What i like and dislike about expos

[qdude46]

So yesterday my best friend and i went to the Pamona super show and this has been my 3rd reptile expo and i have seen many patterns on what i like and dont like. My friend went to buy a ball python and left with a beautiful sub-adult male pastel and i went for some pygmy supplies and for the fun of it. What i love about going to the expos is meeting fellow herp lovers, the supplies are cheaper, the amazing herps for sale and display, the drawings and activities, and being able to meet a breeder face to face before purchasing an animal. What i dont like is seeing people trying to scam buyers and not taking care of their animals right, people buying a herp that they did not know existed just hours before and watching people walk out with iguanas and veileds with terribly small enclosures. So what good and bad experiences have you had at expos?

 

[KatiLemons]

I went to a reptile show here in Michigan yesterday. I had paid for a Green Tree Python Hatchling and a Jacksons a couple weeks ago and instead of having them shipped the breeder offered to bring them to me at the show. He runs the show so I thought this would be perfect because we needed to get some stuff for the setups ready before we got them anyways. When we got there yesterday, the breeder "forgot" to bring the jacksons and lucky for him he remembered the Green Tree Python. (If he had forgotten that I would have been PI$$ed!) While we were walking around and were looking at the other stuff available at the show it was a shame how the poor Veilds were being sold.. In small deli cups for cheaper than dirt.... THey had a bunch of babies in a tank and they were 10 bucks each and looked only to be about 3-4 weeks old.... It was SAD.... I also agree with you about people walking out with animals they have no idea how to take care of and obviously aren't prepared for the commitment.

 

[qdude46]

I know, i hate seeing the tiny veileds. I saw 3 sub adult veiles together in a all glass small vertical tank with only the top and front as a screen and they were all fighting. What was worse is seeing these people buying their 8 year old boy a 3 week veiled and had no clue what it was, they didnt even know about the feeders, enclosures, lighting and everything, its just so sad.

 

[KatiLemons]

Yeah, When I first got into chameleons, I had done a TON of research and my first was a Panther (who I still have) that I got from Chamalot Chameleons. I waited all winter b/c it was too cold to have one shipped. I was buying stuff every week and they were promoting that STUPID chameleon movie Rango... They had veilds in the pet store on sale and they were giving free movie tickets to people who bought a cham.... It was the same situation, kids who were too young for a reptile with that much responsibility and their parents buying them for them.... Such a shame... But then again I have gone to shows where people have had chameleons for sale and will not allow young kids to buy them.

 

[Seiryu]

I sent you a PM Kati. Who was the guy who had Jacksons and ran the show? You are talking about the Taylor, MI show right? I was vending there.

 

[chnk]

the one that came locally in my area was pretty good other than seeing tons of snakes and geckos being sold in cups, the chameleons other than some sub adults being placed in the same cage were treated pretty nicely. All the breeders I talked too was pretty informative about they animals they sold.

There was only one breeder that got on my nerves, only because of the condition of some of the animals they sold. They had like 10 jackson chameleons in a single cage they were all black from stress.That breeder seemed to just agree with everything i said even when i purposely said bad information all for the sake of the sale. I bought a large 3 foot water dragon from him because the poor dragon was so skinny and most of his nosed rubbed off from being in a small enclosure. I named him grim jaw because i can see his front teeth from his rubbed out nosed

The breeder gave me alot of bad information on keeping a water dragon. Told me he mostly fed on vegetables,which when i got home, the dragon showed no interest. Luckily he goes nuts for crickets and loves gong in my gold fish pond for a swim.

Bad other than that the expo was nice, it was very refreshing to see so many nice healthy reptiles

 

[juice28]

my first one was a repticon show this year and it was cool..i had never been to a reptile convention before and it was kinda small but it still had some pretty cool stuff. some great prices and some stupid high prices...like 250 for regular plain ball pythons lol..

i will not name the vendor table but there was one vendor that had ALOT of stuff from tarantulas to prairie dogs..me n my sister got vip tickets so we could get there early so i walked round for about n hour n a half just looking and observing the animals, i wasnt going to just rush and impulse buy something that might not be healthy...so after a while i had been eyeing this "giant spiked cham" that they had..2 of about 8 inches and a foot long together in the same cage...that wasnt the bad part...im going to paint the pic for you as best i can lol..

the tables are basically set up ina "U" using 8 tables..3 on each side 2 in the middle..im standing the right corner of the "U"...the guy walked by and asked if we needed anything (mind you he is walking from the top left of the "U" around the tables head to the left) and i said yea i got a couple questions about the chameleons you have here.. this really big guy was walking up at the same time to the center of the left side of the "U" when the vendor asked me if we need anything...i say yes and the vendor say ok..sees the guy walking up and goes straight to him and starts talking and asking him what he looking for and all this and just left me standing there...and NEVER came back lol..so at this point in time im feeling...well played and highly highly disrespected..and yes im going to play the race card so dont get mad..and def feel free to laugh cuz me and some friends of mine who have a shop laughed super hard at it... but me and the vendor were the only black people there LMAO....if anyone shouldve wanted to help me it should have been him LMAO.. at least that how i felt.. i was like damn bro...its like that..so i ended up going to the vendor right across from him and dropping a crap ton on money...bought all types of stuff and went to the vendor right next to him and bought a ton of feeders..

