I have a question for all of you

[TomL]

Hi All,

Recently I was left thinking about this... Would you say that a digital camera is herp related equipment? is it nearly essential for breeders who sell online?
I personally take pics of anything I sell and show them to the prospective buyer... makes for no surprizes.
Just curious to see what you think
Tom

[Stockwell]

Yup,digital photos sell more snakes than written descriptions.. No doubt about it! Long gone are the old days of shooting rolls of 45mm, just hoping one will be worth printing to send to someone.
I'd say a digital camera is absolutely a necessary business expense for all breeders and sellers of animals.
It's an eligible business expense too :)

[Will]

For sure.

I am 100% glad I wasn't around this hobby during the "old" days. Trying to get snakes to pose is a pain. I can't imagine what it would cost to get a decent picture. I probably take dozens of digital pics and only a few are of any use at all. It would cost a fortune in developing the old fashioned way just for a handful of pictures...

Also, I wouldn't buy any animals without seeing pics first either. Just want to know what I am getting before I shell out. There are only a select few around here I would buy a snake from sight-unseen...

[Tim_Cranwill]

I agree, 100%!

Even if you shell out $1000 + for a REALLY nice digital, it will be worth it in more ways than one. Maybe not for some dude trying to sell a clutch of corns but if you have a web page or anticipate an decent yearly batch of snakes to sell, it's worth the cost.

Like Will says, a lot of people want to see pics or even multiple pics of animals they are considering buying. The digital camera allows you to take those pics AND have them be seen by the prospective buyer within minutes. That's a pretty awesome tool.

Then there are all of the "personal uses"... :D ;) :p LOL

[Jeff_Favelle]

Tim, you're gross.

;)

Yeah a DC will pay for itself within 1 season EASILY if you have more than 20 or 30 babies. I would say its a necessity. No question.

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

TOML:

Cameras are a device to advertise just about anything.

So like the saying goes "a picture is worth a 1000 words", is just that because you can write a 1000 word description of a animal and it still would not get the response a photo does.

A camera (digital) in my opinion, is a needed piece of equipment if you like to let people know about your animals, if not then its not.

How would I explain this photo in 1000 words, lol.....

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2330amanuet_salmon_boa_135-med.jpg

Cya...

Tony

[Linds]

While it is used in herp keeping, we've discontinued their allowance in the classifieds. In saying that they are herp-related, we could easily say freezers are herp-related (then people would be trying to sell fridges as well), extra wood and building supplies (gotta build cages!), exotic pets (you know you see these at reptile expos and at reptile specific stores), and I could go on forever. Bascially, herp-related can only be stretched so far on here, and we've discontinued anything that isn't strictly related. You wouldn't go to a reptile store to buy a camera, would you? This should be applied to anything that goes in to the classifieds.

[TomL]

Ok thats understandable, but will there be a time when they are offered in reptile stores? Like heat cable can be bought at some and originally it was to de-ice gutters on roofs. Foggers and pumps are along the same lines, neither were packaged specifically for herps until exoterra put them in a box with a chameleon on the front.
And as we have established in this thread many people feel they are a herp related tool. They bring us (as herpers) closer, we can see what projects people are working on all over the world and for some seeing these new extraordinary animals helps keep and renew interest in this hobby. Granted they are not limited to this feild but then neither are flourescent light fixtures (i buy those at home depot) nor live plants (nursery) or spray bottles ( i use the ones for spraying your lawn from canadain tire) but all of those are associated with keeping reptiles.
So is it hard to belive that at some point say... exoterra will take the cheapest digital camera and slap it in a box with a chameleon on the front and call it something new, like a reptile recorder? i can see it now "take pictures of your animal to watch it grow"
(hey thats a good idea)

Just what i was thinking on this one
Cheers
Tom

[DragnDrop]

If a digital camera (or any camera) is herp related, then my house is too, since I do need one for a place to put my animals. So should we now allow houses to be posted in the classifieds? What about cars to transport them home and to the show? Oh.... better not forget that Telus is now making the connection between chams and cell phones, so they should be allowed in the classifieds too?

Let's face it, you can even make a connection between margarine tubs and herps (great hide boxes. There's got to be a line somewhere between what's allowed to be posted in the classifieds and what isn't. Cameras don't cut it as herp related equipment.

[BoidKeeper]

Unless it is directly related to herp husbandry we do not consider it herp related.
The classifieds are free and the rules are very few. There are classifieds out there that make you pay and have more restrictions than ours. Honestly is it too much to ask that members respect the guide lines set out by the site for use of FREE classifieds?
Cheers,
Trevor

[Jeff_Favelle]

No, the herp industry won't be making their own digital cameras. Because then they'd have to start making their own computers to go with them, LOL! One thing you have to remember is, the herp industry is geared towards the 12 year old kid who has a corn snake or leopard gecko on top of his dresser, NOT a breeder who actually sells animals. I doubt any serious breeder has even set foot in a pet store in years. I know I haven't. So to suggest that pet stores are now going to be selling such things is wrong on a couple of different levels. It just won't happen.

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

JEFF:

You don' t go to pet stores........lol.

Yeah I myself go once in awhile especially when I hear of something rare in Manitoba lots are rare, but I go more to see the lottery price tags on animals I know were brought in at 1/5 the price. And then to see how they care for them and test the employees on their knowledge and hyena power selling. Being I dealt alot in the past with these stores when I was into aquaria and a breeder in that. I was not to impressed then and less now.

Although some stores and animals they carry might be worth the visit, my interest would only get me upset on dealing in a reptile.

I have seen small dispensible cameras in pet stores though. Not many but for the price and the new pet owner, its perk when your already at the counter spending money.

Cya...

Tony

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yeah, I can see the pet stores selling cheapie cameras as an add-on because people LOVE taking pics of their pets (and rightly so), but they aren't being marketed as a business tool for snake breeders, LOL!

I do admit to going into pet stores back in the day before there was access to all the herps there are now. I mean, without the internet, all you could get as a Glades Herp pricelist and odering anything off that was a pipe dream. The only way to see any cool exotics was the local pet stores! Nowadays though, there's people with private collections of reptiles that would put some zoos to shame! :D

[hhw]

Mmm... I remember ordering price lists from every ad in Reptiles magazine that had a toll free number, LOL... I remember drooling over the thought of getting ackies, timor monitors, hoggs isle boas, or gtp's that I would see advertised for exorbitant sums of money...

Nowadays, I get to drool over pictures of the same animals for somewhat less exorbitant sums of money in real time!!!

[Jeff_Favelle]

LOL! Too true man! ;)

[rwg]

You wont likely be seeing digital cameras at the pet stores. While they can be used in the herp hobby, they are simply not herp related. You dont see them for sale at the speedway, and you dont see them for sale at the travel agent even though people take pictures of race cars and vacation destinations. Disposables are another matter. You will find these at the checkouts of almost ANY kind of store not because they are related, but because they are cheap, and people buy them on a whim.

rg