Ankify.? Nosy Vahila.?

[EricIvins]

Since I do have some experience with dealing with Madagascar directly, I'll shed a light on a few things -

1 - First and foremost, it literally takes 6 months ( or more ) from start to finish to bring in a Madagascar shipment - I have never in my life had the contents of a shipment actually reflect what was first offered........

2 - There is very little money in bringing in wild caught Panthers. The only way you can go over breaking even on a Madagascar shipment is to bring in Uroplatus/Frogs/Lizards/etc.......99% of the time, the Exporter you're working with you will only be able to put together one good diverse shipment a year, since Export Quota on everything else is very low......

3 - Freight is outrageous, along with paying for two Brokers ( if you go the South African route ) and your final USFW landing fees, you need to sell everyone of those Panthers for full retail to see your money back

4 - The current market can only soak up so much of a "new" locality. Nothing like being stuck with a number of Panthers since you've sold 5 or 10 to the people willing to buy them. Anything new is always suspect, and takes years before those locales are actually "accepted" in the trade.

5 - Even the most reliable ( as in African reliable ) Exporter over there will take off with your money and stay out of contact for months if they chose to do so.......It doesn't matter how long that business relationship has been going - They'll take off, then resume 6 months later like nothing ever happened........


AND this is only the first few things that come to mind. There are more! But this is why you don't see alot of the things that are brought into Europe here.........

 

[ibdragons]

In my opinion, here's a breakdown of abundance/demand in the current US market:

Ambilobe - abundant / average demand, relatively low price
unless it's a full red-body with blue stripes (aka the spiderman, blue on red with little to no other colors involved)... these will fetch a higher premium.

Ambanja - abundant / average demand, price roughly the same as ambilobe unless it's from the Dr. Gonzo line or another notable sire.

Nosy Be - abundant / average demand, price roughly the same as above unless it's a spectacular blue...

Sambava - abundant / average demand, price roughly the same as above unless it's from one of Kammer's famous lines.

Nosy Faly - becoming abundant / above average demand, price a little higher than those listed above... for now... Falys were a real premium until very recently... I feel like Falys are rapidly becoming more common in the US. There are some nice bloodlines available (anything from Raiden) that will still fetch a higher price, but I believe Falys will soon be as common as the locales listed above (though I could be wrong)...

Ankaramy - "the pink panther" rather rare / unsure of demand, price still rather high. I don't hear much about the Ankaramys, and there aren't many breeders who offer them, but I know there's a small market for them and they might be a good idea if you're looking for something "out of the mainstream"

Tamatave - rather rare / medium demand, price is average. Tamataves don't get the love that some of the above locales get, but they can be really pretty. Personally, I like them, but there are some people who shy away in favor of another locale. Special Tamatave bloodlines are hard to come by in the US and it's likely to stay that way for at least the immediate future... Anyone sitting on a nice breeding pair will likely reap the rewards because there are so few available.

Nosy Mitsio - rare / high demand, high price. Nosy Mitsios are rare in the US market. People are certainly trying to breed them, but so far, the bloodlines are limited and unlike Falys, the supply has not caught up to the demand.

There are a handful of additional locales, such as Nosy Boraha, Diego Suarez, Andapa, Masoala, Cap Est, etc... but you'll have a tough time finding them in the US (and there are some people that argue some of the locales are really just variations of other locales, ie. a lot of people consider Andapa to be a form of Sambava).

Anyway, hopefully that helps a bit.
And to be clear, this is just my opinion... by no means is it the final word on any of this... I'm sure there will be plenty of opposing opinions.

All of the above locales can be absolutely beautiful depending upon the animal... my favorite chameleon in my whole collection is a grouchy Nosy Be named Orlov. He's not as valuable or rare as some of my others, but he's a gorgeous blue and I wouldn't trade him for the world... and that's the best thing about chameleons, there's something for everyone

im not an expert in this field but I agree with this thread.