Python Politics Continues

An interesting business-side look at the effects of the python ban from the WSJ.

The cold snap in FL has killed off a number of pythons, apparently.

Crocs in the News

Bangladesh's only crocodile farm will be sending its first export to Germany next month. (News source.)

A UK aquarium is training its dwarf caiman to respond to commands. (News source.)

A UK man wants to start his own crocodile park. (News source.)

Fear and Loathing in LA

Bigots in Oakdale, Lousiana, are spreading rumors about a high-end python breeder who lives in the area. They tell the police that cats and dogs are missing, so it must be the python guy... Apparently, these villagers are dumb enough to think that someone with thousand-dollar boids is going to feed parasite-ridden free-roaming pets instead of quality captive-bred lab rodents. What's worse, the Allen Parish Sheriff's Office and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials don't bother pointing out the obvious flaw in such reasoning, but just imply they can't do anything about it. (News source.)

Frog Farming Controversy

Intensive frog farming may not be feasible, but is it worth it? The debate continues. Details here.

Crocodilian Farming and the Economy

A Saigon venture is training craftspeople to work with crocodile skin. (News source.)

A Bangladesh man has started up a crocodile farm there. (News source.)

The Florida gator skin market is drying up as luxury buyers are holding off. (News here, and here.)

Frog Farm Failure

A Chinese farmer trying to raise American frogs (I assume bullfrogs) lost 270,000 of them, and blames noise from a nearby construction site. (News source.)

Gator Farm Blues

Bad economic news for gator farmers. (I'm surprised there isn't an enterprising group taking advantage of this to bring a former "luxury" item to a cheaper market.)

Crocodilians

Hermes is farming crocs in Australia to meet demand for their crocodile-skin products. (News source.)

Two young Indian men fought of a crocodile that attacked their father. (News source.)

A profile here on a Florida gator trapper.

Don't do this with your kids (or your crocs).

European Snake Farm

A German firm is building a snake breeding farm for venom extraction for the drug and beauty isndustries. (News source.)

Snake Farming

A Vietnamese invalid, a former soldier, is raising water snakes for the food trade quite profitably. (News source.)

Lizard News

Vietnamese farmers are starting "dong" (butterfly lizard) farms, primarily for the food industry. (News source.)

Conservation groups are pressing the Secretary of the Interior to list the flat-tailed horned lizard as an endangered species. (News source.)

Crocodile News

Papua New Guinea youths trapped a large female crocodile alleged to have eaten 7 people. (News source, image here.)

The croc skin trade in Nigeria is booming, which may hurt the local croc populations. (News source.)

Crocodile News

A New Zealand just got a nice pair of saltwater crocodiles for exhibition. (News source.)

Crocodile farming in Vietnam may be bouncing back after years of falling prices. (News source.)

Georgia Croc Farm

A crocodile farm (for meat and skin) is being set up in the country of Georgia. (News source.)

Israel: Antivenom Production

An Israeli drug production company, Kamada, is developing a snake antiserum production facility. No species in particular is mentioned. (News source.)

Snake Deterrent

A new invention here is meant to keep reptiles out of public restrooms.

Alligator B&B

The Texas Alligator Ranch (Spearman, TX) is adding a bed and breakfast. (News source.)

Frog Hunting to Protect Crop

South Carolina crayfish farmers have to hunt frogs to keep the predators from ruining the crop. (News source.)

Gator Business

A profile here on a Florida alligator processing plant.

Snake Hunter

An orphan in Zimbabwe became entrepreneurial, catching snakes and smuggling them over the border into Mozambique where he could find ready buyers. (News source.)

Snake Hunter

A profile here on a professional snake hunter in Florida (for live sales to the reptile industry).

Other Croc News

There are some fears that a missing Australian man might have been taken by a crocodile. He went fishing in the Northern Territories and didn't return. (News source.)

The crocodile skin market is growing business for farms in Zimbabwe. (News source.)

Vietnam Croc Business

"Four CITES-licensed enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City exported 24,000 crocodiles in the first ten months of 2008" ... "The amount includes 13,000 live crocodiles and nearly 20,000 sets of crocodile skin." ... "Major markets for crocodile exports are Japan, Singapore, France, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and China." (News source.)

Economies & Snake Exporters

Indonesian snake exporters (for both skins and pets) are feeling the crunch, which leads to speculation that smuggling will increase. (News source.)

2-Headed Turtle Stolen

Another two-headed turtle has been stolen, this one from a Canadian pet shop. (News source.)

[Update: Turtle returned.]

Wholesaler Fire

A Texas herp/exotic wholesaler had a fire, but it sounds like most of the animals were saved. (News source.)

Iguana Hunters: The Strictly Controversy

An article here detailing how Strictly Reptiles obtains iguanas and more from the burgeoning invasive population in Florida, and how state regulations might affect that. (News source.)

Frog Farming in Vietnam

A profile here on a frog farmer in Vietnam.

Croc News

An article here on alligator hunting in South Carolina.

South African crocodile farms are becoming big business. (News source.) But, along with that are dubious products marketed from crocodile fat making extravagant claims on their natural healing properties. (News source.)

Frog News

There's hope for frogs in Costa Rica, with rediscovered species and apparent resistance in some species to the chytrid fungus. (News source.)

A 6-year old Oregon boy had to stop selling his spotted frogs... (News source.)

Croc News

Crocodiles mean tourist dollars in Costa Rica. (News source.)

Crocodiles are plaguing Ugandans. (News source.)

Gatorland Revamped

Gatorland has unveiled a new park, after 18 months following a fire. (News source.)

Croc Industries

In Zimbabwe, farmed crocodile meat is becoming a cheap alternative as other meats become far more expensive than many people can afford. (News source.)

Australian crocodile farmers have a labor shortage (few skilled crocodile butchers), so cheaper imported croc meat from PNG and elsewhere is taking over the market, while the Australian farmers focus on skins. (News source.)

Pet Shop Inside Theft

A California reptile specialty store thinks an employee is behind a series of stolen reptiles (subsequently sold elsewhere) worth $2,600. (News source.)

Frog Farming

Here is a fascinating profile of a Vietnamese frog farmer who started out small and has become a millionaire (VND) raising the amphibians.

Croc Farm Research

Researchers at the Darwin Crocodile Farm are analyzing 500 genetic markers to find traits for fast growth and quality skins, which would allow juveniles to be tested for potential selective breeding projects. (News source.)

Louisiana Tannery

An exotic tannery in Lafayette, Louisiana, processes 10,000 alligator skins a month on average. Profile here.

Caiman Farm

A caiman-meat & hide farming facility, with slaughterhouse, tannery, and possible restaurant, is being funded in Brazil. (News source.)

Reptile Skin Trade Dying?

Some interesting comments on this profile of a reptile skin trading company in Asia, one of only 5 companies left. (News source.)

UK Reptile Farm

A breeder of rare reptiles near Dorchester has been granted permission to continue his business, despite a zoning official's recommendation against it. The district council noted that the breeder's success and the innocuous nature of the project made it worth preserving. (News source.)

Czech Croc Farm

A farm in the Czech Republic has started raising young crocodiles, but hasn't figured out what is going to happen to them - they can't legally cull the adults in Europe. (News source.)