questions about the snake trade

[Jamie]

I always see adds up for wild caught snakes or captive hatched but I don't know why people choose this route considering the amount of CB snakes availible...is it really that much cheaper and if so how much. What does it take to have WC snakes, farmed snakes and captive hatched imported and how much does it cost. I just can't imagine how you develope these contacts overseas. I love all my CB animals and would never really support "snake farms" but I am just curious. Any insight would be great. Thanks

[Linds]

It's all about the $$$$

Think about it, they can get a huge lot of CH balls for say $8 USD then turn around and sell them for equal or greater than CB without all the work. It's a money-making short cut. Personally, I'm against the whole thing. If something can be successfully bred in captivity there is no solid reason for that species to be mass imported into countries. However I don't think importing wc's or ch should be completely halted as new blood does need to be brought into the captive breeding populations..........

Kinda just goes to show who's in it for the money and who's in it for the true reason of working with these magnificent animals......

[sSNAKESs.com]

I will have to agree altough, some people import animals for personal use and to save money, not just to make it... for example, Mirdo Importation will sell W/C Emerald tree boas for around 300$ and your going to pay around 6 - $700 for a CB, some choose to go the route of acclimating a WC to save money and sometimes after medicating, vet checks etc.. your probably going to spending in around the same in the end... Just some thoughts.