Qld Reptile Expo

[PimmsPythons]

Snakes and nudie bars, it doesn’t get a lot better. I am glad that everyone had a great weekend
I wonder though, why there was a noted absence from the larger known breeders, e.g. Snake Ranch and Southern Cross etc?
Could it be that hosting such an event far from a major city makes it unviable for many to justify an input?
In the view of promoting this hobby further in QLD, would it not be a better idea in the future to look at the logistics of having this in Brisbane?
I am not trying to run this event down and appreciate the work and passion that the organizers put into this event, I am just interested in opinions.

as said earlier, Simon Stone had another commitment to attend to and Snake ranch wasn't approached because its in NSW and reptiles can't be brought interstate to the expo and seeing as no advertising is allowed it would be pointless for them to come up.we have put out the offer to local QLD breeders to come along and show off their animals and plenty have turned up and done very well out of it just by giving out buisness cards.i know i've done very well out of it and have even had a few genuine enquiries for baby albinos come breeding time(if they do the job) and also had about 200 of my buisness cards taken.
as of having it in Brisbane,it causes enough stress of organising something of this size in our home town of Gladstone,let along trying to do it in Brisbane.we'll leave that to someone else to do, but they will have our full support if someone wants to organise one.
i think because of the strict no selling laws it seems to send out the message that it wouldn't be worth going to,as i've heard many say on this forum,but i'm pretty sure the majority enjoyed it.
cheers
simon

 

[TRIMACO]

Considering that this event is put together by people living in Gladstone I acn only assume that it would be a bigger pain in the butt for them to organise things 600km away... Considering that this was the second year running of the expo the question I would want to ask is what is the herp community of Brisbane doing? If people want a expo in Brisbane put one on!
Maybe the absence of the big breeders is due to the fact they can't sell animals or products at the event? (stupid QLD law) Which sort of makes any appearance at a Qld expo unviable for big time breeders.... (Just my opinions)[/QUOTE]


Thats a good point Ivonavich, changing the location to Brisbane is not going to allow the breeders to sell because the law is QLD wide. If Brisbane was to hold a seprate reptile expo I would travel the 6 hours to see it so it isn't to much to ask people to travel to the great town of Gladstone where we have these great people willing to put in the effort to run the expo. A hobby as great as herping is worth the travel.

 

[TRIMACO]

.......i think because of the strict no selling laws it seems to send out the message that it wouldn't be worth going to,as i've heard many say on this forum,but i'm pretty sure the majority enjoyed it.
cheers
simon

I agree, we went and had a blast and the fact the we could buy or sell did't bother us we made contacts and may use them in the future so nothing was lost. The way I see it we educated alot of people about our great hobby and met alot of really great like minded people that we wouldn't have without the expo.

 

[innocent]

wow looks like everyone had a really great time.. Thanks for sharing your pic's with us..

 

[Kris]

A lot of people are mentioning the "can't sell animals" here. This expo was never meant to be a swap meet or anything like that. I really hope that law never changes after some of the stories that have gotten back to us about other expos where sellers have turner pretty hostile towards each other(friendships ruined), trying to out sell each other and a few other things, and if it does I hope the organisers don't follow the trend and sell here. That also encourages people to carry snakes around and throws quarantining out the window. How many people picked up mites(if that's all that got spread I'd be surprised) amongst other things?

The only thing that I was dissapointed about was looking at people handling snakes at one display, then moving onto the next one doing the same with another collection. Sure you can use alcohol wiped on your hands(few did though) and say that is good enough, but people have animals climbing all over them, not just their hands. This could end up very messy if some grub knew they had some disease in their collection yet came along just so they could make some quick $$$$ out of our expo.


Last year after the expo I managed to move all of my remaining hatchies just from handing out buisness cards and got a lot of people wanting animals down the track after seing some of my breeders. So selling at the expo isn't really that important, that is what Herptrader and RDU are for.

