Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think everyone agrees that things aren't perfect, but know one is discussing what to do about it. What can I as hobbyist and future breeder do to improve the hobby/market? What can I do to help bring more people into and get them excited about these amazing creatures. I know Brian posted he is working on something and that is great, but what are other people doing. I have loved snakes for over thirty years and I for one want to do my part in promoting this hobby, but how. Any ideas?

Jeff

share with people who may be interested in the hobby to begin with!

Some people have no idea about the animals available out there!

Everytime I have a local customer, I share with them the different morphs, pull out the books, show them photos, and answer as many questions regarding the hobby as I can, and refer them to other resources if I can't.

Also, when there are people asking for help on the forums, HELP NICELY! ~Don't be mean~, as this doesn't really help anyone.
It may chase people away from wanting to deal with a group of breeders/dealers who think their questions are not worth answering, or that they are stupid. I see this alot on the forums, which is another reason why I don't participate as much.

I think these two things are the most important at this point...
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www.HeathersHerps.com

-Ohh, what a Lady-

Balls for Life, Baby!

LAdy ohh I agree on the second part. There are so many new people that have questions and they are unanswered or givin flip answers.
I have had custermers call with the craziest questions but I never laugh or make them feel foolish for asking I take my time and educate them.
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1.0 Het for pied
0.1 Het for Pied
1.5 normal balls
1.1 bearded dragons
1.3 kids
1.0 husband
To many little critters list

First I wanted to say how impressed I am with everyone and the hundreds of e-mails that I’ve gotten in the last day. But that was never my intentions at all. I realized over the last several months that what I had been doing for the last twenty years had started to go in a direction that I really didn’t like. Just like some posters earlier had put it, they didn’t even want to get into this hobby because of the feel that was being set. Like I had said before I just couldn’t let what I feel is the best hobby in the world look like this anymore without at least satnding up and speaking my mind. I love this hobby more then anyone can imagine.
So the question is, what to do about it. I agree with the fact that we all have to show our passion, be friendly, understand that we are all doing this for similar reason. I think that the majority of the “money” people have been flushed out, which is good. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with making money, that’s how I pay my bills, but it was never about the money and will never be about the money. The old saying holds true: “do what you love and the money will follow”. This in a lot of cases may not be what you want at all, but that’s okay because you will profit from your experiences.
I’m far too busy to be on the forum all the time, but I will as everyone that loves this hobby should make more of an effort to come on as often as I can. Maybe to talk about the market,(probably not so much)maybe to answer someone’s questions, maybe just to say hi and tell everyone about something that has happened that I’m excited about. It all starts with sharing our passions. This doesn’t mean that everything should be peaches and cream, that’s not real life. Sometime controversy is interesting too. Not so much to me, but to a lot of people.
I know for me, I’m working on promoting the industry from a couple new angles, I’ll fill people in more later, but I’m in a different position then most. This is my life and we have a huge collection. This gives me the opportunity to use that to my advantage, hopefully our advantage. But for some it’s just to introduce others to this hobby by sharing how cool it is. And when they come onto a forum like this they should feel the passion, not the hatred. But again, what the hell do I know. Brian (BHB)

Great post Brian , I agree 100%
Kim
N.A.R.C

I agree with you who;e heartly and I understand you totally , you have a passion for what you do not because of the money but because of the love of the hobby and these beatuiful animals.If only everyone could also have this true passion that some of has . You know you have true passion when you are broke and down and out but still find some way to hold onto your precious ball pythons and I will say I have been in that situation thats when I really realized that this is some thing that I always will do I just enjoy it its that simple and not about the money.