There is a post in another thread from Herptrader saying: “Standing still at this stage of the hobby's development is pretty much going backwards!” These people should know what is going on! I hinted on my views of the reptile-keeping hobby in another thread and received few emails asking; “what do you mean?” As much as I hate predictions and the crystal ball, there is some writing on the wall and this is my interpretation of it:
Herpetoculture in the US took a considerable dive this year (perhaps even earlier). The Expos and reptile shows that once attracted thousands of visitors and exhibitors, are now half empty, some were even cancelled. That’s not to say that this will influence the Aussie scene but looking at all the other trends, the chances are that it may.
It seems to me that our hobby has reached the point of saturation and the recruitment has slowed down. Thanks to the low prices, most serious reptile keepers already have all they ever wanted to have and this will affect the already shattered market. In the not so distant past, breeders made money from sales of their offspring and spent the money on buying other reptiles – this is not likely to continue because currently there are more reptiles on the market than buyers and even the dirt cheap stuff is not selling.
Another factor is - every keeper has his / her threshold. We all have our limitations when it comes to expanding our collections. Constraints such as shortage of room, more time spent on maintenance, costs (the ever increasing power bills, increasing costs of reptile food, vet bills, etc.) and family relations e.g. when missus say ‘enough is enough’, these facts can't be ignored.
The increasing costs may lead to downsizing of collections, which means more animals for sale … and they would be hard to offload, as most keepers prefer to buy juveniles.
All this may also have a snowballing effect on manufacturers and retailers of equipment and reptile foods.
If the NSW Gestapo steps in with the proposed cage size restrictions and some action on jags, that would be another nail in the coffin.
It’s not all doom and gloom, we will be swapping reptiles rather than selling and buying like in the old days and those who entered this “industry” for the wrong reasons will fall out, making the hobby cleaner and more respectable.
Cheers
Michael
Herpetoculture in the US took a considerable dive this year (perhaps even earlier). The Expos and reptile shows that once attracted thousands of visitors and exhibitors, are now half empty, some were even cancelled. That’s not to say that this will influence the Aussie scene but looking at all the other trends, the chances are that it may.
It seems to me that our hobby has reached the point of saturation and the recruitment has slowed down. Thanks to the low prices, most serious reptile keepers already have all they ever wanted to have and this will affect the already shattered market. In the not so distant past, breeders made money from sales of their offspring and spent the money on buying other reptiles – this is not likely to continue because currently there are more reptiles on the market than buyers and even the dirt cheap stuff is not selling.
Another factor is - every keeper has his / her threshold. We all have our limitations when it comes to expanding our collections. Constraints such as shortage of room, more time spent on maintenance, costs (the ever increasing power bills, increasing costs of reptile food, vet bills, etc.) and family relations e.g. when missus say ‘enough is enough’, these facts can't be ignored.
The increasing costs may lead to downsizing of collections, which means more animals for sale … and they would be hard to offload, as most keepers prefer to buy juveniles.
All this may also have a snowballing effect on manufacturers and retailers of equipment and reptile foods.
If the NSW Gestapo steps in with the proposed cage size restrictions and some action on jags, that would be another nail in the coffin.
It’s not all doom and gloom, we will be swapping reptiles rather than selling and buying like in the old days and those who entered this “industry” for the wrong reasons will fall out, making the hobby cleaner and more respectable.
Cheers
Michael
