At the rear of the aquarium section is a large open area dedicated to
turtles. There is no pretence at providing an appropriate environment for
these animals, as they are simply presented en masse in plastic tubs, with
little water and no filtration. Again, one can only wonder at the mortality
rate of these animals, and at the demand, as there must be hundreds of
thousands for sale at any one time. Although most of the species were
unfamiliar to me, I estimated there were around ten in total, including
Red-eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans), map turtles (Graptemys
spp.), musk turtles (Sternotherus spp.) and at least one species of
snapping turtle.
At last, down a laneway close to the turtle area, I found a few small
reptile shops. I was immediately drawn to one that appeared bright, new
and well appointed. Inside, a young man and woman were having lunch,
but they spoke a little English and, with the assistance of a translator app,
were keen to chat about reptiles. The shop itself was spotless, with
several display enclosures, a host of smaller enclosures (many containing
juvenile geckos), and a couple of large rack systems. In one corner a wall-
mounted screen was playing a Brian Barczyk video – well, you can’t have
everything!
The girl introduced herself as Ada, and told me that the young guy next to
her, Alen, had opened the shop about six months ago. Alen got his first
reptile – a bearded dragon – at the age of 18, and five years later has
become one of the biggest breeders of Leopard Geckos in China. He now
has around 2,000 Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius) which are
housed off site in two breeding ‘factories’, together with a large number
of Crested Geckos (Correlophus ciliatus), which are kept in a third facility
(he also has a small incubator under the counter in his shop which is full
of eggs!). One of the large racks was filled with tubs containing Leopard
Geckos in a myriad of colours. Alen was particularly proud of the ‘Black
Night’ form, which is a rather plain black but obviously highly sought
after, with a price of AUD $1,360 (Leopard Geckos start as low as
1.2.3.4.5.6.AUD $20). Juvenile Crested geckos were stacked in small
plastic containers, and Alen showed me three specimens
of a new, unnamed morph he had produced that were
simply stunning.Apparently, potential customers often go to the market
looking for aquarium fish and end up going home with areptile – it sounds just like the reptile retail trade in
Australia. Alen estimates that he sells an average of one
or two reptiles per day in the market, but at least three
per day via the internet to other parts of China. He ships
by air and road, and can also export to Hong Kong but not
other countries. He is permitted to import from overseas,
however, and recently purchased a number of New
Caledonian Giant Geckos (Rhacodactylus leachianus)
from the United States. It is always amazing to see agecko the size of a fully-grown blue-tongue, and I
couldn’t wait to get the largest one out of its enclosure.
Ada warned that it will often bite, but it must have liked
me, as it was on its best behaviour.Predictably, there are some bearded dragon morphs that
would make any Aussie breeder’s mouth water. Alen
showed me a Leatherback Trans Hypo and a Hypo ‘Zero’
juvenile, along with a photo of a Paradox beardie that he
owned. Normal, wild-type beardies are not expensive
(about AUD $24) but they are an exception, as Australian
reptiles are generally in high demand and short supply.
A pretty ordinary-looking Northern Blue-tongue (Tiliqua
scincoides intermedia) was priced at AUD $1,160 and
Alen told me they were difficult to obtain.But if there was a lack of Aussie herps, there was
certainly no shortage of exotic species to marvel at. The
other rack system contained some beautiful hatchling2 x qtr page ads1. Exterior view of Alen’s reptile shop.2.-5. Leopard Geckos are available in a myriad of
colours and patterns.- Highly prized ‘Black Night’ morph.
‘It’s always amazing to see agecko the size ofa fully-grownblue-tongue.’