The ready availability of information on the 'Net definitely makes it easier for people new to the hobby to glean information, to purchase stock and supplies, and to ask questions.
Back in the 80's I wanted to keep Plains Rats. I was interviewed by Rob Baker who was director of the Adelaide Zoo before he'd sell me a pair. He wanted to make sure that I was up to the task. I remember him saying that Plains Rats were so much more demanding to keep than my Spinifex Hopping Mice. Now Plain Rats are an exempt species in SA.
Similarly when I started with Gouldian finches and Adelaide Rosellas they were described as being more demanding to keep and breed successfully. Gouldians are now on the exempt list, and Adelaide Rosellas on the basic list.
All we had back then was the local library and advice from other keepers who we'd bump into at the pet shop or the fodder store, or sometimes the chance to ask questions of museum or zoo staff. A request for books on Australian aviculture or small mammal husbandry at the bookstore got you directed to titles on British or North American species, or at best an Australian "Field Guide to whatever". A Google search now brings up a vast array of fact sheets, forums and websites with a lot of information and opinions. What we're seeing here is comment on the opinions. As readers of those opinions it's up to us to question the attitude, credibility and credentials of the writers and work out their wisdom and credibility from there.
Totally agree Beeman. No-one can keep reptiles as "pets" anymore it seems, once they have the permit some(keyboard worriors) seem to think they are going to be the next big thing in breeding/morphs/crap etc etc. Once upon a time, keepers kept there animals for a while as pets, learnt as much as they could about their chosen pet then late had a crack at breeding them. Now it sems to be a get rich quick type hobby for the kids.....especially the spoilt little pricks that have mummy and daddy buy them gtp's, roughies, and super dooper morphs(average animals with comical tags) etc etc.
Red Ink, how much money you can make is a "how long is a piece of string" sort of question. It depends on how much you charge, how much you're willing to spend to care for your animals, whether you buy food or breed it, how successful the breeding is and the list goes on. Some people who breed GTPs and albinos make very little, some people who breed coastals and childrens make a lot. It wouldn't be my choice to breed solely for profit, as at the end of the day you're talking about living beings and it's always a gamble investing money in that sort of thing. It's always nice to at least be able to cover costs, but having said that most of the animals we've bred have been given away. The majority that have been sold are ones we have purchased in the rather than bred.
Cheers for that Kersten, I suspected as much, so i suppose it would come down to ethics in the case of the breeder at the end of the day. I think what the breeder paid for in getting the breeding stock would be a factor in the clutch price as well. If the paid 2k as a hatchie it would only be logical that it would be the price they would sell their clutch for.
Isn't this what the thread is about?
If nothing is about money then why try to make back what you spent on the animals? If you were in it for the love of the animals then price would not be of concern.
Why spend twenty grand plus on some animals then to charge top dollar to make your money back? Then froth about it when the price of an animal drops several percent over the annum.
Why purchase the most expensive snakes to breed? Why breed the snakes that are going to make the most money at hatching time?
All of it is for the money whether you like to admit it or not.
You do it so you can cover the costs electricity/feeding/your time, which means when egg time comes around you all see the $$$ signs.
This thread is pretty contradictory from the little bits i have read.
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