Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just woundering what everybody thought of the hot show in Daytona!?!? I was there and was not happy with what I seen. I live in S.C. and it took me 7 hours to get there. There was some nice animals there but all the venders that was listed where not there. There are over 40 names on the list but only about 25 were there!

Thanks, Joshua Brigman

I drove 24 hours straight from Michigan to Daytona, arrived in Daytona yesterday morning, bleary and exhausted but anxious to see the venomous - only to be told that the venomous was Fri and Sat ONLY.

Fortunately I live in FL and was returning home and decided to go out of my way to see the show. I've gone every year for the last 4 years, and was planning on not going but at the last minute, and partially because of the venomous exhibit, decided to go. I would have definitely skipped the show as I had planned if I had known the venomous were not being shown on Sunday.

I went Saturday & it was very crowded. Not as big as I thought it would be. Keep in mind tho that this was the first show & it may take a few times to fine tune everything. I had fun & will go back next year if they have it.

I would not be surprised if there was no venomous show next year. The authorities were there in force and making their presence well known. Between Federal and State and uniformed and plainclothes there were probably as many agents there as there were vendors. I mean it's good to have enforcement at a venue like that, but I think they may have gone a little overboard with it. They did not seem very cooperative with the vendors from what I saw and usually the very first thing out of their mouths if they found even a small problem was "If you don't get that fixed, I'll shut you down right now." It seemed to me that they were making it clear that they did not want that show to happen in the first place, and it just wouldn't shock me if they found a way to keep it from ever happening again.

They shut Hank Molt down within the first hour on Friday for not having zipties on his deli cups. That really didn't look too good...the organizer getting shut down for not following the rules. I have no problem with enforcement of the rules, as I said, but these guys even seemed a little rude and condascending even to the guests at times....like they just didn't want to be there, or like they were trying to make it an unpleasant experience so that no one would want to do another one.

I was there friday didn't go saturday as I got what I wanted, and wanted to keep my bank balance reasonable high --yep sure __ and way the law-enforcement presence was obvious and overbearing. Saftey wasn't the issue paperwork and all the i's dotted was. Clearly they would have been happier had this event not occurred. But then if the hot show hadn't happened--they would have been harassing the non venomous show--of that I am also convinced. No good time goes unpunished . I thought the ven show was a bit disjointed and not overly well planned--reasonably well represented, and very well policed--alittle too well. I had a decent time and would go back hoping the fws would calm down a bit. o.k. calm down alot
Barry

Would have just a few F@G officers done the job? Sounds like there was quite an overabundance of them at the show. If they have to try that hard to catch somebody doing something wrong, then there is obviously more constructive things they could have been doing where more wrongful acts are occurring. At least on the east coast you guys can have venomous shows, over here everyone gets so uptight when you mention the words venomous reptiles that there is just no way a hot show would ever be allowed. Fish and game goes a little overboard sometimes and doesn't make alot of sense. A friend of mine went to Oklahoma for a roundup and they wouldn't let him purchse any of the live snakes, but everyone else was free to kill them. Doesn't make much sense, but I guess that is the just the way it is.
Kevin

Even though their presence was somewhat overbearing during the show itself, they were nowhere to be found on Sunday when everyone was picking up their animals and leaving with them. Pickup was scheduled from 4-7pm...I left at almost 5:30 and there still wasn't a single officer over there checking receipts, permits or transport boxes as people were leaving with their animals. The vendors did a good job of enforcing the regulations on pickup and make sure everything was done by the book but I was suprised that they didn't atleast send a few over from the non-ven show to supervise the pickups.
I enjoyed the venomous show and got some nice animals there. I hope they do it again next year,
Chris

I was there friday at the opening and witnessed the zip tie incident. but had no problem buying a nice baby snake.
yes a lot of the snakes were not there thaT were on the list.
Ripa was there but where were the bushies?
Tree cobras?
several guys with healing bites that was refreshing.
Overall it was not to bad could have had more venders though.
For five bucks and 20 in gas it was ok.
BE SAFE

Bud

I thought it was pretty decent for a 1st venomous show in Florida. Yes Florida Fish and Game was in force on Friday night, but Saturday it went pretty good. I think they will have it next year and I hope they do. I bought some yearling Eyelash Vipers from David Kornely and they are excellent! I just hope next year will be bigger and better!

