reptile sale slump???

[PilbaraPythons]

Hopefully they start with the hybrids.

 

[CodeRed]

well RPMs will generate a bucket load of hybids. I dont see the breeders culling the jagish ones, but there will be a lot of fat gonannas dinning on the fugly sibs.

 

[Hsut77]

And a new market niche has been created. Quality BHP Food.

well RPMs will generate a bucket load of hybids. I dont see the breeders culling the jagish ones, but there will be a lot of fat gonannas dinning on the fugly sibs.

 

[Waterrat]

This thought crossed my mind: people are screaming about the dog and cat situation, calling to stop backyard breeding where only registered breeders would be allowed to breed and sell.

Can you see this kind of pressure coming onto reptile breeders (perhaps from within the hobby community) in the future? It sound crazy, doesn't it ... but is it?

 

[CodeRed]

This thought crossed my mind: people are screaming about the dog and cat situation, calling to stop backyard breeding where only registered breeders would be allowed to breed and sell.

Can you see this kind of pressure coming onto reptile breeders (perhaps from within the hobby community) in the future? It sound crazy, doesn't it ... but is it?

Here we go again, everyone has the same right to breed whether you like it or not.

 

[Waterrat]

Here we go again, everyone has the same right to breed whether you like it or not.

Oh, so it's about rights is it?

 

[Brent]

what could happen is that EPA and NPWS will have concerns as well as RSPCA with the current sistuation ,takes time in Govt,,a,,slow moving lot, but it could happen
we know they do have stats on all of us and what we keep -breed,,,,,
maybe and the legislation and regulations under EPA -NPWS- Act will allow and include that all breeders be registered and others just keep and not breed , unless they apply for a Govt -additional fees and breeders licence via ,restrictions .
and then the Dept will monitor the situation ,
if the breeding continues the culling is out of control they may look in to it.
it just takes time and the Govt need to have the stats or comlplaints believe me!

 

[CodeRed]

Oh, so it's about rights is it?

thats how a court would view it.

I am not saying I disagree with you either. I would love to see some sort of control in place to weed out those who have absolutely no regard for the well being of the animals.

 

[Waterrat]

I didn't mean to scaremonger with my crazy thought, it's way off the topic anyway.

 

[boxhead]

When looking at for sale threads it's easy to see there is a over supply of hatches this year .
prices are dropping every week as breeders have trouble selling their stock .
as said by others there are a lot of very average animals around now .
so for me i will be waiting for the expos to start -mac herps -wild expo to hopefully ad to my collection . reason being to be able to view a number of snakes in one place and to speak to the
breeders ; so if need be i will be able to buy from different lines to get the pairs i want .
i am hoping that the prices stay the same as now ,but if not so be it .

 

[bk201]

maybe another issue to think of that has helped create this problem is how many of the breeders i have seen raise there young, 24 hour heat even in winter and having UV lights on longer and pumping the food into animals to have them breeding in there first season.

 

[Ophidiophobe]

The right to own and breed reptiles must be tempered by the responsibility of providing a wholesome life for any reptiles you breed. This precludes freezing hatchlings which is abhorrent. Of course unwanted snakes can be passed on through herp societies and websites like this, how can freezing carpet pythons be justified.

Your rights and your responsibilities go hand in hand or there is something going wrong.

 

[yommy]

maybe another issue to think of that has helped create this problem is how many of the breeders i have seen raise there young, 24 hour heat even in winter and having UV lights on longer and pumping the food into animals to have them breeding in there first season.

I've heard and seen as early as 18 months with some species but never their first season or 12 month old. Physically impossible as there is no way they would be sexually mature.............

 

[yommy]

I was referring to pythons with the above statement, I don't do lizards so unsure of their breeding cycles

 

[Elapidae1]

Maybe breeders need a national body and a minimum standard criteria for certain quality animals and high end colour morphs etc , same as pure bred dogs that are sold with papers will always mantain higher value, or are reptile characteristics just to variable for that. Even still a national body wouldn't hurt so you could all work together for marketing etc. I mean some of you guys are running top notch operations in a very professional manner and such but I would never have even heard of half of you if it weren't for this forum. The industry to me has a bit of a backyard sort of feel to it in my opinion, but then again keeping snakes is never going to appeal to the masses like the family dog does

 

[Wild~Touch]

Your rights and your responsibilities go hand in hand or there is something going wrong

My sentiments exactly....I care about what sort of life my animals will have after they leave me

But then again I am a girll and a big sook..I care too much to ever leave their future in doubt

Cheers
Sandee

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

I'd be interested to hear thoughts from the breeders of higher end animals. Has this slump hit the harder to get, premium line, or otherwise, more desirable animal sales? (All snakes are valuable in my eyes, not calling an ordinary looking carpet a piece of rubbish or anything so put down the pitchforks!)

I noticed, during an "economic slowdown" back in the day, a lot of businesses were indeed hit with a reduction in business. I was running a high end joinery shop at the time, producing custom timber kitchens and furniture for the wealthy of Vancouver, and we never slowed down at all.

With that parallel in mind, it would be interesting to know if sales of animals like axanthic BHPs, proper locality pure Reduced Pattern carpets, pure Aussie GTP's etc.. has been affected the same way. I was recently offered a choice from a selection of proper "RPM" carpets with the appropriate stunning patterns and colours, I hummed and hawed for 1 week and missed out for the season.

P.S, I will shortly have a 5 year old Maccie male for sale complete with enclosure! Lol!

 

[yommy]

I think those with the desireable lines won't be effected too much as if it's a line that you really want to develop, you'll pay what you think is fair.
Example. Denvers current white girl BHP offspring, he could name any price he wanted for them and they would go like hot cakes regardless. It all comes back to supply and demand.

As well as the reptile sale slump, what about the cage builders etc are you guys also noticing a slow down in sales in general???

 

[CodeRed]

these specialist lines that everyone keeps talking about represent a very small percentage of whats being bred. I would be surprised if they even total 1% of the animals bred this season alone.

 

[montay]

Some excellent and thought provoking debate. I am pleased to see some prominent breeders engaging in this debate also.
Yes, it is about quality animals - I don't think (personally) that it is about morphs. A robust, healthy and true-to-type pythons is a beautiful animal to behold - regardless of whether that animal is a GTP or a coastal carpet python.
Let's not head down the path of our colleagues in America. We have the most beautiful (and prolific!!) pythons species in the world. let's celebrate what we have, promote our hobby wherever we can and resist the denigration of our hobby to a collection of animals that are merely a commodity.
cheers!