Keeping Cornsnakes

[jessb]

I was at the Expo today, and I noticed one of the pet shop displays had a table full of "keeping reptiles" type books, and amongst them were a couple of copies of "Keeping Cornsnakes" :shock:

Does anyone else think this is a bit weird, being that corn snakes aren't legal in this country??? I just thought it was a bit irresponsible. At an Expo dedicated to protecting and conserving our native wildlife, they were basically condoning, if not encouraging the idea that exotics are/can be kept in this country! I also saw is as a dodgy "advertisement" - my reaction was that they knew someone who knew someone who could get a corn snake on the quiet if you asked the right people...

What is everyone else's opinion on this? Did anyone see the book on display?

 

[Auzlizardking]

Well the sad thing is there here - if we like it or not - I don't! I have sold enclosures to people from Syd who own corns and I guess if they don't buy the book here they will get it from overseas anyway.
It better to have something to help them look after these snake then see them die slowly with the person not knowing what to look at for.

My 2c

 

[pythonmum]

My son remarked on that - thought it was inappropriate to sell books on keeping animals which are illegal.

 

[jessb]

Well the sad thing is there here - if we like it or not - I don't! I have sold enclosures to people from Syd who own corns and I guess if they don't buy the book here they will get it from overseas anyway.
It better to have something to help them look after these snake then see them die slowly with the person not knowing what to look at for.

My 2c

Yeah, fair enough - I guess they deserve to be kept in the best conditions possible, and i suppose it is inevitable that the books will be available in shops, but I just felt it was a bit odd at a native animal expo...

 

[Auzlizardking]

I guess it's might be about supply and demand - If I have sold enclosures to people with corns then how many are out there?

 

[Ramsayi]

I dont see why it is a problem at all.If I decide to buy a book on how to look after elephants does that mean that I keep them in my spare room or does it mean I am just interested in them in general? I dont keep GTPs yet have a book on them,perhaps I shouldn't have brought it.

Also APS has a forum just for exotics does that mean they are encouraging the keeping of them?

 

[Chris89]

It's interesting how you say that they're selling books on how to look after exotic reptiles. I guess that they could be displayed for sale as "educational purposes" However, some people might get the wrong idea and decide to purchase these books for all the wrong reasons?


I was in the pet shop the other day, I noticed that all of the reptile related products all had pictures of exotic species on them, I thought this was interesting/odd due to the fact that the majority of the products had corn snakes, ball pythons and boas on them - Plus exotic species of frogs, lizards, geckos etc etc. I would of thought that they would have Australian Reptiles on the covers of their products, however I think it might be because the products are manufactured over seas?

 

[thepythonpit]

I dont see why it is a problem at all.If I decide to buy a book on how to look after elephants does that mean that I keep them in my spare room or does it mean I am just interested in them in general? I dont keep GTPs yet have a book on them,perhaps I shouldn't have brought it.

Also APS has a forum just for exotics does that mean they are encouraging the keeping of them?

again you take the words right out of my mouth ..
you have just made my BUDDY list

 

[Reptile_Boy]

what shop had them in there displays?

 

[Retic]

Absolutely right, it's ridiculous.

I dont see why it is a problem at all.If I decide to buy a book on how to look after elephants does that mean that I keep them in my spare room or does it mean I am just interested in them in general? I dont keep GTPs yet have a book on them,perhaps I shouldn't have brought it.

Also APS has a forum just for exotics does that mean they are encouraging the keeping of them?

 

[hozy6]

yeah but it might be the fact that some of those snakes have a larger range of colours and is more attractive to some people but its all the same there not gonna be able to keep them out for ever but we all know that they will get here somehow look at gtps there here there isnt ment to be red ones but there here its always gonna happen and keep on happening

 

[amazonian]

If they only stocked Aus Herp books they would loose more than 50% of their book sales.
These pet store owners run a business & have families to feed, so why should they sacrifice 1/2 their earnings because a minority on an internet forum think it morally wrong to read about exotic species?

Would you also like to see all those documentaries cancelled from TV because the Naturalists are not filming in Aus?

 

[natrix]

I dont see why it is a problem at all.If I decide to buy a book on how to look after elephants does that mean that I keep them in my spare room or does it mean I am just interested in them in general? I dont keep GTPs yet have a book on them,perhaps I shouldn't have brought it.

Also APS has a forum just for exotics does that mean they are encouraging the keeping of them?

yea , that was my first thought too.

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

just dont buy the book lol

and bring death upon any illegal cornsnakes

 

[-Peter]

I saw a book that had reptiles from all over the world in it, I was shocked
Lets have a lynching, it was Andrew Isles.

 

[Oldbeard]

I thought this was interesting/odd due to the fact that the majority of the products had corn snakes, ball pythons and boas on them - Plus exotic species of frogs, lizards, geckos etc etc. I would of thought that they would have Australian Reptiles on the covers of their products, however I think it might be because the products are manufactured over seas?

Really!!! are you sure about that!!!!

 

[Miss_Croft]

The fact of the matter is:

• Herp keeping in the US is much more developed than in Australia
• The US market is much bigger than Australia’s
• Australian restrictions is making it hard for people to go into owning or breeding snakes
• The basic requirements for corn snakes can be applied to other snakes – for example – heat, hide, substrate and guards around heating items.

Like it or not – much of modern snake husbandry was developed on non-Australian snakes. And if you want to leverage all the global knowledge – you will need to read about what others have found to work on non-Australian snakes.

Buying a book on keeping corn sakes will help a keeper better understand some requirements of their pet pythons. The Australian market is too small for a large range of books to be written on Australian snakes for the Australian market. If restrictions on keeping snakes were relaxed and a greater percent of the population kept them as pets things might change.

Colors – Currently corn snakes have some very stunning colors – but if you breed and work on your local snakes – you too will have some stunning snake patterns and colors. As I pointed out before Australian snake keeping is still in its infancy compared to here in the US.

In relationship to Herp products – most Australian herp products (A small range) are mainly imported from the US and are still sold with the US packaging. Changing the packaging will increase the cost of keeping your pet snake.

 

[Chimera]

From the perspective of housing, heating, lighting and photo period I would be interested in what differences there are between keeping Colubrids and keeping pythons, not much. Should we request that Mike Swan and Andrew Isles take a black marker to the 'Popular Monitors and Tegus" book removing all references to non-australian species??

You can learn something from ALL keeping references, regardless of the species focussed on. In fact the best general python husbandry book (in my opinion) available on the market today is Dave Barker's book on Ball Pythons.

 

[mini_kitty]

Yeah I saw that book too, and was a little surprised. I mean yeah sure, maybe its just for 'educational' purposes, but why sell it at an expo where it will be exposed to SO many people that may only just be getting into snakes and herps as a hobby? These people would probably have no idea that corn snakes are illegal. Leave it on the shelf in a pet or book store for people to find it if they want it. I dont think they should have had it on display at a native animal expo.

 

[Aslan]

These are some of the most ludicrous posts I have ever heard...

Should 'Zoomed' products be removed from the shelves because they have a photograph of an iguana on the packaging?

If people are relying on American books to understand the legalities of keeping Australian snakes then the hobby has a lot more to worry about than who sells what...

You should be more outraged at the stupidly priced and promoted products that rip new keepers off day-in an day-out from pet stores - censoring books...? There was a famous group of Germans who did that wasn't there...? What were they called again...?

*sigh*