Where do you go to find reptiles for sale ?

[ShaunMorelia]

Interesting topic and discussion.
Being a hobbyist myself, I focus mainly on Morelia and their subspecies (debatable).
Having a full-time job and only doing 3-5 pairings a season at most, keeps me more than busy.
As for making a profit, I doubt I've even come close to breaking even. But that's not why I do it.
I do it because I love keeping these animals and being a bit of a mutation fanatic, I like to see what pops out and how each mutation interacts with one another.

I frequent the same classifieds pages and well, but there is also a new one that I'm starting to use as well called reptileclassifieds.com.au

 

[Sdaji]

Hi Wokka,

That may have been one of JW's ambitions with Snake Ranch but I know that another motivation was to attempt to corner the market. I think people forget that as well as his passion for reptiles he is also an astute businessman and the primary purpose for establishing the business was to profit. Unfortunately as far as the later went, it looks like it turned out to be pretty much and epic fail. I was told by a very reliable source that his partner ditched out about 2 years after it started operating

Wokka knows about that story... he is that business partner

 

[Wokka]

Hi Wokka,

That may have been one of JW's ambitions with Snake Ranch but I know that another motivation was to attempt to corner the market. I think people forget that as well as his passion for reptiles he is also an astute businessman and the primary purpose for establishing the business was to profit. Unfortunately as far as the later went, it looks like it turned out to be pretty much and epic fail. I was told by a very reliable source that his partner ditched out about 2 years after it started operating and in the end JW couldn't get rid of it quick enough.

George.

#George , I can assure you all of the partners in Snake Ranch in JW's day, would have been financially better off doing something other than Snake Ranch but that was not the driving force. One day I'll meet you at the Bello Federal and tell you all about it.

 

[Waterrat]

Michael - To my knowledge Snake Ranch still operating (and as far as I'm aware is owned by a real estate salesman and rugby league player now - who I might add both have a passion for reptiles) but to what extent I'm not sure. Someone said they think it is mainly catering to pet shops and those with an interest in designer reptiles these days but I don't have any direct personal contact with the owners and this information could just be hearsay.

George.

Hi George, thanks for the reply. The real estate salesman has been out of SR for a long time now and I haven't heard anything about SR for equally long time. Is SX still operating commercially? You would remember from my earlier (ancient) posts, it was always my prediction that the big guys will go first, they can't keep up with the backyard breeders with no overheads. So, we finally have a true hobby where everybody can afford everything (well, almost). I guess it's good for the hobby but I worry for the reptiles, they may very soon become disposable entity, just like goldfish. JMO

 

[CrazyNut]

Interesting topic and discussion.
Being a hobbyist myself, I focus mainly on Morelia and their subspecies (debatable).
Having a full-time job and only doing 3-5 pairings a season at most, keeps me more than busy.
As for making a profit, I doubt I've even come close to breaking even. But that's not why I do it.
I do it because I love keeping these animals and being a bit of a mutation fanatic, I like to see what pops out and how each mutation interacts with one another.

I frequent the same classifieds pages and well, but there is also a new one that I'm starting to use as well called reptileclassifieds.com.au

I quite often sell for less than I paid. The only reason I sell my reptiles is to use the money to buy more reptiles (the kind that aren't ussally up for grabs at expos).

 

[Smittiferous]

On this note.... What have people's experiences with RDU been like? How many dodgy people operate on there? I just got a response to a wanted ad at 1am (weird for an Australian site) with not-so-great English, an incomplete mobile number and a suspect email address. Seems legit, not...


EDIT: used an IP tracer to trace the IP of the original contact attempt to Cameroon. Nope.

 

[trin_007]

From a total newbie perspective, how would someone know if the reptile being sold is actually legitimately registered, particularly when buying from somewhere like gumtree or private ads?

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

 

[BredliFreak]

On this note.... What have people's experiences with RDU been like? How many dodgy people operate on there? I just got a response to a wanted ad at 1am (weird for an Australian site) with not-so-great English, an incomplete mobile number and a suspect email address. Seems legit, not...


EDIT: used an IP tracer to trace the IP of the original contact attempt to Cameroon. Nope.

LOL

I saw a spencers for sale in Tassie. TF?

 

[kingofnobbys]

From a total newbie perspective, how would someone know if the reptile being sold is actually legitimately registered, particularly when buying from somewhere like gumtree or private ads?

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

Very hard to know for sure, but surely they can take a picture of their keeper's permit showing their licence number to keep reptiles and email that to you just prior to finalising the deal , no proof of licence no buy IMO.

Another reason to steer clear of long distance reptile purchases IMO, as you don't get to eyeball the licence and have to rely on them sending the animal to you (and it's always cash up front and if they are crooks you can kiss goodbye to your $ ).

 

[Smittiferous]

LOL

I saw a spencers for sale in Tassie. TF?

Coincidentally when I asked this person where they were from they replied with "TASMANIA HOBART"

Then "Are you wanting to come to my place to see the animal?"

"Yeah sure mate, send me your address and I'll be there tomorrow at lunchtime"

They never told me where they lived

 

[BredliFreak]

Yeah you might be the Tassie NPWS or even worse a legitimate buyer :shock:

 

[alichamp]

From a total newbie perspective, how would someone know if the reptile being sold is actually legitimately registered, particularly when buying from somewhere like gumtree or private ads?

Very hard to know for sure, but surely they can take a picture of their keeper's permit showing their licence number to keep reptiles and email that to you just prior to finalising the deal , no proof of licence no buy IMO.

Another reason to steer clear of long distance reptile purchases IMO, as you don't get to eyeball the licence and have to rely on them sending the animal to you (and it's always cash up front and if they are crooks you can kiss goodbye to your $ ).

I agree that citing a licence is necessary.

The tricky part is when dealing with licence-exempt animals, such as in the ACT where you can keep blue tongues lizards, long neck turtles and bearded dragons without a licence. Here it is a bit trickier to make sure they are legit kept animals and not pinched from the wild to sell off. I guess you just get used to what kept animals vs wild animals look like. I would ask as much about the history and care of the animal as I could (how old, where they got it, how long they've had it, what they feed it, etc etc). If they can't tell me much or are a bit vague that's probably not a good sign.

 

[trin_007]

Howe would you tell a wild snake from captive bred then?

 

[cement]

Well, for a start you take a sample of faeces to the vet for a scan and if they have a parasite /worms theres a good chance it is/was.

I sold a heap of hatchies to a large breeder and wondered how they made ends meet. I never saw my ones advertised on their site so the possibilities of them sold for large dollars elsewhere pops up.
I did 2 clutches this year, 1 last year, none the year before, and 3 the year before that. The small keeper breeder should easily survive, when you know what your doing your running costs can be minimised without compromising health, and a good healthy clutch will sustain a small collection no worries. When you enjoy your collection maintenance and have a real appreciation for even the most common of species it's not work. But don't give up your day job!