Very well said Nick. I echo the sentiments expressed here. Like you, I consider myself a researcher rather than a keeper. Passion has no price and discovery is its own reward....
In regards to keeping them legally...............................For me it would be a case of the seller / Government department naming their price. I would pay anything for a chance to own these snakes.
Prestige......Not likely as I would not want anyone to know I had them. It is about grass roots reptile keeping where you keep, study and try to breed a species that you find amazing.
The very reason why I am facinated by the now dirt cheap M. carinata. I was lucky enough to be given a few from John and I will never ever sell them as to me, they are the next best thing to owing an O.P.
A few years ago I maintained one of the best collections of reptiles in Australia worth well over a hundred thousand dollars. I can tell you now that I have never enjoyed keeping herps more than I do today with a tiny collection of pygmy monitors,the odd python, a few rough knobbies and a few blue tongues.
Forget about the dollars involved with O.P's (or any species for that matter), it is about keeping & trying to breed one of the worlds most unique python species.
I personally see the dollar value placed on herps in Australia's recent history to be an (almost) necessary evil. Amatuer herpers in Australia now have relatively easy, legal access to most species that interest them.
I love field work above all else but valuable contributions to herpetology are made by studying reptiles in captivity as well.
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