yeah i thought it was BS myself. I am from England & i used to buy reptiles from zoos over there in the 80`s & the proceeds went back into the reptile dept`s budget but you cannot do it now. They can only breed & deal with other zoos these days, in the UK anyway.

i had another guy contact me a while ago claiming he was expecting to be gifted an Eastern someday & that he would only pay 400 - 500 for one anyway.

I said good luck with that.

As you say they would still need permits but i doubt most zoos or institutions would sell the the general public.

Was just curious, thanks
Andy.