majority of the other shops now stock reptile-related products (but don’t sell the actual animals). Local rodent/food breeders also have a far greater demand for their product and also sell a far greater amount of rats and mice to most of the Pet Shops here now.

With the increase in reptile trade, knowledge about the product in the shops just hasn’t taken off at all (which is strange – you’d think that being a reptile specialist seller would require you to know what you were selling at least to a some detail). It seems that a Pet Shop is basically just the middle-man between the breeders and customer and you pay for a snake and get a snake – that’s it.

Prices also worry me with both shops as although I suppose the awareness level has risen and snakes as pets has become more accepted, I still can’t get over the price of spotted or childrens pythons when if you came to a forum such as this you could get probably a far better cared for animal, with far more advice and knowledge from the breeder and not only have a far better animal in the end but a greater ability to look after it and all this at around half the price. Not only this, but a would-be new hobbyist sees the price of a Spotted-Python in a Pet Shop, is given little to no info when they ask about the snake and is therefore likely to walk away right then and there and never look back.

I suppose in the end the trade-off for more awareness in the hobby created by Pet Shops is a lesser degree of knowledge going out into the new hobbyist. Is the breeder to blame for not educating the Pet Shops? Or maybe they do give the Pet Shops a feed and shed record for example however the Pet Shops do not feel the need to keep it up-to-date whilst the animal is in their store and under their care?

I suppose there are always good and bad and there are probably a lot of Pet Shops here in Queensland with employees that really know what they’re dealing with – but from what I’ve seen with my own eyes Pet Shops currently see snakes as just another product that they can make a QUICK buck on NOW and really need to step-up and do some research before just offloading their animals onto a hapless customer. Maybe I am biased – but a reptile is a specialist animal with specialist needs – and I think that requires a specialist seller with specialist knowledge.

[Recharge]

I have YET to walk into a petshop that sells snakes and not be disgusted at hoe they keep them.

almost always unclean, or no water or something.. it's shameful.
the EPA has no funding to police the hobby and it's crap :/ /rant.

[Magpie]

I'd say it's probably pushed prices up, although that could just be the increase in numbers of keepers Australia wide.
I had a clutch of stims for sale, $180 each. Despite other people getting $300+ for theirs, no one wanted any of mine. A pet shop offered to take the lot; sold, done and done. I would have preferred to sell them privately, the pet shop would have minimum of $300 on them and I just don't think Stims are worth that much. But no one wanted to pay the price and a pet shop was willing to.

[norris]

i think prices of spotted, children and Simpson's will come down because heaps more people will own and breed them, which will mean there will be more available.

[Aussie Python Lover]

Yes the pet shops need to make profit but what about the ppl who are selling them they need to make the money on them as well as the shops. To have a pet shop offer $90 for 1 snake then to sell them at $280 I think is unfair. The shop is getting more profit then you are if you sell to pet shops. I will be selling mine via here or other sites im a member of not to any pet shops. Id rather make some money then to not get much at all. JMO...