.AFTER THAT HE STOPS ME as im walking by and asked if i was still interested in the chams and i replied to him, i was an hour ago but you brushed me off and ignored me, i was going to buy your whole cham display with both of them included, 2 of your tarantulas, a couple of your snakes and feeders for everything but id rather spend 2 grand on half of what i wanted and get treated like im as good as the next than spend 2 grand with you get twice as much as i wanted but get brushed off because i dont LOOK like money...nothing you have on your table is worth me paying YOU for it... maybe next time, you wont just turn an walk away while a customer is asking you stuff..and i turned around right in his face and went bought my baby panther cham lol

 

[Mike Fisher]

.AFTER THAT HE STOPS ME as im walking by and asked if i was still interested in the chams and i replied to him, i was an hour ago but you brushed me off and ignored me, i was going to buy your whole cham display with both of them included, 2 of your tarantulas, a couple of your snakes and feeders for everything but id rather spend 2 grand on half of what i wanted and get treated like im as good as the next than spend 2 grand with you get twice as much as i wanted but get brushed off because i dont LOOK like money...nothing you have on your table is worth me paying YOU for it... maybe next time, you wont just turn an walk away while a customer is asking you stuff..and i turned around right in his face and went bought my baby panther cham lol

Good for you!

 

[juice28]

Good for you!

darn skippy!! lol..trat me like im not supposed to be there.. lol and to add insult to injury..a few people i met up wit there didnt get anything from him eithe for that cuz they were around, he just didnt know we knew each other till after he saw us comparing pick ups

 

[laurie]

my first one was a repticon show this year and it was cool..i had never been to a reptile convention before and it was kinda small but it still had some pretty cool stuff. some great prices and some stupid high prices...like 250 for regular plain ball pythons lol..

i will not name the vendor table but there was one vendor that had ALOT of stuff from tarantulas to prairie dogs..me n my sister got vip tickets so we could get there early so i walked round for about n hour n a half just looking and observing the animals, i wasnt going to just rush and impulse buy something that might not be healthy...so after a while i had been eyeing this "giant spiked cham" that they had..2 of about 8 inches and a foot long together in the same cage...that wasnt the bad part...im going to paint the pic for you as best i can lol..

the tables are basically set up ina "U" using 8 tables..3 on each side 2 in the middle..im standing the right corner of the "U"...the guy walked by and asked if we needed anything (mind you he is walking from the top left of the "U" around the tables head to the left) and i said yea i got a couple questions about the chameleons you have here.. this really big guy was walking up at the same time to the center of the left side of the "U" when the vendor asked me if we need anything...i say yes and the vendor say ok..sees the guy walking up and goes straight to him and starts talking and asking him what he looking for and all this and just left me standing there...and NEVER came back lol..so at this point in time im feeling...well played and highly highly disrespected..and yes im going to play the race card so dont get mad..and def feel free to laugh cuz me and some friends of mine who have a shop laughed super hard at it... but me and the vendor were the only black people there LMAO....if anyone shouldve wanted to help me it should have been him LMAO.. at least that how i felt.. i was like damn bro...its like that..so i ended up going to the vendor right across from him and dropping a crap ton on money...bought all types of stuff and went to the vendor right next to him and bought a ton of feeders..

.AFTER THAT HE STOPS ME as im walking by and asked if i was still interested in the chams and i replied to him, i was an hour ago but you brushed me off and ignored me, i was going to buy your whole cham display with both of them included, 2 of your tarantulas, a couple of your snakes and feeders for everything but id rather spend 2 grand on half of what i wanted and get treated like im as good as the next than spend 2 grand with you get twice as much as i wanted but get brushed off because i dont LOOK like money...nothing you have on your table is worth me paying YOU for it... maybe next time, you wont just turn an walk away while a customer is asking you stuff..and i turned around right in his face and went bought my baby panther cham lol

Good job, that is how I am. Also if they don't know about and sep up their chams humanely, I won't buy from them, no matter the cost.

 

[qdude46]

Good job, that is how I am. Also if they don't know about and sep up their chams humanely, I won't buy from them, no matter the cost.

Agreed, I saw a fischers Cham at the bottom of its cage just sitting their and I could t believe how many times I saw bark at the bottom for veileds.

 

[juice28]

Yea im big on service. And ill purposely go somewhere dressed in some sweats and a clean t just to see how im treated compared to someone dressed up more. And sadly...the chams looked really good lol..good weight, skin claws...they were well cared for...looked a bit stressed but im guessing that cuz they were in a small cage and n display with tons of people walking past like oooo ahhh taking pictures etc but other than looking like the didnt want to be there..the looked healthy at least to me lol. but he just had poor service and I see him at the next show I go to...ill pass him up again most likely lol