Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are at the time of year that we all see the ads for "Gravid Wild Caught Females" and are approaching the time where we will soon see the "Captive Born Babies" ads as well.

I wonder what impact this has on the wild population? Have there been any studies on the impact? We see it in other animals and find out when it is just about too late to fix the problem. Then hundreds of thousands of tax dollars have to be spent to correct the problem, if we are lucky enough to have that as an option.

When is enough, enough? We have hundreds of different morphs in the trade already? Finding a gene in a Wild Caught animal is like hitting a mini lottery so I see the appeal from a monetary standpoint but come on. Is it just about the almighty dollar?

All I'm saying is that this trade is full of smart people that can't only be in it for the money. Don't we want to make sure we preserve the natural population of the animals that have brought us so much joy. Do we really need to be bringing in such a large amount of wild animals? Has this number dropped over the years.

I do know that in the past years the largest distributer int he US to the Pet stores has brought in crazy numbers of captive born wild bread animals. Is this necessary? You can't even give away normal BP's at shows anymore. What happens to those animals?

Its not like the governments of Ghana are doing enough. They have their hands full with tough economic times even with the discovery of major oil reserves off of their cost.

Just some food for thought.

It seems to me like there is no longer any reason for the import of ball pythons except to find a new morph. I can understand importing a possible morph from the wild, (especially something like a lavender albino that might not survive anyway)but shipping over a normal gravid female just for the extremely slim chance that something unusual might pop out seems wrong to me. Especially since we have everything you could want right here in the US.

That is why I have always advocated the breeding of the normal that are already here , a lot of hidden genes may be right under our noses , I say if you have some that you think may have something going on in there color or pattern then breed them ! If all you get are nomal’s then sell them to a wholesaler at a cheep price and it will help reduce the demand for imports and the pet trade will get a better product . Just my thoughts . David