IHD

Thank you everyone! I may take you up on your offer in the not too distant future Reuben. Cheers, Ian

Thank you for the welcomes. I wouldn't say I am disappointed with the species available in New Zealand. I will eventually get around to applying for a permit to own some of the native NZ geckos which are not readily available in the US market. I think they top the list for display animals in this country. I must say the quality of exotics here is a bit disappointing, but also a good thing! Hear me out on this: In the US you can purchase many outstanding phenotypical variations, both genetic and polygentic in origin. With VERY limited gene pools available here it will take many years, if not decades to selectively breed and manipulate lines to reach the qualities that every mum and pop pet store has in the US. While this may be disappointing to some, others like myself see this as an opportunity to "relive" history in a sense. Through quality control, good husbandry and purposeful selective breeding we can all strive to achieve better quality animals as far as health, size, colour, pattern and genetic make ups are concerned.

Hello everyone, I am new to the forums. I'll give a quick rundown of my background. I am originally from the US; I've been here five years now. I extensive knowledge of husbandry including breeding and genetics of reptiles and most animals in general. I grow up on an Arabian stud farm http://rojoarabians.com/ from the age of five until early teens. During these times my parents bred Boston Terriers and Persian Cats. I spent most of my time herping and fishing when not "helping"(and probably getting in the way half the time). Around 7 or 8 years old I acquired my first reptile, a Green Iguana(I cringe at the thought now! LOL) Over the coming years, people who were tired of their iguanas pushed theirs on to me. After about 10 years I managed to "push" the three I had accumulated to a friend and happily saw the end of those days! Over the later years of my lizard keeping days; I also picked up a few Jackson Chameleons and an Ambanja Chameleon. Around 8 or 9 years old I acquired my first ball python. Over the coming years I "rescued/adopted"(notice I didn't say "pushed" this time :lar: ) two more ball pythons and a number of red (corn snake) and yellow rat snakes. When I was 15 and had my first decently paying job, I saved up and purchased a car(when I turned 16) and then started accumulating Honduran Milksnakes. I started breeding my first milks when I was 17(once they were breeding size). Once I had purchased my first Honduran my collection grew. . and grew. . .and grew. I sold most of the hatchlings except for the male double homozygous hold backs that I needed to further my projects and further invested this money into new projects. Around this time I also branched out to other projects such as black milksnakes and mainly ball pythons. At the peak of my breeding days I kept over 100 breeder sized animals. Mostly consisting of my "higher end" Honduran combos and many, many ball python projects. I gave all of these up to move to New Zealand and have since been herpless. I think it is nearly time to remedy that problem. Also since this is a fish forum; I have kept a variety of freshwater tanks over the years and a few saltwater tanks. My saltwater tanks mostly consisted of live rock(I love playing "spot something new today" with live rocks!) with a few “reef friendly” fish. Cheers, Ian EDIT: I have also kept Peach-Faced Lovebirds and Cockateils. Ive cared for Sulfur Cockatoos, African Greys and a Blue And Gold Macaw. Birds are not my favourite animals but there you go. I also have two mates that owned competing reptile shops near where I lived in Florida. I spent many an afternoon talking reptiles and exchanging knowledge. These provided much hands-on-experience with species that I either didn't have the room and/or desire to keep. To save money i have also propagated much of my feeders, mainly rodents but I have done crickets for a while and the easy-low room dependent mealworms and super worms.