Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I read some where thats they were going to allow gilas to be taken in the wild for the first time.
You would have to buy a permit and it was cheap like a couple hundred bucks.
I think I will hold off buying any new gilas after seeing it.
say goodbye to the outragous gila monopolys.
gila breeders time to get ready to lower the price!
bud

no that should not be allowed the gila moster population has all but been oblliterated in california.this should not be allowed.

no dream its the real deal!
they are protected not endangered for your information.
They say they are everywhere and no shortages.
my own experiance years ago is I found one in about 5 min.
and I was a GREEN NOOB TO AZ.
as for california they are done its so sad their condition.
Some one besides me had to have caught the show so stand by for their input.
dont listen to me.
but I would hold off spending thousands on a lizard you will be able to get for a couple hundred soon.

bud

harold,
It costs you a couple hundred dollars to get this license (which I think is b@ll sh@t) much like mandatory government self sticking
Anyway a couple hundred dollars for a supposed license, several hundred dollars for you to drive from Florida to Arizona and back? Wow that would be the same as buying a nice healthy captive born baby. Unless you intended to rape the population and take as many as you could find and lead to the same problem you say is so sad in California.
Buy captive born Bud

Terry,
You know about it too.
but of course you do.
Yes a cb baby would be a better choice health wise.
But for 2 hundred and a couple hundred in gas.
To Drive out and see the mountians and bring home a legal
specimen is very atractive since I have had no problems finding them for photos.
This will bring down the prices.
Also the herp dealers have been passing off lets say questionable lizards for full prices for years.
I have paid up to $3000 for a cb baby and yes it sounds high but for a special one its worth it.
most you will find in the wild are not as nice.

I reread my post and my intent was to state that the TRUTH of the license is B.S.
It's not going to happen, like the other posts said. Your dreaming.

Sorry but your dream is just that a dream. They are not allowing permits for the capture of what's left of the gila population. Where ever you read that must have been in your dreams also.
Besides if that ever did happen good luck trying to find one. Their populations are decimated and it isn't like catching frogs.

The above statement about gila populations being decimated is erroneous , at least where i live here in the Arizona upland subdivision of the Sonoran desert, they are a relatively common sight on spring days and summer nights.I believe the animal to be quite common in fact just not so commonly seen like other fossorial herps. Some permitted collecting and captive breeding for the pet trade could only help wild populations as right now the lucrative pricing is fueling the illegal and unregulated harvest of heloderma.

Otus,
i know nothing about Arizona or any of it's herp regulations or gila numbers. My comments were refering to Ca. only.
If they want to deplete wild populations in Az. be my guest just keep it of California.. They will definitely not allow outsiders to come here and catch and sell the small numbers left in the Ca. wild.

were never decimated either as far as I know. I think the population densities are naturally lower and more a case of marginal habitat (Sonoran rainfall pattern giving way to a Mojave rainfall pattern) and edge of range effect.

Their populations wouldn't withstand the collection. If you think they could be collected like say anoles or fence lizards your sadly mistaken.
It doesn't matter what you call it decimated, low numbers or anything else they don't have the numbers to be wild collected. AS you probably know most aren't interested in captive propagation just the financial aspect. As stated before what you do in Az doesn't bother me just keep your "collecting" over there. Wild collecting here will never happen.
As strict as the laws are here it's a good thing..

I never said that I felt Gilas could or should be collected. I do not think we know enough about Az. populations to open a season. Sure some areas with optimal habitat have high population densities but that doesn't apply to the whole of the gilas range in Az. I see no point in it anyway since they are being captive bred in other states. Perhaps an adoption program for seized and rescued gilas, much like the one we have for desert tortoises, so Az. residents could have the opportunity to keep gilas too.

But I think people should have their facts straight before they run around spouting words like "decimated, anihalated,genocide" etc. The media, legislators,and animals rights groups are too quick to latch onto these misconceptions and run with them. Have gilas been collected in Ca.? Sure. Have the few that people have been able to find and collect affected the populations? Possibly but doubtful. Has the bad element in the herp community decimated the California population? No. These kinds of statments only make wrongful accusations about the herp community and shed a bad light upon us in the public eye.