# Exotic Pet Trade



## ToughCooki3 (Jun 5, 2010)

I have a assignment todo on an exotic pet trade, i need to pick 2 animals, either a mammal, reptile, bird, amphibian or a invertebrate, needs to be good to talk about with the animal welfare, any ideas for 2 good exotic animals involved in the pet trade...?


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

ToughCooki3 said:


> I have a assignment todo on an exotic pet trade, i need to pick 2 animals, either a mammal, reptile, bird, amphibian or a invertebrate, needs to be good to talk about with the animal welfare, any ideas for 2 good exotic animals involved in the pet trade...?


 
lmao too many to list what ever you feel comfortible with.


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## ToughCooki3 (Jun 5, 2010)

Thing is, i dont really know what they are? or what the pet trade really means


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Skunks and tarantulas. Tarantulas would be a good one as a lot have been almost decimated in the wild by the pet trade.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

selina20 said:


> Skunks and tarantulas. Tarantulas would be a good one as a lot have been almost decimated in the wild by the pet trade.


 
oh okay yeah tarantulas would be good there are many types vairied colours and seriouse to some hobbyists people pay big money for them sometimes too... but care may vary from species to species i only keep costa rican zebras now : victory: and pet trade basicly means dealings like you have different trades haha good luck though.


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## ToughCooki3 (Jun 5, 2010)

What is the pet trade? were people capture animals and sell them?


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

ToughCooki3 said:


> What is the pet trade? were people capture animals and sell them?


basically yea. With tarantulas the common species to the pet trade have been almost obliterated in the wild you are lucky nowadays to see most of the species in the wild.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

selina20 said:


> basically yea. With tarantulas the common species to the pet trade have been almost obliterated in the wild you are lucky nowadays to see most of the species in the wild.


 
now a days however many enthusiasts try to encourage captive breeding as it will take some of the pressure of wild animals.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> now a days however many enthusiasts try to encourage captive breeding as it will take some of the pressure of wild animals.


Nopes it still goes on mostly in shops. When people get imports a lot of them will be wildcaught unless they are slings brought off breeders. The worst one is G.rosea the chile rose. They take so long to mature that people just catch them out the wild and export them knowing people think of them as great beginners so theres a market for them. Hopefully Chile and Mexico will bring out the cited system which they have been trying to do for years. A lot of adults more than you think will be WC


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

Pet trade is basically any type of trading involving animals destined to be pets. Sources of animals can be wild caught, captive bred, captive reared/hatched (eggs/newborns taken from wild parents). 

Relevant research would include import/export (CITES) illegal and legal methods, effects on wild populations and ecosystems for wild caught. Welfare in captivity- can pet owners meet the needs of exotic species?

I think there is an organisation called TRAFFIC which investigates illegal trade.

Good luck with the assignment!


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

selina20 said:


> Nopes it still goes on mostly in shops. When people get imports a lot of them will be wildcaught unless they are slings brought off breeders. The worst one is G.rosea the chile rose. They take so long to mature that people just catch them out the wild and export them knowing people think of them as great beginners so theres a market for them. Hopefully Chile and Mexico will bring out the cited system which they have been trying to do for years. A lot of adults more than you think will be WC


 
ah well I still have much to learn about Ts eh? add me to your freinds il know who to come to should i need advice haha: victory:


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> ah well I still have much to learn about Ts eh? add me to your freinds il know who to come to should i need advice haha: victory:


Im still learning every day and thats the joy of the hobby. Will add u in a mo my inbox is always open for anyone needing advice


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

selina20 said:


> Im still learning every day and thats the joy of the hobby. Will add u in a mo my inbox is always open for anyone needing advice


 
lol thanks x: victory:


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> lol thanks x: victory:


No problem at all


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Try here

• View forum - Student Resources

If you join and post you may get some more help

Neil


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## BethieSims (Jun 28, 2010)

I am biased...
But i would say sugargliders,
due to them not exactly being mainstream in the UK
They were also in the newspapers earlier this year due to the demand for the species and more and more being bred/imported to satisfy demands.

They are very interesting, and carry alot of characteristics for something so small!
They are quite unheard of unless you are into exotics or know someone with them.
The cute factor plays a big part, also they are refered to as the ULTIMATE POCKET PET, as a bonded glider will happily sleep in your pocket all day (with offering the tip of a water bottle and food now and then)


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## Baldpoodle (Apr 18, 2007)

> Tarantulas would be a good one as a lot have been almost decimated in the wild by the pet trade


Which ones?
Have you any facts and figures to clarify which ones you mean?


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Baldpoodle said:


> Which ones?
> Have you any facts and figures to clarify which ones you mean?


 
nah probs not just the idea and reading that t,s are constantly in nhigh demad by the seriouse hobbyist. perhaps for good perhaps for bad time will tell.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Baldpoodle said:


> Which ones?
> Have you any facts and figures to clarify which ones you mean?


Google it and you will see which you already know of. I have no researched it but do read through bts journals.


