Reptile World

[Nicky]

Heh I used to go alot when we used to live in calgary. I was pretty impressed with thier collection ( then again I was 11 and hadn;t ever seen anything more than a few pythons boas and an alligator. The best time I rember going was when I was 11 and brought my friend who closed her eyes the whole time as she was petrified of snakes and ended up staring at the nhile crocs and alligator for an hour while I went around taking pictures of all the snakes. I especially liked the forest cobras.
Today I wouldn't be very impressed as there selection is quite poor but at 11 its all good.
Cheers

[Ptindy]

Best selection I'll ever see in any collection I think. Seems like people are expecting them to have every single reptile species known to man kind. I'm sure the owner of this Reptile World isn't making any money on this collection and I feel people should be more appreciative towards it. Sure it's a 10 minute walk through, but a book of every reptile is a ten minute flip through. What do people expect from this place?? The salt water croc to be swimming around buoys and the snakes do be swinging through hoops of fire? People are hard to impress these days for four dollars and fifty cents.

[JD@reptiles]

i stopped in there, i enjoyed myself. it was just a nice collection. there were about 10 hots. a king cobra with bad nose rub was one. but everyone there is nice. i enjoyed talking to one of the staff members shawn. i heard they moved though to a bigger location? i want to check that out.

[Corey Woods]

Mark,

The adult balls they had their didn't look that bad. I would have bought them if they were forsale.........It would have been nice to see something of interest their.......if they had an albino ball their I would have just been mildly dissappointed instead of thinking it was a total waste of time.

Yes I was bored at the Red Deer show.......2 day shows kick the crap out of me......1 day is all you need......The Daytona show gets boring on Sunday as well. Didn't go to the Taras show this year but 2 years ago I was bored as hell on the Sunday as well.......what's up with all these 2 day shows.......

Corey

[Corey Woods]

PS......Most Canadian shows suck for sales.......US shows is where it's at!

Corey

[gonesnakee]

Basically giving you a hard time for overall lack of interest Corey. The folks at Reptile World are there for the public year round sharing & educating the public & having to deal with them in busloads with smiles on their faces & are happy to do it. We all know how that can be LOL! They have done major PR for herping in general in this neck of the woods & we treat them with respect because of it. Shows aren't just about sales, there is a lot more to it then that. I can understand with the long trip & lack of sleep how it can be though (I meant to say Red Deer BTW). You obviously are a BP man at heart LOL because you don't show much interest in the rest. Even though the collection there might not be A1 to a guy such as yourself fortunate enough to experience Daytona etc. To the general public or even your average herper it is quite impressive. I don't know what you guys in Ontario have for places like RW but its what we got here so we appreciate it & all they have done for us as a Herp Community. We respect them for what they have done. When I see "sucked" & "right off the boat" I see none. Everyones has their opinions & I found Jon's appropriate, but yours notso professional. Glad to hear you do well with sales in the States if thats your gig, but there are a lot more of us into it for different reasons then that & I guess everyone just can't appreciate everything. Mark

[Scales Zoo]

I love reading Marks posts, very good posts.

Corey, I knew you'd like those big b.p's. I've told them they could sell them, but, of course they won't.

I've beent there many times over the last few years, and it is the largest reptile zoo I've been too.

Their sign that states "Canada's largest" was an older sign. I have not been to the Ontario reptile zoo's, but I've heard there are more species at each Little Ray's and Indian River.

Jon; I, like Gary, am interested to hear what kind of animals you were hoping to see. We may build a large reptile zoo someday, but if we do, it won't be to impress the 1 of 40,000 people who has seen almost everything. We would aim the zoo to the 39,999 of the people who come there, to learn something about reptiles. Still, I have to wonder, what that 1 person out of 40,000 would like to see.

Having said all that, I really like Reptile world, and have been to the new location while it was being built, and 3 days after they opened their doors. It is a much larger facility, but currently the collection isn't that much larger than what was shown at the old place.

My favorites are the black mamba, the copperheads (very nice coppers), cerastes, nile crocs, saltwater croc, and mata mata. If I built a zoo that size, and had their collection, I'd be quite proud of it.

I'm afraid they are now off the main drag, and that it might hurt business. I suggest everyone in the area check it out, and try to ENJOY it, as it is very enjoyable, fun, and educational!!

Tell Dave or Shawn Ryan from Leader sent you, mwhahahahah.

Ryan

[Corey Woods]

Mark,

Everyone has a valid opinion. My was that it sucked..........

I'm sure they've done a lot for the reptile industry up in your area. That's all fine and dandy. They aren't setup for the experienced keeper......they are more aimed to impress the non-herper who doesn't know a hole in the ground from a leopard gecko.

As for the "fresh off the boat" comment. I would say that about half their animals look amaciated. Almost like they sat at an imported facility for 6 months with no food or water and then were sent to them to put out on display. If you think differently that is fine......people ask their opinions and that was mine. Would I go back......no. Would I go back out to the badlands to motor around in the dirt looking for stuff........probably. Instead of taking a detour from Calgary to Red Deer I would have rather have driven straight through and sat in a hotel room. Maybe I'm just a simple person would doesn't have any other interests in life than ball pythons.

Corey

[Corey Woods]

PS....as for the comment

"The folks at Reptile World are there for the public year round sharing & educating the public & having to deal with them in busloads with smiles on their faces & are happy to do it"

All I have to say is that is their jobs and their employees jobs. If they don't like their jobs they can always find another one. I'm not forcing them against their will to put on a happy face and please the public......

Corey

[gonesnakee]

To each their own & unless they have really gone downhill (I haven't been in a while) I kinda doubt its as bad as that if at all LOL. Big Dan (who took you) or Ryan never said anything (& they would have) so I'm sure it wasn't. Mark
P.S. Those that give respect, get respect. Something to remember!

[Scales Zoo]

Mark, I had issue with the state a couple of the animals they had on display about 3 years ago. I spoke to Shawn about this, and kind of offended him with my approach a little bit. It was a very busy time for them, and it is hard to keep up to everything at times - it's understandable.

Since that time, I have seen nothing to make me think any of the animals are very bad off.

The last few times I've been there this year, everyone was very busy getting the new place up in a rush. There were a few animals that looked like they should eat more - the King cobra for one, which they have to tube feed - and don't like doing it. A lot of their collection has been there 12 years, old snakes don't look perfect all the time - but the testement to the way they have been kept is that they are old!

What should they do, kill the old snakes, so they have room for ones that don't have any mior scars or bumps. It's a tough position to be in, but I'm glad a lot of the same snakes are on display when I go back, so I can see them again.

Ryan

[Gary D.]

I agree with Ryan, there are some simple reality checks one should look at here. Dave set up reptile world while most members on this site were still in diapers, and to their credit a lot of those animals are still arround. Import lists weren't like they are today when he set up shop. Criticism here is that perhaps Dave could have tried to grow and attin more exotics to maintain a elite collection as the hobby has taken off, but he really hasn't had the need to, because the general public think any large lizard is an iguana, why would he nee to attain fijis or cyclura. If the bottom line is the $$ well then to hell with the herpers. The general public is who spends the money and thus are the target audience.

As for morphs, personally I don't think they have a place in zoos. Zoological institutions are about eduacting people about the diversity of the world's fauna (and flora in some cases), not showng what's cool in the herpetoculture. Saying RW should have an albino boa is like saying the Calgary Zoo should have a Bull Mastiff.

[reptile boi]

well said gonesnakee




Thanks,
Ben

[gonesnakee]

Very good points Ryan some of their specimens have been around a very long time & not all were "chosen" when they were aquired. Back to the "rescue" aspect of it. Anyhow I look forward to going soon as I now have time to see the new one. I always enjoy talking with Shawn & Dave. I'm sure with some time to settle in their new digs, they will slowly aquire some new display animals over time. They aren't selling any thousand dollar plus snakes out there LOL, just the odd Corns that they hatch out as part of the overall process there to share. So with the new location & all, things will most likely take time. I do remember now Dan saying that some of their stuff was getting pretty old. Anyhow... Mark EDIT: Good Points Gary also
P.S. Now I got that song stuck in my head "It's Money That Matters"

[Minnow]

I think Reptile World counts on the majority of our population that ISN'T into keeping reptiles. Even though there are thousands of people on these forums, there are millions out there that are impressed with the pythons and the boas. I'm in awe because they have venomous! I have heard children speak of a particular snake there by name. These are the people that will be our future herpers.
Corey, i'm glad you didn't go even further out of your way to see our Great Sand Hills because I'm sure you would compare it to some kid's sand box in Ontario.
Invictus, isn't that the truth, something right in your 'back yard' doesn't seem to be a priority to go see. There are ppl that come for Hiss in the Hills that have seen way more scenery in this area than the locals. That is human nature. It will always be there so we don't have to make it a point to go.
Gonesnakee you are a very compasionate and observant person. The staff there must wring their hands behind the scenes but when they are with the critical guests they have to suck it up and put on their public faces.
As Corey said it is their job, but when somebody does a good job I'm glad to see somebody give them credit. :-)
So, that's my 2 cents.
Carol