New york metro reptile expo

There were too many fascinating and beautiful animals. After two hours, I was numb and I had barely made it through half the exhibits. I recovered a bit over lunch before returning to see the rest. At first, I was filled with awe and wonder, but I quickly became overwhelmed. By the end, I was a zombie. Beauty no longer had any effect on me. Only the most unusual animals made any impression at all.

One thing that never failed to make it though my mental fog was the joy of those that were holding animals. My daughter, who’s always been fascinated with chameleons, finally got a chance to hold one. I witnessed a funny encounter when a young woman attempted to return her blue tongued skink. She wanted one with more sought after genes, but she was, ultimately, unable to part with it because it had already started snuggling up to her. Even at the end, when I was racing through the exhibits, I had to stop to watch a young man tenderly holding a hognose. I'm sure there were many more interactions like these that I missed. When I return one day, I’m going to make it a point to spend less time checking out the animals and more checking out the people.

More to follow, including the obligatory photo dump.

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Originally Posted by Homebody

There were too many fascinating and beautiful animals. After two hours, I was numb and I had barely made it through half the exhibits. I recovered a bit over lunch before returning to see the rest. At first, I was filled with awe and wonder, but I quickly became overwhelmed. By the end, I was a zombie. Beauty no longer had any effect on me. Only the most unusual animals made any impression at all.

One thing that never failed to make it though my mental fog was the joy of those that were holding animals. My daughter, who’s always been fascinated with chameleons, finally got a chance to hold one. I witnessed a funny encounter when a young woman attempted to return her blue tongued skink. She wanted one with more sought after genes, but she was, ultimately, unable to part with it because it had already started snuggling up to her. Even at the end, when I was racing through the exhibits, I had to stop to watch a young man tenderly holding a hognose. I'm sure there were many more interactions like these that I missed. When I return one day, I’m going to make it a point to spend less time checking out the animals and more checking out the people.

More to follow, including the obligatory photo dump.

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Attendance should be mandatory for anyone thinking about breeding their animals- there's already more than enough competition for many things (BPs & others) & only so many good homes. I'm quite sure I'd have been a "zombie" after a while too. I've been to these things before, though it's been quite a while.

There's so many pretty animals out there, but for me, it's all about the human to pet "connection"- I can always look at photos of pretty creatures I don't own, but like some of those in attendance seemed to be finding out, pets are much more than just the "paint job". I'll take those with the best personality & temperament any day- but that's me.

There was good variety of reptiles on display, but some species were better represented than others. Among the snakes, I was not surprised to see a huge selection of ball pythons, boas, corn and king snakes. I was surprised at how few garter, hognose and carpet pythons there were. I was really surprised to see elephant trunk snakes, at a couple different stands even! Among the lizards, I was not surprised to see a huge selection of leopard and crested geckos. I was a bit surprised to see so many uromastyx. I was really surprised to see so many chameleons and leachianus geckos. I'm not really a turtle/tortoise or frog guy, so I didn't pay much attention to them, but there were a good number of russian tortoises and dart frogs. Of course, there were many many other species, too many to name, a few of which are pictured below.
https://i.imgur.com/DsfJnUp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LjLvvVV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZFpVLhz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PbBmQQY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Yi6Dg8U.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7lPwexA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7UiQafz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RAcKqF3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zUXopL3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yNOxNpn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/adO5Jpy.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AKCeval.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2d6ISK3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nFMEhXj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TIfYYcO.jpg

My monthly local is always like, 40% ball pythons. :rolleyes: Weirdly, I've also seen elephant trunk snakes there too, more than once even (all at the shady WC smorgasbord tables of course).

Thanks for sharing some of the sights- I'm getting a big kick out of those "Beardie-Beds"- :D Not that it's anything that I need though.

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Originally Posted by Homebody

https://i.imgur.com/7UiQafz.jpg

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Those must be plastic toys! :P Tomato frogs always get me with those insane colors.

Exotic pets come in crazy colors, but that tomato managed to stand out in a room of them. The flaring on the hingeback tortoise shell caught my attention as really unusual. I thought it might be a deformity, but the seller assured me that it wasn't. The albino red-eared slider stopped me in my tracks. I think it's funny how albinism transformed it from the most common of animals into something really outstanding. Lastly, I thought the blood (or short-tailed, I can't tell the difference) was so stunning I'm reconsidering keeping them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Homebody

Exotic pets come in crazy colors, but that tomato managed to stand out in a room of them. The flaring on the hingeback tortoise shell caught my attention as really unusual. I thought it might be a deformity, but the seller assured me that it wasn't. The albino red-eared slider stopped me in my tracks. I think it's funny how albinism transformed it from the most common of animals into something really outstanding. Lastly, I thought the blood (or short-tailed, I can't tell the difference) was so stunning I'm reconsidering keeping them.

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I looked into blood pythons and they are also not for me, but that morph is probably my absolute favorite (and one of the priciest). I think it's called "007" or at least is some combo with the "goldeneye" gene. They get really high black and yellow contrast that's really beautiful