Reptile & Amphibian Forums

with the potential listing of retics and green anacondas i think its time to really take a look at where we are heading. theres a lot of factors that people are either unaware of or in denial of. namely the coming crash of the industry fueled by the ball python market which is in free fall at the current moment. to say the ball market is crashing would be an understatement. i would say the burms were one of the first snakes to actually create a bubble that burst. but with the ball bubble bursting it will be different. so much of the industry has been bolstered up over the last ten years by the ball market. on top of all the crazy money balls were bringing in to the breeders producing them, it drove up sells in other areas, such as rodents, racks cages and all the other necessities for ball breeding. look at the shows. they have become dominated but ball pythons. most shows now days are comprised of 80% ball pythons. so on top of sparking sells of balls and everything to keep them, the ball python craze also took interest away from many other species. a lot of people moved out all their colubrids and filled their cb 70's with balls. i feel these individuals will be regretting that decision soon they are not already. so what could be the result and impact to the industry when it all falls apart. obviously the money is leaving. all the money that not only bought the ball pythons but paid for the rodents, racks cages and so on. and dont forget whos been contributing the most to usark and pijac. donations will fall, which isnt a bad thing if these organization cant afford to sell out the sectors of the industry they feel need sold out. this ball bubble has created a bell curve and now we are starting down the other side... now with the potential listing of retics and greens. if they do get listed it will have a devastating impact on the industry. not so much a financial one but it will affect how people view our industries ability to protect its self. even the ball and gecko people will understand that none of us are really safe. i tried to warn everyone of this road we were heading done also 3 years ago. i tried to tell everyone that wyatt had been lying, stealing the donations, and pushing for anti reptile legislation. i also tried to tell everyone that usark and pijac would gladly sell out every other big snake to protect boas. most people dont want to hear this but boas are an invasive species in FL. they have been for some time; even longer then burms. so if this whole invasive species really isnt being fueled by any need to stop an snake from breeding in the wild in the US. but its only been fueled by money coming in from both sides of the fight. you can see that in ohio with pijac (funding by narbc) to agree to regulating anything bigger then a boa. you can see it again in the first hr511 hearing in 2012 when house rep chaffets supported listing all big snakes but boas. and again in wyatts hr511 hearing where cholett sutherland ( i think thats her name) showed up as pijacs rep and only supported saving boas. now usark has been pro compromise since day one. go back and look if you dont believe me. not to mention micheal cannings support of FL's regs and he desire to see them through out the country. usark is run by zoo meds owner. he has no vested interest in saving big snakes other then boas with jeff ronne setting on usarks board. iv been saying that for a while, warran booth recently went on a fb boa forum and made comments supporting that. point being with the money that will be leaving the industry do to the demise of the ball python market and do to the fact that neither usark or pijac have any interest other then pushing the agendas of their backers and bringing in as much money as they can. in the very near future the reptile industry will be more unprotected then its every been. the only way to save this industry from losing everything will be a federal lawsuit against the lacy act listing. i know most people wont agree. but now the government has seen our true colors. they know that we are afraid to fight back. nor can we stick together and work as one collective group for the good of the whole. the government has seen how weak we are and how easily we give in. these lacy act listing are only the beginning of whats to come. there not going to stop taking until we stand our ground and fight back. not until we drag them into a court room will they back off. a retic breeder ryan parker has set up a place to donate for a federal lawsuit. if your interested in helping out you can contact him on FB. both usark and pijac are trade organization that make their living fighting anti reptile legislation and neither deal in litigation. so they will not be filing any lawsuits for us. it is in both usarks and pijacs best financial interest that one anti reptile bill get purposed right after another. if the bills stop coming so does the the donations for usark and pijac. the truth is most of these anti reptile bills dont have a chance of going anywhere, and can be fought for free by us. me, terry wilkins and only a handful of others are willing to fight back, but we cant do this by ourselves. more people need to get involved. at the current rate of destructive behavior within the reptile industry, the industries end is much closer then people realize. and i fear only after people realize it it will already be too late

Excellent post and good points raised, Rodney. Reptile control parallels gun control. Nothing to do with making anything better but just for the sake of control. And in this control, the more the government gets the more it will continue to take. The worst type of politics creeps into everything these days. I think our country is facing some real, much more important issues these days other than what people keep for pets. Bill R.
-----
...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.