patrickfraser
New Member
inflation? Nothing costs what it did in the 80's and 90's. Throw in supply and demand and prices go through the roof. or, as stated below, fall through the floor.
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species you remember & prices they sold for
- Thread starter pamnsam94
- Start date
SSimsswiSS
Avid Member
I can always look back in my old CIN newsletters to see Veils at 500.00ea. in the For Sale section. Of course each secessive issue you can see the price drop over time. San Diego Zoo paid 3,000 or 1,500 ea. for a pair of veils way back when, before it was discovered how prolific they are.
DanSB
Avid Member
I recall, it would have been 1992 to 1993 at the pet shop I worked at we couldn't get Chameleons at all for the longest time due to the owners policy of only selling captive bred animals.
Finally we found a guy in Hawaii who was breeding Jackson's. You could only get young adults because the babies wouldn't make the shipment to California. If I recall correctly (which I might not) we sold the pairs for about 300 USD each.
I find it terribly amusing to hear about all the SoCal Chameleon action at that time and how different the world was. Relying on your suppliers and whatever you would hear through the grapevine to determine what you could get rather than today doing a quick search on the net... We inquired with multiple suppliers and talked to people and were told no other Chameleons were even available!
Finally we found a guy in Hawaii who was breeding Jackson's. You could only get young adults because the babies wouldn't make the shipment to California. If I recall correctly (which I might not) we sold the pairs for about 300 USD each.
I find it terribly amusing to hear about all the SoCal Chameleon action at that time and how different the world was. Relying on your suppliers and whatever you would hear through the grapevine to determine what you could get rather than today doing a quick search on the net... We inquired with multiple suppliers and talked to people and were told no other Chameleons were even available!
Kent67
Retired Moderator
The old article I have about veileds said the SD Zoo had imported them from Czechoslovakia, I believe. I'm pretty sure that was even before Ron Tremper started with his. CRAZY how much the price has changed!
Here's a blast from the past I had to dig out for this thread; hopefully John (actually saw him at the Pomona show 2 years ago and he recognized me after all this time) wouldn't mind if I posted his 19 year old price list:
I also have a few lists from Glades Herp when they were importing Madagascar, Sticky Tongue Farms, West Coast Chameleon Farms, etc. from back in the day. GEEZ, I'd love to see some of those old species again.
Here's a blast from the past I had to dig out for this thread; hopefully John (actually saw him at the Pomona show 2 years ago and he recognized me after all this time) wouldn't mind if I posted his 19 year old price list:
I also have a few lists from Glades Herp when they were importing Madagascar, Sticky Tongue Farms, West Coast Chameleon Farms, etc. from back in the day. GEEZ, I'd love to see some of those old species again.
kylerenz
Established Member
Wow. That is incredible. I wish we could get our hands on some of these today. A Globifer would be incredible. Thanks for sharing.
Motherlode Chameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Kent I have got one of those lists from West Coast Chameleon Farms and Sticky Tongue Chameleon Farms filed away somewhere. All of those lists are candy land lists today.
Which is probably a good thing that we do not have lists of that those magnitudes anymore. Allow importers to take care of all of their imports.
Which is probably a good thing that we do not have lists of that those magnitudes anymore. Allow importers to take care of all of their imports.
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nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
Well at least Ousts havent changed in price
I still remember saving for a veiled because the cheap parsons werent very hearty.
I still remember saving for a veiled because the cheap parsons werent very hearty.
pamnsam94
Established Member
The old article I have about veileds said the SD Zoo had imported them from Czechoslovakia, I believe. I'm pretty sure that was even before Ron Tremper started with his. CRAZY how much the price has changed!
Here's a blast from the past I had to dig out for this thread; hopefully John (actually saw him at the Pomona show 2 years ago and he recognized me after all this time) wouldn't mind if I posted his 19 year old price list:
I also have a few lists from Glades Herp when they were importing Madagascar, Sticky Tongue Farms, West Coast Chameleon Farms, etc. from back in the day. GEEZ, I'd love to see some of those old species again.
Notice how, on the list, even when all of those other cool species were available, it says about quadricornis, "This is our favorite chameleon". I'm sure Laurie would agree with that, and I must say, they are certainly one of my favorites.
So, before quads ever become rare, and the prices go even higher, I say more people should work with them now and breed them. I have a few of those old lists too. It really is amazing to see how much things have changed.
I remember when T. johnstoni were regularly available for a time at a couple of pet stores in my area. One pet store owner said that he'd rather get in T. jacksoni xantholophus instead because he said, "You don't have to worry about eggs since they are live-bearing.", but he was having a hard time finding them. I remember thinking, "What's bad about having eggs?". Plus, the johnstoni are too cool, the females with the orange faces and all.
Every female he had was very noticeably gravid and all the johnstoni he had looked fantastic. With johnstoni, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a gravid female (being gravid didn't really seem to negatively affect them much), but I ended up buying a gravid pair from another pet store because they were selling theirs for $40 each rather than $50 a piece. What I wouldn't give to buy johnstoni now for only $50 a piece, especially for a gravid female. Perry
aimhigher38
New Member
Notice how, on the list, even when all of those other cool species were available, it says about quadricornis, "This is our favorite chameleon". I'm sure Laurie would agree with that, and I must say, they are certainly one of my favorites.
I have a few of those old lists too. It really is amazing to see how much things have changed.
I remember when T. johnstoni were regularly available for a time at a couple of pet stores in my area. One pet store owner said that he'd rather get in T. jacksoni xantholophus instead because he said, "You don't have to worry about eggs since they are live-bearing.", but he was having a hard time finding them. I remember thinking, "What's bad about having eggs?". Plus, the johnstoni are too cool, the females with the orange faces and all.
Perry
The price the breeder is asking now is about 400 for a Johnstoni ... I guess it comes with the suppy and demand
Kent67
Retired Moderator
Exactly why I haven't been able to justify the "new" prices for johnstoni and xenorhinum. I know what kind of shape they usually arrive in and they're generally a risk. I think the problem with Uganda is finding a consistent exporter who not only has the chameleons but ALSO sends them once they've been paid for. Love to have both those species again if that ever happens....
pamnsam94
Established Member
The ones I first saw in the mid to late 80s looked really good. I don't know if they were shipped from a different country (for some reason, Rwanda comes to mind though I may be way off on that), but the exporter of that batch (the ones I saw anyway) must have been doing something right. Later shipments I saw (early to mid 90s) did not look as good coming in, but the total number I saw wasn't very high.
Perry
Kent67
Retired Moderator
Oh, yeaaaah! Or Burundi? Wasn't that where johnstoni crenulatus (sp?) was from? I definitely remember seeing some good looking groups of them as well as the bad. It just seems like over the last few years most have not been that great. Best chances for long-term was to get gravid females and hatch them rather than expecting to acclimate the adults?
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