> I am raising for breeding ball pythons. I still have my love for keeping herps and have moved to a species I can be successful with. They bring in a good income supplementation as well.But for now they are income draining.They are very cool though. Does the May useless mass importation of balls piss me off? Yup. It really isn't needed.They do well and breed well in captivity.



Agreed, and I didn't mean that you don't breed or keep anything, I was specifically referring to chams.



> Back to the delicate species and how you can help.

I know you are dealing in pardalais and the newer colorful location varieties.I also like you and know you mean the best for your charges.

This said I believe you keep breeding charts and probably keep track of the animals you have sold. This information can prove to be invaluable in identifying where any glitches may be and what cam be done to prevent them.

I am all for the continuation of the hobby and the importation for genetic integrity,but only if the animals are in fact living and successfully breeding beyond the breeders care.



I think that is one of the hardest parts. Knowing what is happening to all the animals after they have been sold can be very tough to keep track of.



> And being that vieleds, panthers and jacksons are considered the hardy species, why aren't these species being proven out and the rest left alone until these are successfully breed to F-5 beyond the breeders hands?



Why, because people want what they can't have and since the other species are harder to keep alive and breed there just aren't as many around. Although it isn't right, it is human nature. One of the best things that can be done is to tighten quotas.



> Learning curves? Are you saying you have this down to a science and education will keep all of the animals alive? If so please start teaching. If by learning curve you mean that further experimentation will eventually find the key to captive survival, then what is the time frame and how many animals will this take?



By learning curve I meant futher experimentation. As far as time frame and how many animals it is really hard to say. But again I think tighter quotas would help. The pardalis quotas is a fair number in my opinion. Given the five main localities being Nosy Be, Ambanja, Tamatave, Sambava and now Ambilobe, that would give each locality 400, which I don't think is a whole lot. If other species would have similiar quotas I think it would help solve a few of the problems.



> If breeders were willing to disclose these records it may open the minds of skeptics and lead to successful captive chameleon keeping. What do you think?



Sounds good.



>Oh yeah, besides the huge amount of time, raising and keeping insects are things I do not miss about the hobby.And of coarse the ailments. Craig



I'm not sure if I could even sleep anymore unless I heard a cricket chirping in the background.

Paul

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