Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Maybe I'll take some pictures and post them if I find anything interesting. I'll be looking for two or three baby Bushmaster rudis, and maybe a Merten's. Anyone else from Norcal going?
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1.0 Melinus

Im suppose to be arriving at about 1:30, after I get back from visiting my horse.

Hopefully Ill be able to pick up a nice indicus, tongs, and maybe some cork logs.

Not sure if I posted these correctly, but here goes...

One of the larger Argus monitors I've seen...

Nice-looking Blue tree...

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1.0 Melinus

I neglected to mention that I purchased two young Mangrove monitors today, as well as a baby sav that my wife really liked. I told her to get a sav over a bearded, and she agreed. I'll be taking care of it, but that's ok.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the Expo. There were not nearly as many vendors as I had been led to believe, and the selection of lizards (especially monitors) was quite weak. I didn't see one monitor at East Bay Vivarium's setup. Sad. I was extremely impressed with Reptile Depot's service and quality, while I was quite disappointed in LLL for the same reasons. I actually had a bit of an exchange with the owner of LLL, but that's another story.

Overall, glad we went, picked up a few great-looking monitors.
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1.0 Melinus

Awesome. Congrats on the new monitors. But omg that is one HUGE argus. That is a gorgeous monitor.

Please, contact upscale reptiles emmedietly and report this. This is "supposed" to be a cbb exclusive show. I would like them to keep to these standards. Most of the vendors are pretty good, but there needs to be inforcement of regulations, even if its "just" one or two guys behaving unethically.

sorry... I thought you were saying that the condition of the monitors was weak. oops

Im so used to seeing lizards in bad shape at these shows, that i misread what you posted.

my bad

Ill be out there tomorrow(ended up spending the whole day with my horse today). Hopefully i can find a nice mangrove as well.
=)

Let me know how you fare. As I mentioned, I was disappointed in the quantity (or lack thereof) of monitors at the show. If you wanted a baby, it was limited to waters, savs, niles, and a couple yellows (melinus). I was going to buy a baby/juvie rudi at LLL, but it fell through as I was appalled at their service and attitude. I highly recommend Reptile Depot--they worked with me on prices--they were quite generous.
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1.0 Melinus

I got some corkwood pieces for a decent price($5./lb), and some 24" hemostats for $15.

Ive noticed that some of the kids that work for these dealers think theyve attained a sort of celeberity status or something. Im not certain, but this is the vibe I get at times.

There was a snake breeder that had a pair of red ackies. He was quite personable, and I had a nice discussion on timorensis propagation with him. He used to use a "bucket technique" with his gravid female timors. He would simply take the females that looked very gravid, and put them into a bucket with laying medium, so that he could just collect the eggs for incubation. Interesting.

There was one melinus that reptile deopt had for like $300. I was very tempted to purchase it. However, I just dont have it planned into my set up at the moment, and I HATE scrambling to set an animal up.

LLL had a bluespot, a few waters, and a few black roughnecks. Again, I was tempted by the rounghnecks... but knew better. Its just not in the game plan at the moment. *sigh*

Over all it was a decent show. I was irritated to see some wc reptiles, but I would say that there were quite a bit less then Ive seen in the past.

Yes, I know what you mean by being tempted to buy something you're not prepared for at the moment. I wanted a baby water, but just knew I didn't have the space for it nine months down the road.

I was going to purchase one of the baby rudis from LLL. They were listed at $180, and I offered $170 and the owner refused. I said that I was a loyal customer of their's for eight or so years, and he said "Well I would hope I wouldn't lose you over $10." I said, "So, I'm expected to remain loyal to you, yet you treat me no differently than Joe Schmoe off the street?" He didn't have an answer, but it was then that I realized he had no business sense (I told him that too). It's only $10, and that's miniscule over the life of a monitor, but personally, it was just the morale of it--being treated better as a loyal customer. I couldn't have cared less about the $10. The discount would have been just a token of their gratitude for my hundreds of dollars over the years (I also rarely pay list price--most everything is negotiable if you have the guts to do it). As a senior analyst with a finance degree, I was dumbfounded by their decision. Who in the world refuses to give a $10 discount to a loyal customer in a highly competitive market. They have lost by business indefinitely. Some of you probably think I overreacted, and that's your prerogative, but it was a bad business decision any way you slice it. I'll stop my rant now.

However, Reptile Depot was quite the opposite. They listed their indicus at $100 each, and I politely asked if that was their bottom-line, or if they entertained offers. He said, "How about $80 if you pay cash?" Deal. I went back to their table after my ordeal with LLL, and asked if I could get the same deal for another indicus. The guys said, "$75 should do it." I mean, they VOLUNTEERED a discount below what I offered. Amazing. They have gained my loyalty. I said it before and I'll say it again: I was extremely impressed with Reptile Depot. Wow. What a class act.
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1.0 Melinus
0.0.2 Indicus

hi that pic of that fat argus was the one from are shop we sold him.thanks for coming by are booth.ebv did have monitors there that blue tree you took pics of was from there booth lol.

hi that fat argus that you took pics of was from are booth thanks for comeing by we sold him that day.ebv did have monitors there that pic of the blue tree was from there booth lol.mike

LOL--Wow, I totally forgot that blue tree was at EBV's table! But, regardless, having a single $1,000 monitor is hardly enough for a company like EBV.

I liked the big blackthroat you guys had at your table too. But that argus--my gosh--it was gargantuan.
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1.0 Melinus

There sign was pretty inconspicuously placed, surprisingly. HAHA!
That macraei was 2k btw. At least thats what they had it marked for today.
But hey, arent their feeding mice like $2.50 each? hehe

I think it has to do with the bay area market. ??

i agree there prices are high but they have nice stuff.