On a positive note, all the people that got in the pit to give talks about their animals that was great. Gabrielle Latta gave a great talk about the endangered Mary River Turtle(shame the headset mic died), Luke Allen from Venom Supplies- was good to let the public know what you blokes do there, Deka69s' talk on keeping Pythons as pets was very informative to both beginners and experienced keepers alike and The Croc boys from Koorana showing off their 5 foot Big Toothed Gecko was entertaining.Thanks to all you for that.

Cheers,

Kris.

 

[method]

Well said Kris, personally I thought it was a great day with a great turnout. Vixen and myself had no problems setting up and literally took us 10 minutes, can definatley count on seeing us again next expo Was good to meet those who came up and said hi aswell, only slightly less weirder online then in person Top show by the way Kris, you had some stunning vens in the pit show, was drooling over that spotted black.

Vix or myself will post a few pics this arvo once we've done a bit of resizing

 

[TrueBlue]

Yes i agree with you kris. The only thing that i was a bit suss on was the amount of handling of some of the pythons there. You have to be keen to let anyone and every one handle your snakes in this day and age with all the nasties out there. Other than that it was a good expo and well set up to educate the public which was what it was all about. Well done guys.

 

[Vixen]

Yeh, I had a few people asking to handle them, a simple 'oh sorry they're a bit upset today and I don't want you to get bitten' done the trick. :lol:

 

[PimmsPythons]

the exhibitors are under no obligation to get their reps out to let people handle them. there are plenty of nasties out there but there is also alot of paranoia out there as well. but thankfully most keepers who are proud of their collection look after them properly and keep them disease free.part of the joy of owning reptiles is handling them and it would be a shame to not give non herp owners the opportunity to hold one.
if any issues did arise from handling at our expo (,and this is something us organisers will discuss)we would probably take the step of only having one exhibitor being allowed to have their animals handled with the public.
cheers
simon

 

[gozz]

It was a great expo the only thing i saw bad was the give away sheds, then you would see people eating a sausage in one hand and in the other was a selminella shed skin lol

 

[aliveandkicking]

I had a bloody top weekend too. It was good to finally get to meet some of you lot

 

[Kersten]

I had a bloody top weekend too. It was good to finally get to meet some of you lot

Oh yeah....you were that guy! With the face? Old mate!

 

[Vixen]

Oh yeah....you were that guy! With the face? Old mate!

Lol :lol:

 

[aliveandkicking]

The one in the hat.

 

[ivonavich]

but I was wearing a hat too....

 

[Kersten]

Well now I'm confused....were you both taking turns wearing it? You now that's how lice spread kiddies!

 

[herpkeeper]

quote Simon : . there are plenty of nasties out there but there is also alot of paranoia out there as well.

Simon, no disrespect intended, but there are a lot more cases of OPMV & OPMV like diseases out there than people realise, talk to a few different Vets who regulary deal with reptiles ! MITES are easily spead, it doesn't matter if someone swabs down their hands, mites could be on their clothing and are easily transfered onto animals. Don't get me wrong, hands on is the best way to attract people to a reptile, but in this day and age it is asking for trouble. (just my opinion)
cheers HK.

 

[TRIMACO]

It would appear that a few people are upset regarding the handling of snakes on the day of the expo. I have been to zoo, personal residences and last years expo and had my photo taken handled many reptiles at all these places with out issues, in fact most people are happy to share there joy for their collection. I understand and agree that there are concerns regarding quarantine and the safety for the animals. What I don’t understand is that at no point did these people that are now SO worried about the situation, ever approach the reptile owners at the expo but instead choose to voice there concerns on a public form after the event. If there were issues they should have been address there and then. Did these issues come up after last years expo because I held my fair share of reptiles there and the conditions were just the same as this year?

 

[Fuscus]

but I was wearing a hat too....

I had my skin hat on

 

[Kersten]

I had my skin hat on

At least you weren't going to get lice :lol: