Great discussion with Amanda & Lee Ready of Ready’s Rainforest, The Reptile Gumbo Podcast, and Dr. Rob Coke DVM about egg sales and other random ideas that popped into our heads. We planned on discussing Ethics The impact of egg sales on the community Why we chose not to sell eggs This was a great show with 2 chameleon breeders and a top reptile veterinarian. Podcast link: Chameleon Chronicles: Ethics
We have taken a strong public stance against the sale of panther chameleon eggs. This post will summarize our points and provide a single source of information on our work on this topic. If you have seen us on Facebook or another forum fighting the good fight, this is why. Panther Chameleons are not easy reptiles to keep in captivity. They are an arboreal species with specific conditions which require constant maintenance.
This is a discussion about whether breeders should get a pass for poor husbandry. We know that the practical constraints of breeding animals for a profit yields a compromising attitude towards husbandry. I believe it should be uncompromising, and I am happy to hold myself to the same standards as my customers. Bill is a leader in this movement and I hope we can encourage more breeders to commit to higher standards of care.
Ryan and Mitch are two breeders who I have a long history with. We met on social media when I got started in the hobby in 2015-2016. We have had late-night discussions on all sorts of drama, challenges, and much needed breeder therapy sessions. Mitch was a major sponsor of the panther chameleon local form genetic test. He creates some crazy cool cross-locale and pure locale panther chameleons, and Ryan started a podcast recently but I knew him from his Cap Est project - which is to-date the best I have seen.
This is a great discussion about our project from an ethical perspective. Dillon over at Animals at Home has created some of the best content on ethical keeping. We were honored to speak with him after he fired an ethical shot across the bow of herpetoculture. Care of the animal comes first - business comes second Over production and a breeder’s responsibility to market their work Egg sales Group raising vs individual-raising Breeding vs flipping Genetics - polygenic traits and selective breeding Wild caught and importation Parasites and captive health management strategies
We believe that sharing information about our experience with parasites will not only help our customers keep their animals healthy, but it could help build awareness and promote preventative actions throughout the industry. Our hope is that it will accomplish that goal and build stronger relationships with our customers. Eventually, it will result in long-term project sustainability and a stronger community of hobbyists. Most people would not publish this story about parasites on their business page because most people are concerned about short-term revenue and less concerned about their integrity and animal welfare.
Bill Strand was my original mentor in the hobby. He has more experience than anyone I know. He is accessible, fair and reliable. There is no other source of information on chameleon husbandry that I trust more. In this episode, we get into a topic that is something I am very passionate about - egg sales. When I heard the framing of this question on Bill’s podcast, I sent him a long message and he was kind enough to give me a chance to speak my mind.
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