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Trevor, the biggest problem is that the animals are a CITES listed species and in addition to that
their trade was restricted in the USA since they are protected where they are native.
Californians can now keep and breed rosies, but they need propagation licenses to breed them, and have to prove legal origin to obtain CITES to export them, and many can't, don't and won't get involved with their government and exporting, and this is partly why there are so few in Canada and other countries.
Rosies are not wild caught and exported, like Ball Pythons are from Togo and Ghana.
Getting Mexican varieties from Americans is also tricky because Mexico(which includes Baja) is a separate CITES nation, so they can't leave Mexico without CITES..of course many have, but Americans with Mexican locales, often have trouble obtaining export permits, as they can't prove how they legally made it across the Mexican border.
As you know I've been working on importing rosies, and despite a few bumps, have successfully done so in the last few years!
There was a huge California sting operation years back that resulted in raids and seizures on breeders facilities, and "Operation King Rosy" pretty much screwed up a big part of the supply, as breeders in California dumped collections to avoid being busted. I know one guy that left the state to keep his rosies. The Rosy trade never really recovered in the US, and rumours of their taboo status, killed demand for a while.
They are now relatively inexpensive and common in the USA, however the big commercial breeders, that are familiar with exporting, are no longer working with them, as it isn't lucrative enough, so this leaves most rosy breeding to the small private hobbiests, and those guys will rarely do CITES, because they don't know anything about it pluls they can sell all their babies trouble free, locally without paperwork.
Rosies also have small litters, so in some countries(like ours) there often isn't enough to go very far.
Rosies also have somewhat of a specialized fan club. People that keep large Boids, tend not to be interested in the smaller Erycines.
There has historically been a much smaller group of people interested in the small boids, but this group is now growing as people realize there is a lot to be said for snakes that don't need much time or water, will thrive in a rubbermaid box,can be hibernated for 3 months(means no feeding) and don't require rats!!LOL
Rosy boas(and other Erycines) availability should increase in Canada over the next decade.
(wink, wink)
Sorry that was pretty long winded but I hope it answers some of your questions.
__________________
Uncle Roy
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Herpetology - more than a hobby
It's a Lifestyle
celebrating 26 years of herp breeding
Last edited by Stockwell; 07-30-03 at 10:49 PM..
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Why aren't Rosy Boas more popular?
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