The SAD Reality

[hbskeet]

I'll post some tomorrow. I'm using my phone
right now as I work wierd hours.

 

[EvilLost]

Although the financial aspect is a big part of it, I think it is fiercely compounded by the majority's lack of knowledge on animal husbandry and exotic care. Everybody thinks you just throw it in a tank with a light food and water and thats it. "He'll eat if he's hungry" mentality.


We need to push for a movement that enlightens the Average Joe about the actual costs of keeping an animal so that they consider those vet bills, running costs, uvb lamps, etc.


then again, I'm sure a ton of people buy the animal for the "ooh ahh" factor and then if it dies then just spend $25 and get another one rather than fight the cost of care...

 

[hbskeet]

Although the financial aspect is a big part of it, I think it is fiercely compounded by the majority's lack of knowledge on animal husbandry and exotic care. Everybody thinks you just throw it in a tank with a light food and water and thats it. "He'll eat if he's hungry" mentality.


We need to push for a movement that enlightens the Average Joe about the actual costs of keeping an animal so that they consider those vet bills, running costs, uvb lamps, etc.


then again, I'm sure a ton of people buy the animal for the "ooh ahh" factor and then if it dies then just spend $25 and get another one rather than fight the cost of care...

Very true!! Not many people will take there animals to the vet. Especially if it cost them less than $100 bucks to buy. People in general won't even take themselves to the doctor when needed.

 

[k9monkey]

This is a great thread. I volunteer for a dog rescue and normally when I hear the word breeder, I think of the puppy mills across the country and frown. In this case I 100% agree with what is being said. The exotic market needs a strong breeder program so we dont have to remove all of the wild species for our own pleasure.

I would rather spend more for an addition to the family which I know is healthy than save a few bucks up front. The reality is most people are as someone else put it "greedy" and just treat their pets like a toy. I pay a few bucks for it to entertain me until it breaks, then throw it away and get a new one.

It is sad and it is annoying. I know the education process takes a long time and hopefully you can get this message out to more than just these forums.

Keep up the good fight.

 

[mickeyratfink]

This post and any other post needs facts and figures.

I believe the quota for brevs is many times smaller than the actual number exported.

I remember reading from a trusted forum member that even with the large number exported they are not in any danger due to exportation for the trade.

You really want to make a difference call some attention to the actual quota vs exported. You will make a lot of enemies if you ever succeeded.

Also no offense but having multiple colonies does not a breeder make. Multiple successful generations does. I have plans for cb brevs into multiple generations so I hope we can work together in the future

I don't think anyone is trying to be alarmist, but similar things were said by the ancient mariners in regards dodo's ! (And an argument used by the Japanese whaling industry at present)

If 15USD is what you are likely to be paying for a WC Brev at the moment, surely this is the criminality here. Have a think what else you can buy for 15 USD, Bucket of fried chicken, crate of beer etc etc. Doesn't value the life of the Brev much does it? (Not having a Yank bash here, just shocking the value of a creatures life exported 3,000 odd miles from Africa)

Whilst quotas versus exports may quantify the trade in Brevs, it doesn't illustrate any black market trade going on (wouldn't imagine it was BIG business with the 'value' of them) and also the animals that never get to market due to death etc during transportation.

I wouldn't pay 15USD for a WC Brev. They are invariably riddled with parasites, of unknown age, and could infect a whole colony due to trying to save 25USD.

With regards not to being in any danger due to to the exportation trade, I don't think that anyone seriously believes that by removing numbers from the indigenous population would have NO effect on their availablity and spread within the wild. As cited by others, surely most Brookesia species would testify to this in the long term.

 

[chamlover]

Very well stated..And i agree..So many w/c are sold because of the low cost, but in reality, it is generally money lost..Good luck my friend..

 

[ndugan7]

I know this thread is almost a month old but I not only agree, i can empathize. I can't even GIVE away captive bred bearded pygmies that I hatched out when I try to sell online. We'll see how free works, but from personal experience, a lot of my potential adopters ended up buying w/c's from importers.

 

[lisa h]

I, on the other hand, would pay a lot of money to get my hands on some cb brevs. The problem? None here. So, I pay $20 or whatever per animal (plus $100 shipping) to get animals of whatever age, and whatever health I get. Sometimes they're the wrong sex, and maybe even the wrong species. I always order more than I need because I know some aren't going to be that strong. Just my usual can't-get-anything-in-Canada rant, but until I can get something other than cb Veileds and Panthers, I'm gonna keep b*tching.

 

[Psychodrake]

The sad reality of wild-caughts in general. Although I did buy my Senegal wild-caught, I was too young and stupid to realise the impact at the time. I can't support the trade anymore. Everything I buy must have been captive-bred.

The problem with this is that the thing I most want to achieve as a Chameleon hobbyist is to successfully keep a Meller's Chameleon. I've heard pretty much every Melleri is wild-caught. It's possible that when I'm ready to take on the task, they may become captive-bred, if not, I'll never achieve my goal.