Strictly Exotics | Information Centre

Imported Versus Captive Bred

In this world of political correctness it is often frowned upon selling wild caught reptiles. Whilst we fully accept that selling easily obtainable captive bred species as wild caught is unacceptable (such as Corn snakes, Leopard geckos etc), our committed enthusiasm cannot be squashed with regards to species that are currently either infrequently captive bred or not at all. Breeding projects can only be started from WC, and for this reason we offer the experienced herpetologist the chance of these WC species to start from the bottom! In other words we offer the beginner CB Leopard geckos, bearded dragons, king-snakes, Corns etc, but also supply Top Quality either Captive farmed or legally collected imported species.

In a perfect world all animals would always be kept in their natural environment. Unfortunately this is not so, but the benefit of captive breeding & care has massively developed immensely in the past few years and is now benefiting many species. We are not talking about just zoo’s but the private collectors and enabled the care in captivity to become not only a reality but also enabling (in some cases) for farming to be done within the Countries that were having problems with keeping certain species.

Ghana:

These countries have been renowned for year for being the largest supplier of Ball pythons to the USA and European markets. Ghana, now has more reliable and cleaner methods of husbandry than other similar countries in that area.
The Government now charges taxes on all wild caught specimens, the profits of which are now re-invested into other wildlife projects. On top of this, the government also pays per snake for release and re-releases into the wild. Lots of various authorities within this country state that most of this species are ENDANGERED!

Ghana has an estimated population of royal pythons of around 15 million and can only get larger with the added concept and support of ranching and captive breeding of this species. Babies are available from April to May each year and the numbers available are monitored and controlled by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna). The estimated wild population in Ghana is 6 to 18 million with 9 – 14 million hatching each year.

South American Species:

Again the same policies have applied in captive farming within various states of South America

Asia Breeding Projects

As you see from many images arounf the internet, the Legal trade in specific species of animals is run responsibly and to the benefit of animals and genuine collectors/hobby enthusiasts. At Strictly Exotics, we will always support the good, legal trade in such species, as well as the care and captive breeding projects.