{"id":1287,"date":"2014-09-14T23:37:17","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T03:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2016-06-27T21:45:10","modified_gmt":"2016-06-28T01:45:10","slug":"crbe2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/2014\/09\/14\/crbe2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Reptile Breeders Expo 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"
The 2014 Canadian Reptile and Exotic Pet Breeders Expo took place in the International Centre<\/a> in Mississauga<\/a>, Ontario<\/a>, on the 13-15 of September 2014. <\/a><\/p>\n I am not really into reptiles<\/a> that last time I have kept any were the slider turtles<\/a> that I had as a child. But ever since I have started this blog I like a good opportunity to take pictures of animals so I went to see the expo.<\/p>\n Once visitors enter the expo area they see lots and lots of boxes that from a distance look like someone is exhibiting jewelry but they are mostly populated by snakes<\/a> and the rest with other reptiles<\/a> mainly lizards<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n As I was unfamiliar with this kind of setup, at first I was worried if the animals felt uncomfortable in such a setting, but I was assured that at least some of them, such as ball pythons<\/a>, are fond of small confined spaces. Apparently they also like to be handled by humans because the warmth of the human hands makes them comfortable.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Since I cannot even tell a boa from a python I was kind of lost. A lot of the animals for sale are not really labeled by the species name but all sorts of nicknames for the breed. These are all captive bred and fancy<\/em> animals that do not really look like their wild brethren.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This is very different from how things are with marine reef tanks<\/a> that I am more familiar with. There we mostly still keep wild caught specimens. Even though reptiles are still considered to be “exotic pets<\/em>” by many, the animals on the expo were definitely not just captive bred specimens of some wild species of animal, but actually fancied versions of their wild ancestors, and as such they were more domestic rather than wild animals. Considering that the number of captive bred fancy reptiles kept as pets is increasing, we really should reconsider our ideas just how exotic they are.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Although just the other day someone who breeds clown fish did mention to me the “guppyfication<\/em>” of the clown fish — meaning that in the captive bred trade even some marine animals have now become “designer<\/em>” breeds, kind of like how it has happened with freshwater fish, hence the reference to guppies<\/a>. Nevertheless us marine reef aquarists seem to be a long way from where the reptile and amphibian hobby is.<\/p>\n As it turns out there are all sorts of selectively bred fancy versions of a lot of reptiles and amphibians that people keep as pets, and they are truly becoming domesticated breeds rather than just wild animals kept as pets.<\/p>\n
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