Then and now

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Brooklynella

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2006
587
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LI, NY
I'm not a big internet person so much of what I see makes me think "Wow" when it comes to certain subjects. For example, the availability of Reptiles is stunning compared to years ago. Seems like everyone is a breeder or "Rescue" group nowadays. Tiger retics, Indigo's and Albino's simply couldn't be had back in 1982 (The date I chose because I got my first job in a pet shop back in 1982). So availability is much better now.
Common stuff in 1982:
Ball Pythons-couldn't give them away. Listless and fussy eaters; often went 6 months without eating. Came in infested with ticks.

Savanah Monitors: Wild. Came in caked in mud and tick infested. They were as hardy then as they are now!

Tegu's: very popular.

Nile Monitors: very popular, especially babies.

Greek Tortoise- the Sulcata of the 80's.

Juvenile/Adult rat snakes, corn's, kings. No babies available, they were always over 12" and had a loyal following even back then.

Turtles: No babies; they didn't come back until the mid 90's. RES, Painted, Mud and Musk as well as maps were popular but all over 4" in length.
Oddly, Mata Mata's were fairly common and aprox $70 for a 4" specimen.

Coachwhips, black racers were available but were generally considered nippy, high strung pets. I agree.:D

Hognose (Both western & eastern) were not available but were sought after. I, to this day, have never seen a live western (I don't hang in out reptile centers or pet shops) and the easterns were all local wild caught.

Boas: garden variety red tails very popular. No Dumeril's, Hog Island, Soloman, etc. They could be had for a lot of money though. I recall a conversation with a reptile dealer regarding a Hog island that went something like this:
"Hog Island? Cool. How much"
A: "You don't want to know!":eek:

Burmese Python: Very popular. Too bad really.:( The snake to have throughout the 80's and well into the 90's.

Agama's and Chuckwalla: very popular. I think Chuckwalla's started the "Aw, isn't that cute" lizard trend.

Baby Iguana's and Water Dragons: very popular. Too bad (Again).:(
5 lined skinks and anoles were everywhere. Alligator lizards were quite common too, as was the Basilisk.

This is my view from a large metropolis. Obviously your results may vary.
 
Well...I think that ball pythons have come a long way. Captive breeding has produced animals that are so sought after, average price tags for high-end morphs hang around $1000...

Trying to figure out the underlying message of your post, though....are you implying that the availability and popularity of reptile keeping is a good thing or a bad thing?
 
Most of these animals retained popularity because their dollar value was never a significant factor, hence alot of inexperienced keepers who bought them for a cool factor made them poor choices as first exotic pets.
 
elevatethis;1536116; said:
Well...I think that ball pythons have come a long way. Captive breeding has produced animals that are so sought after, average price tags for high-end morphs hang around $1000...

Trying to figure out the underlying message of your post, though....are you implying that the availability and popularity of reptile keeping is a good thing or a bad thing?
Click to expand...


Underlying message? Where am I implying that reptile keeping is good or bad?:confused:
 
varanio;1536130; said:
Most of these animals retained popularity because their dollar value was never a significant factor, hence alot of inexperienced keepers who bought them for a cool factor made them poor choices as first exotic pets.
Click to expand...

:iagree:

Every springtime there is a show in Richmond and with all of the newly import crates coming in, imported animals are all over the place. I watched a 30 gallon tank full of about 100 baby savannah monitors empty out throughout the day - being sold to all kinds of people from seasoned keepers to, no joke, a father buying his 5 year old daughter a "cute baby lizard." It was sickening, knowing that very few to none of these animals would live more than a couple of months, max.

Some of them are basically viewed by the public as "disposable pets." My time working in a pet store taught me that there absolutely are people out there that do not value the lives of animals in any way.

One thing that I'll never forget: There was one repeat customer who would bring his family into the store after eating lunch at the pizza place next door. He had 4 kids, ages ranging from 6 to 11ish. Every week, he would buy a feeder mouse fuzzy for his daughters - knowing full well the kids would play with them that day and then it would die a day or two later as soon as the kids lost interest. I realize that they are feeders, but I still value life and see it as a waste if it isn't used to nourish another animal.

Worse yet, I remember one sunday he bought his son a baby bearded dragon. Had no interest in purchasing the proper complete setup or any feeder insects for that matter. He had "heard" they can eat lettuce and thought that would be sufficient. They left the store with the lizard in a cardboard box and that was it.

3 weeks later, he bought another baby bearded. 2 weeks later, another. Some time later when I saw the customer again I asked him how they were doing and he said that they were "no longer with us." At 79.99 a piece, he could of bought the proper setup and still had the first one alive and well.

Disposable pets. The problem is not the availability of reptiles, but the values and attitudes of PEOPLE. Sorry for the long post, just thought I'd share.
 
varanio;1536130; said:
Most of these animals retained popularity because their dollar value was never a significant factor, hence alot of inexperienced keepers who bought them for a cool factor made them poor choices as first exotic pets.
Click to expand...


Totally agree. Unfortunately this is still a problem today.
 
elevatethis;1536168; said:
I was just guessing, since the post just seems like a statement in general. What was your purpose here?
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The purpose is this is an internet discussion forum and people talk and stuff.
You seem to be doing just fine; you have 3 posts in the thread.;)
 
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