A conflict of terms

Captive farming vs. captive breeding
Working in a shop you hear both sides of the story but I wanted to delve deeper into both worlds. Farming the active production of plants or animals , a simple phrase but does this apply to captive bred populations??? Take the Royal Python…When most people think of captive farming they thing of a wide open space in Africa the native home country of the Python where the animal is mass produced. Some people would say they are farming them in America masses of Royal Python morphs are produced in great numbers to sustain the ever growing market. Both operations come under the defined meaning of the word farming.
There are pros and cons to both , if we take captive farming in Africa it brings revenue for the farmer and therefore the country, it makes jobs for people , a percentage of all babies have to be released, the blood of wild type parents is much stronger than that of captive bred ones, on the other hand a lot of people believe that the females are not given the time to recuperate after laying eggs , some think that not enough are being put back in to the wild , they may come in with parasites and diseases which could spread through captive populations, and does the industry need these farmed ones when so many are captive bred.
Captive bred animals have been kept under certain conditions and therefore less likely to be stressed and less able to come in contact with parasites or diseases. They are not infringing on wild populations and the buyer knows exactly how it has been raised making for an easier sale in the shop. On the other hand unless the gene pool is widened the strain of Royal python will be under great stress from genetic disorders and the costs are greater.
It is not only Royal pythons that are farmed a great number of reptiles are now commercially farmed and not just for the pet trade , as we farm cattle for food some south American countries farm green iguanas for meat and so are crocodiles. So if a few of these animals come in to the pet trade is it a bad thing, are we not saving their lives by giving them a chance to survive in captivity
It was not a clear cut decision for me on which one I prefer as I have delved deeper in to this controversial issue I have unearthed a lot of peoples opinions from both sides , a good friend of mine who runs an import business believes that royal python farms will cease to exist as he believes that certain quotas are not being met and with the rise in captive breeding thinks its not needed. While working in a shop I have bought both farmed and locally bred , could I see a difference, honestly No , they both fed they both thrived under captive conditions. The customers who bought them did not seem bothered by the fact one came from a farm in Africa and one came from an incubator just down the road.
I am still undecided in whether I am pro farming or not. But all the information I have gathered and all the people I have talked to have had an influence in my decision making process. At the shop I always try to go for captive bred as not only does it help conserve the animals but it is generally cheaper especially when we breed our own. I feel the general public are very much in the market for captive bred stock as more and more books are having a major influence on this but remember they all came from the wild once and the more species that are bred in captivity the more chance that they will survive the test of time.

Feed the Birds

With winter on its way we are reminded once again to feed the birds. I at home have seen a massive increase the amount of birds visiting my feeders. This year all across Europe beech mast and acorn crops have failed this includes our own crop, this means that a lot more birds from the mainland have crossed seas to our shores.

Jays like the one above which i took a photo of as it ate peanuts have come to the uk to forag for food. 700 of these beautiful birds were seen coming in off the sea in Norfolk only a month ago. Chaffinch and Brambling are another two species that have been hugely affected by the crop failure.

At the Japanese Koi Company we will be expanding our range of wild bird foods so please rember to keep those feeders stocked up.

Facebook

Weird title i know , but seeing as i am addicted to facebook i am moving the day today stuff to a new jap koi animal page and leaving my blog for big write ups so all please like my page which will  be full of not just pictures but stock lists , pics of staff doing stupid things and of course animals.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japanese-koi/262040933869946

Winter is coming

So after after a rather wet summer and not a very hot one, the nights are getting longer and the days are getting cooler. The Raccoon dogs have now grown their winter coats or should i say have growwn into their winter coats.....

A long summer

Annabelle update

So this is Annabelle now she is turning into a very fine fox indeed. The silver has come out lovely but she has retaind the black tip on her tail which i love. She  is unbelievably calm and still enjoys running round the garden with the dogs. still. She is just starting to get her winter coat through and her tail is becomming a bushy foxy tail.

Back Online

At last a computer with a keyboard that works, well a lot has been going on at work and at home. New enclosures going up at home, with fox training going well.
 At work we have been busy with the summer holidays and a lot of people coming into the shop buying,selling and having a good look around.
 One of the best bits about exotic animal care i think is watching kids when they have their first experiance with a lizard or snake. Another great thing is helping those with a fear of the abnormal, seeing an arachnophobe holding a tarantula is great and i feel i have acheived something. Having been there once before i know how hard it is but now i love spiders and all other creatures.

Here is a pic of the little baby African dwarf dormouse all grown up.