Hello from Alaska.

Just thought Id bring up that there are herpers in Alaska, and write some advice to my fellow arctic herpers.:P

One of the biggest challenges of being an Alaskan herper without a doubt is the shipping. People will sometimes just straight refuse to ship here, even when the temps are warmer then the are in the lower 48s, or if they do they will charge you an outrageous price say like '$80' a box when others will charge you $50 to ship the same size box on the same carrier. I stay away from this people. Your cages and racks, are better built here than shipped because you are looking at $400 freight costs. :O

Also dont be surprised if you occasionally run into an idiot from the states that will automatically treat you like a red-neck or ask you if your a dog musher, or ask you some really stupid stereotypical question. Thats all part of the process really. These people are just uneducated.:rolleye2:

When you first get started the biggest pitfalls here are going to be that petstore employees are idiots, they arent trained in anything, they make their minimum wage and go home. They are going to attempt to discourage you from seeking other sources and other ways of doing things and this is always to keep you buying their fish tanks and their crap. Worse part is that if you live here in AK49 the petstore probably has the monopoly in your area. Thats what got me to thinking outside the box. Your going to need connections with people who know something about what they are doing.

And often you wont have a good herp vet available, you'll need to locate the next best thing. An Exotics then, Horse Vet. Here in kenai, there is a cat named Jay Nyybakken, he's the best around but hard to get ahold of. You'll have to find someone that can service your needs near you obviously.

There is only one herp society in the state and although still in its infancy, Its free and can help you significantly lower the cost of keeping etc, your collection. Pm me if youd like to know more about that.

Good Luck out there. Let me know if I can help you.

Saweeet! i havnt come across another herper in smalltown alaska, sometimes ive just thought it was me, i mean i've met some in ancorage but not many small towners. i live in juneau and of course they'll be people will one or two snakes but im pretty much the only guy totally interested, and the prices here at the pet store are rediculous! for a normal ball python hatchling its $100 dollars, plus supplies and caging throw on another $150. but i have had some trouble with shipping also because of the whole alaska thing, but ive got a nice dealer now

Hi, I don't live in Alaska, but my son & daughter-in-law live in Fairbanks. They have been trying to get me to move up there for the last 3 yrs. I live in Texas & have 20 snakes + lots of other critters. I don't know the laws for transporting them if I were to move & I told him I would not leave them behind. I figured it would be hard to get supplies & even to add to your collection. I see where most places even with inanimate objects won't ship to Alaska.
Thanks for a little info on living there with reptiles. I won't be moving any time soon, but one day I probably will & I have to find out how I will manage moving them all.

:welcome:

Welcome to BP.net :)

hello, i am new here, i am very happy come here , nice to meet you .

Welcome to the family fellow herpers.

I used to live in Alaska, and in fact lived there when I acquired my first pet snake (an amel corn) 17 years ago. My parents and sister live in Anchorage, and my sis will be attending the UAA in the fall.

I can sympathize with all the issues related to living so far away from the majority of the herp community. Products, supplies, and animals are in extremely low supply, even in the largest cities. If you're out anywhere else, yeah, good luck.

I wish that airlines would allow small reptiles in secure containers to be taken as carry-ons as I make it up there once or twice a year, I've wanted to establish a few breeding pairs of crested geckos up there with my sister, I think that it would be a great market to tap. Oh well.

Hello...

Just wondering if there are still any Alaskans out there? I live in Juneau and have 2 BPs. Got my first one six months ago.




Minjo
1.0 genetic stripe (Kanubis Ihmotep)
0.0.1 normal (Miss Snakey Balla Masquerade aka Balla)
3.0 cats ( DK, Todor, Max)