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## Baldpoodle (Apr 18, 2007)

selina20 said:


> Google it and you will see which you already know of. I have no researched it but do read through bts journals.


 lol thats the thing I cannot think of one single species of tarantula that can be said to have been almost decimated in the wild by the pet trade. No, not even G. rosea as there has been no research either way to suport this or not. BTS journals, yes well good one fancy quoteing an article in there? I have read a dam good few of these but again I have failed to read about a species that has almost been decimated in the wild by the pet trade.


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

Baldpoodle said:


> lol thats the thing I cannot think of one single species of tarantula that can be said to have been almost decimated in the wild by the pet trade. No, not even G. rosea as there has been no research either way to suport this or not. BTS journals, yes well good one fancy quoteing an article in there? I have read a dam good few of these but again I have failed to read about a species that has almost been decimated in the wild by the pet trade.


The minimal bit of knowledge I have about T's suggests that actually habitat distruction is the major cause for concern and decline in many species. You can't exist and breed if you have no where to live!
So actually, provided the collection of these species of animals for the pet trade is ethical and well managed and the animals end up in good hands then it's a good thing. After all, how are we going to repopulate wild habitats when we've finished destroying them to build houses and hotels and tourist attractions if there are no captive animals to repopulate with. 
The 'pet trade' is a word that gets chucked about a lot and seems to conjour up images of horror in the minds of the uninitiated. Whilst there is still some underhanded gits smuggling animals, not collecting ethically etc etc etc, largely this is not the case and the numbers collected are limited by CITES quotas and heavily regulated. 
We need Wild caught animals on occasions in order to keep our captive stock healthy and genetically viable. After all, too many generations of breeding from animals within the same gene pool will eventually start to cause problems. So wild blood is occasionally necessary for all species IMO. 

Wild collection or captive farming of alot of species is actually beneficial to the environment. The local people are encouraged to look after and protect their land from destruction and damage so that the species they can export will thrive. They are educated to only take animals that are of a certain age or from a certain area thus leaving plenty of animals in the habitat to go on to breed. 
Without this trade and education, the land would have been more profitable turned into arable farm land or a hotel. 

The truth is that certain aspects of the pet trade (and how I hate that term) are protecting the ecology of areas that would otherwise be destroyed completely in the name of that great god "Profit". 

Kat


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Look at P.metallica for example they are on the red list for being endangered.


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## Baldpoodle (Apr 18, 2007)

selina20 said:


> Look at P.metallica for example they are on the red list for being endangered.


yes, nice example of a bad example. P. metallica is hardly threatened at all by the pet trade and also have at least some protection from habitate destruction due to them being largely found in a protected national park in India. The main threat for these are local people illegally collecting the dead wood in which they tend to live. You might notice that almost all Indian species of Poecilotheria is on the red list, which I might add is only accurate depending on who you talk to. I tend to try and get information from more than one sourse to get a better overall picture.

@ Twiglet nice thought out post and I tend to agree with much of it. A trade that I also think would make much more of an impact is the dead animal one, when I think of all the dead perserved spiders in picture frames that you can find all accross the world where these spiders come from, but even with this I feel the impact is not as big as what you may be lead to think.


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## firebelliedfreak (Nov 3, 2008)

if i where you i would do one on royal pythons
one of the most contraversial snakes in the world:2thumb:


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

The best one I would think would be the Crested gekco. These were nearly extenct in the wild due to human intervention (read habitat destruction). However, these then got noticed by the pet trade, and since then due to capative demand, they have been brought back from extenction and are now a very common gecko, both in the wild and in capativity. 

The pet trade should not nly be seen in a negative light but a positative. Alot of the information being thrown around in this thread an around the internet is false and from very out dated sources. remember that it is in the collectors and the locals best interest to collect animals from the wild responciably as if they collect to much there will be no more and thus no trade and no money for them. 

I can't think of any lizad species that has been brought to extenction due to the pet trade however i can thnk of many that have been saved by it. 

there are however many animals that are threaten due to human intervention in the form of habitat destruction. 

Jay


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

Baldpoodle said:


> yes, nice example of a bad example. P. metallica is hardly threatened at all by the pet trade and also have at least some protection from habitate destruction due to them being largely found in a protected national park in India. The main threat for these are local people illegally collecting the dead wood in which they tend to live. You might notice that almost all Indian species of Poecilotheria is on the red list, which I might add is only accurate depending on who you talk to. I tend to try and get information from more than one sourse to get a better overall picture.
> 
> *@ Twiglet nice thought out post and I tend to agree with much of it. A trade that I also think would make much more of an impact is the dead animal one, when I think of all the dead perserved spiders in picture frames that you can find all accross the world where these spiders come from, but even with this I feel the impact is not as big as what you may be lead to think.*


Thank you. To the OP the above comment on the dead animal trade might well be worth thinking about. The trade in pretty seashells, dried starfish and seahorses and corals is enormous. How many little chocolate box seaside trinket shops have you been in filled to the gunnels with these things? 
Now there is a seriously destructive trade...


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## Drayvan (Jul 7, 2010)

you could also try the hiacynth macaw? less obscure than most species and has almost been wiped out by the pet trade alone, there is also quite alot of info on it if you google it. had to do the exact same assignment at college so id try to choose animals that you can find alot of research/text on otherwise you may struggle. good luck with it : victory:


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