After visiting the 2014 Canadian Reptile Breeders Expo I have started to look at other opportunities to see reptiles. I have not decided to get a reptile as a pet yet, although some are appealing, reptiles usually require constant daily care which is not good when I need to travel.
After some Internet search I have found out that there is a recurring, although somewhat smaller expo held in Toronto every couple of months, and in other places in between. There was one just last weekend, and I have decided to check it out and took some pictures which will be posted under critters on this blog. There were again lots of snakes in jewel boxes — I have expected that.
Lots of lizards as well, including fancy morphs of various geckos.
Geckos do seem to make interesting pets and their proper care is reasonably established. Some geckos also like to interact with humans in somewhat unexpected ways and truly behave like pets in the traditional sense.
Some geckos like to be petted and humans like to pet them.
I believe this is a Rhacodactylus leachianus.
Lots of turtles and tortoises were also for sale, often offered for sale as tiny hatchlings, but be careful, some of them do grow very big and they do require specific care to stay healthy. Some people do ignore even the most basic needs of a pet turtle and they do tend to suffer because of improper care.
This turtle was offered for free by a reptile rescue organization if someone would just offer it a good home. Of course the problem with a lot of turtles and tortoises is that they are cute when they are small, but they do grow rather big and some even bite when they are older. This slider also needs water to swim in, which probably should be bigger than most people’s home aquariums.
Please consider the animal’s needs and its adult size before deciding to get one as a pet.
On the other hand with proper care many turtles and tortoises can become good and very long lived pets.
There were also various vendors of reptile cages and tanks, equipment, food supplies and even plants used for decorating terrariums.
If you are interested in keeping reptiles as pets this kind of expo is certainly a good place to see and purchase various reptiles. But please be responsible and do your homework first so that your pets will be healthy and long lived.
I have once again collected business cards from people who talked to me, but I have ended up with a rather large stack so I am not going to type in a list here. A full list of vendors is available on the expo’s official website.
Animals photographed at this expo in October/2014:
Animals photographed at this expo in May/2015:
Animals photographed at this expo in November/2015:
Animals photographed at this expo in December/2015:
Animals photographed at this expo in January/2016:
