Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Rickeezee]

What do people think?

I have been thinking about the price of herps. Is it good that some herps are quite cheap, is it good that some are more expensive?

Let me explain; Part of me thinks that herps being cheap is not a good thing for example I have seen the following for sale quite cheap; FBT'S £5, whites Tree Frogs £8 , Yemen Chameleons £25, etc.

Being cheap may in some peoples eyes devalue them, and thus lead to poor care and incorrect husbandry housing etc. Simply because they are cheap and easy to obtain. Quite often the housing etc far outweighs the initial cost of the herp. Also may encourage oh I like that lets buy a few sort of attitude without any research e.g. in pet shops.

On the other hand, one could argue that some people may have loads of money and still not have a high regard for the herp irrespective of what it costs.

Again one could argue that some herps beeing readily obtainable and relatively cheap are a good intro to the hobby. Could also argue that the person buying them will treat them well anyway.

I guess my main question is does being cheap devalue the herp in the eyes of the potential buyer? Thus leading to problems further down the line in terms of costly care etc.

Part of me thinks yes it may devalue them, part of me thinks it's good to be able to access this wonderful hobby at a reasonable cost. So I am in two minds.
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[mattie]

it would be better if retailers asked a lower price for equipment and a higher price for herps them selves, like you can get green anoles for £7.00 so if someones getting a animal that cheap theyll proberly think well im not paying £100 + for the set up its wrong but thats what people think if it dies ill get another mentallity same with vet bills i took one of my leos to the vets last week got 5 ml of anti biotics and it cost £40 now if i wasnt a responsible keeper i might of thought oh well i can get another leo for £35 so im not paying £40 vets bills
the animals welfare should always come first i think if you have to worry how much things cost you shouldnt keep herps or any pet for that matter but thats just my opinion
end of rant

[Rickeezee]

I see your point Mattie. I would hope people would put the welfare of the animal first, but I guess that does not always happen.
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[Peter Parrot]

Seldom does. In an ideal world Mattie is spot on but unfortunately it aint!
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[Scott W]

I understand your thinking Rick but I don't think the price really makes a big difference, ceratinly not over a longer period of time. People who care will always care, no may how cheap or expensive, those that don't care still won't care if they paid £5 or £500.

This is the same for all animals, from Hamsters to Dogs.
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[Rickeezee]

[apocalypse]

I've heard quite often from pet shop owners that they don't make money out of selling herps but from the equipment they sell along with it

IE... the shop owner buys a bd from a breeder for £20 keeps it in the shop for a month feeding and heating costs and sells it for £40 profit not much but along with the bd he sells a Viv/heating/decor/food etc all in all as much as £400 handed over

so maybe pet shop owners think the cheaper the herp they sell the more they make from equipment where there profit comes from but the cheaper the price for the herp the less the pet shop will care for it

a local shop from me has an adult iguana given to them from an owner who couldn't keep up with the ig's growth (far too often this happens we all know) but the problem is the shop hasn't the room either so selling it very cheap to get rid of it asap thus to anyone that pays the £30 so more likely to another owner that treats the ig badly

you can easily spend £15,000 on a ball python these days would you treat it any different to a corn snake you bought for £30
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2.3.4 bearded dragons
1 horsfield female tortoise
1 hermans female tortoise
0.0.1 young water dragon

[The Docta]

Hello there,

In my point of view both Scott & mattie have a point.

A person who's learnt to feel empathy and to care, will do everything possible to provide the best conditions for a breathing creature, no matter how <expensive> or <cheap> it was. (Hmmm..just thinking about adopted kids from 3rd world countries... ).
On the other hand there's a trend (at least that's what I see in Germany) that more & more youngsters want to keep (extremely) venomous snakes.

I see ads in which e.g. Dendroaspis viridis is being offered for 300 Euro - quite cheap, if you ask me (equals app. 2 pairs of <expensive> NIKE sports shoes.... ).
Is that what we want? Thousands of households with youngsters, who might not all care enough and forget to close the mamba-tank because the cell phone is just ringing...?
I think, at least some animals, who could be a substantial threat to the community, should be <rare collector's items>.

Saludos

Jürgen

PS: In Germany we have an 'instrument' called <Sachkundenachweis> (transl. competence certificate).
It is a certificate resp. license designed by The German Herpetological Society (DGHT). To get that license you have to work yourself through a compendium (about 600 pages) that prepares you for a final test. After working through the compendium you may apply for the test which is carried out by veterinaries and other specialists allover Germany.
E.g. for reptile traders the competence certificate is obligatory.
In the DGHT we've often discussed to make this license obligatory for all herpers or at least for people who keep dangerous/venomous animals.
As you know, one idiot, whose animal does harm to anyone in public, can kill the reputation of a whole group of (mostly) responsible individuals.

The idea behind it is to make it generally more difficult to obtain reptiles and <turn those off> who don't like to invest the time and money to go through that test. Moreover this is a possibility to control the trade of reptiles without using money as a means of regulating the business.
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1,1 Elaphe dione; 1,1 Elaphe schrencki;
1,1 Zamenis persicus; 2,1 Rhinechis scalaris;
1,1 Gonyosoma prasinum

[stormiemanda]

i personal think that herp prices in my local reptile shop are well over priced for example they want £65 for a normal bd. yet if i go online to a breeder i can get one for around £30. now i dont have alot of money at all living on the breadline me so its hard to me to afford the herps yet they get everything they could possibly want from me they are always fed to a high standered and have all the best stuff in their vivs as i buy 1 item a week or there abouts plus i shop around alot to see what i can find. but the problem comes when i want a new herp i make my own vivs and i have quite a bit of spare viv stuff but its just the herps that put me off getting anouther purely because of the prices. i was thinking about getting a couple leo's i went to my local rep shop and they are asking up to £50 for normals!!! i go online and can get them for about £20 which is great but i dont drive and they are always miles and miles away and i hate to take them on the train or anything so yes it does put me off getting more. but in a way its good because some people will jsut go out and buy a cheap pet like rick said because its cheap not relising what having a herp and to look after it properly will mean. hope ive made my point clear as i no i ramble on a bit!!!!
manda xx

[stormiemanda]

sorry just wanted to add that i got my storm free with all viv and stuff. i toke her because she was badly treated that was in september ive since upgraded her 3 ft x1.1/2 viv (way to small for a 2ft wd) to a 5ftx2x3 viv and replaced everything that she came with i have taken her to the vets about 4 times each time costing around £30+. yet i paid nothing for her but in the end she has cost me around £300+ id say. and why do i do it? because she is still a creature like us i love her dearly and yes she may only be worth about £100 but i dont care shes my pet and i love seeing her little face when she is well and happy almost like she is smiling at me. i see alot of people trying to get herps for free not relising how much prices can add up in vets and stuff. and most of the time free animals need some sort of vet treatment they are free for a reson normaly.
sorry just wanted to add this as its something i feel strongly about lol
manda xx