Joe

I didn't really notice the FWC officers giving anybody a hard time on Saturday. They were just checking for permits as you left the building. Most were quite friendly but there are always a few jerks in the group. I imagine that since the majority of people there were curious spectators they wanted it to go off without incidence.

Anyone with any regard for bushmasters wouldn't risk taking them there at all. A snake as delicate as they are shouldn't be carted around to shows or risk having it exposed to pathogens that could be present. I don't blame him one bit, not to mention last I spoke with him, he was still awaiting eggs and normally babies won't hatch until mid-September anyway.

Hank had my name on the vendor list early on, until i informed him i couldn't make it down....but even so, had I sold any bushmasters...I would ship them direct to the buyer, not cart them to Florida.

Matt

If you feel you need to defend him go ahead.
but the names were there so you would only figure they [the named ones]
would be selling the animals they breed.
or it should have been stated as so.
as to busmasters being super sensitive and such your right but so were alot of the snakes at the show so I dont think that stopped anyone else or was a issue.

I don't recall seeing him listed, but I could be wrong. If he was I could see your point if you were led to believe he would be there selling them.

What were some of the other species there?

Yes, he was listed as a dealer! That didn't bother me as much as the fact that there was over 40 listed but only about 25 were there. And that might not be a bad thing sence the room was not that big! I don't know where they would put 40 venders!?!? There was alot of nice animals but nothing most hot keepers haven't seen before. I liked the albino EDB's

Thanks, JJ

NO, Dean was not listed as a dealer.
Never was.
He was there both days though.
YES, there were some great animals there.
Some very rare species. Too long to list.
There were however, Bothrops leaucurus and huge B. atrox, and Ovophis monticola, and Protobothrops j. exantomelas.

Good show. We will do it again next year!

Randal

There was a list and he was there on it.
I hold no ill will towards dean or anty of them stuff happens.
but it was a little misleading to say the least.
we willsee if there is a second show.

Yeah, I looked at the last link and he was listed there. The only reason I questioned it was that I received an email from him two days earlier saying he wasn't even sure if he was going....so I found it odd that he would have taken animals. I assumed he just showed up to see what was there.

Please accept my apologies.
The list I saw on Hanks site, did not have Dean listed.
Randal

How have you been?

Are you coming to Hamburg 10/18? I will be in Costa Rica from 10/4-10/11......Let me know in case I need to get you a World Series ticket......we'll try to get boxes right behind the Yankees dugout!! LOL!!!!

Matt

Matt,
Doing as well as I can. Thanks for asking.
World Series sounds great!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Yanks!

and please do take care, nothing to say but, it gets better not good, better.
Take Care Randal,
Barry

Fish and Wildlife were certainly being very strict at this show, and I thought that they really should have had more emphasis on safety and practicality and less on the exact letter of the law. For instance, it is obviously much safer to place a snake in a semi-secure container inside a locked box than it is to remove the snake from the container, bag it up and put it inside the box. But since the regulations specified bags, more hands-on handling happened. Some vendors were able to put their containers inside the bags, others presented enough logistical problems (no bag big enough to fit the container and tie in an overhand knot) that the snakes had to be removed from the containers and bagged.

However I still prefer a strictly supervised show to what I've seen in other venues which didn't seem to have any rules at all. A few years ago I saw a young boy at one show pick up a rattlesnake in an untaped deli cup and shake it around. I personally found that a lot more disturbing than being stared at by a lot of guys in uniforms at Daytona.

Anyhow the F&W officers seemed reasonably polite. One of them did give me the anal retentive third degree about the snake rescue service I was recruiting for, because we pick up so many venomous snakes. I know that their interest is in the welfare of the animals and in conserving the species in the wild, so I guess I can put up with it. As long as they are doing the biologically right things to really save the animals, not the politically correct but biologically wrong things, I'm definitely on the same page as they are. Unfortunately that isn't always what happens.

I hope we are on the same page because I am genuinely doing my best to save the wildlife, but it's possible that I'll be due for some official attention of the annoyingly anal retentive variety. Frankly I don't blame anybody who stayed home from Daytona or decided not to have a table. I'm not sure yet whether or not I'll be sorry that I had a small photo display and some flyers at the venomous show. I know that some other folks definitely were.