The Reptile hobby in New Zealand

[Insect Direct]

Ok I'll be honest, this hobby has actually made me a very rich man........just not in terms of dollars. :lol:

[livingart]

lifes lessons are not cheap sometimes

[repto]

you could be onto something there ID.

[acanthurus]

I have to confess I have not met a great number of poeple who are in the hobby. I will say though that it is a little unfair to assume that people who are asking high prices are in for the money. I have met quite a few who have set out to get rich (in a dollar sense that is), and all have failed.

[livingart]

I will say though that it is a little unfair to assume that people who are asking high prices are in for the money.

i suppose one could assume they are asking a high price to ensure they go to a good home

but then the ability to pay for something doesn't mean the ability to look after it is there as well

[repto]

if you have not met many people in the hobby,maybe you are not qualified to pass comment on something you don`t know alot about?

[acanthurus]

I think its a little naive to think that just because I don't know alot of the keepers that my ideas are less valid. I would also like to think I've been in this hobby a little longer than most who seem to have an opinion.

[repto]

well if you let people know what you kept,where you live,etc etc you might be taken more seriously?Not just pop up like a jack in the box and start stiring people up.I see you haven`t bothered with the welcome board to introduce yourself?

[Insect Direct]

i suppose one could assume they are asking a high price to ensure they go to a good home

but then the ability to pay for something doesn't mean the ability to look after it is there as well

Supply v demand is the main factor but not the only one that determines prices.

[acanthurus]

Didn't realise it was in the rules that everyone had to clearly state their credentials. As much as I like to see pictures posted of other peoples reptiles, once agian I didn't realise it was a requirement. If you choose to then put less creedence on my opinions then thats up to you.

[repto]

not the rules at all,but if you knew anything about the hobby like you claim you should also know whats at risk in terms of peoples collections and longloved pets?

[acanthurus]

Sigh, another attempt at an interesting thread going to waste.

not the rules at all,but if you knew anything about the hobby like you claim you should also know whats at risk in terms of peoples collections and longloved pets?

Repto mate, firstly I really cant make any sense of your above comment. Secondly this is a public forum, and we are all entitled to our opinions. Truth is I really dont care who you are, where you come from or what size shoes you wear. If you feel threatened just because someone challenges what you have to say then maybe an open discussion such as this is not for you.

Now can we please get back on track....

[livingart]

there is always another point of view

i think i understand where repto is coming from

your first post on the forum created quite a reaction and subsequent posts as well

you have given no indication of your experience in the hobby

so some will be guarded in how they respond to you

it might even be said with the name acanthurus that it could be a sock puppet account for varanophile

as in varanus acanthurus, ridge tailed monitor

as in this thread

Thought I'd share a few pics of my latest additions, taken before I put them in their enclosure...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310855.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310834.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310847.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310810.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310813.jpg

Actually I wish they were mine :oops: I'm babysitting them for a friend of mine. He's had them for quite a few years now and even had eggs, but has never incubated them. Going to be difficult to give them back I think...

[acanthurus]

Its a shame to now see a site administrator also get involved in ruining a discussion that may of had some potential.

Actually chose the name based on my favorite genus of marine fish, and sorry to disappoint but I am not Haisley.

You are right there is always more than one point of view and if you look back a page I was stating mine. Repto made a comment about pople getting rich from selling reptiles in NZ, I simply challenged him on whether this comment was based on actual knowledge or just plain assumptions. His reply was to question my right to challenge him, which I guess in many ways confirms that his statement was simple assumption.

It seems we are doomed to failure in this hobby, if we cannot even have a discussion amongst supposed enthusiasts without it descending into bickering and paranoia.

[livingart]

i was merely trying to point out how assumptions could be made from what is posted

communicating through the written word can get people offside with each other

when face to face they may like each other

it is indeed a "shame" to have watched all these threads ruined by a few

and edited posts to make them more palatable, been a bit of work

and probably not worth it :roll:

[Insect Direct]

who cares who anyone is or isnt, dont think ive introduced myself yet either :oops:, im just glad none of you judge me before you actually know me .

this is a public forum after all, anything said here should be said with that in mind.

[livingart]

i'm livingart and i'm an alcoholic

:oops: sorry wrong forum :oops:

[Insect Direct]

Atleast your not alone here :lol:

[livingart]

i don't drink

life messes me up enough

[Insect Direct]

There is with some people confusion over the status of the animal being in NZ. The paper work may be available for an animal to be legally imported but to be kept in confinement in a zoo or similar, but that does not mean that they can be legally kept in private hands without that paperwork. It would be great for Maf to get a decent system going but it is probably easier for them the way it is.

Were any reptiles actually imported for private keepers back in the day?

[livingart]

yes there were

a few mini zoos had some reptiles on display

the brighton zoo in CHCH had a few from memory

[phoenix44]

That is going back to Sep 2008 is it not Mark?

[livingart]

That is going back to Sep 2008 is it not Mark?

1960's methinks

edit: :oops: you mean the thread with the ridgetails

possibly didn't look at the date, just remembered seeing a thread in the past

so searched monitors on here

i still have a good memory left

[phoenix44]

Yes I mean the ridgetails :lol:

It absolutely has to be sep 2008 or after, not before.

[henward]

Ridge tail monitors.... interesting....

anyway.

depends on the reptile you sell.

it also depends on when you sell it.

for example -

beardies when it first came apparent that they were available in the open market...

i remember them for sale for 2500 dollars each!

now, lets say, it takes 2 years to get them to breeding a ge from a small animal...(lets ignore where the animal comes from at such a young age)

when they breed, according to literature... and words of breeders, they can lay many eggs in one season. Say someone has 2 females.... has to cull 50% of the babies if deformed (unsure if reptiles have deformities like fish)

say 2 females, can produce approximately 20 viable young each. Total of 40

each young WAS sold, notice i say WAS sold for average of $2000 each (make room for bartering, though i doubt that as at the time, there was only 2 known breeders of such reptiles)

40 x 2000 = thats 80,000 dollars.

The cost of a 100w heater on for 24/7 right now at current market rate is about $4 per week. Back then would hvae been less.

THe lizards were sold more than it is now, and the power bills then was less, not to mention initial insect breeding start up cost.

I have bred mealworms myself, very easy.... i had thousands, tens of thousands at any one time.... i had to freeze them to preserve them. Thats cheap as chips..... bran is 1 dollar per KG in todays inflated prices, back then would have been 30c. i used carrots as a source of water... you can buy bulk carrots at less than $1 per kg, once again in todays prices.

so to say that reptiles breeders dont make money is a gross misconception....

what you should say is that:

"reptile breeders make money only in the first 3 seaons of laying.... after that, everyone breeds that reptile...then you gotta find new ones to breed"