NC Reptile Show Raleigh May 6+7

[umop_apisdn]

i realize that basically no one is in this area on here, but i really hope a lurker or something ends up coming out. im going to be vending for the first time, and i will have about 20 crested geckos for sale there. i hope i get some good business going at this show...as it will give me an idea as to whether or not i should continue vending!

hope to see somebody there!

[mlededee]

i miiiiight come up, possibly as a vendor if i can work things out. i'll let ya know if i do come up that way! :)

[RangerGrrl]

I would love to, given that I've missed the last few shows I was planning on attending, but I certainly didn't want to drive it alone, and I might be on a mileage restriction by then at work. (When it gets really busy, we are basically "on call" and can't leave the area.) Good luck with vending!

[umop_apisdn]

^i hear ya about the "on call" thing...i recently interviewed for a job in charlotte for a position sampling fish around at the various duke power plants in the area. the travel would only be about 2.5 hours outside of charlotte in any direction, but they'd want me to be on call (within an hour of the site) at all times during the workweek. that is part of the reason im selling off such a large chunk of my collection, if i get the job i wont be around enough to monitor and cater to a collection of 70 individuals (and that number is always going up, btw). if either of you do make it, be sure to let me know, it would be great to shake hands with some other forum members!

[rhacattack]

i realize that basically no one is in this area on here, but i really hope a lurker or something ends up coming out. im going to be vending for the first time, and i will have about 20 crested geckos for sale there. i hope i get some good business going at this show...as it will give me an idea as to whether or not i should continue vending!

hope to see somebody there!

So how was the show? I ask because I live in Norfolk, VA, and will be at the show in September. It would be great to see a significant amount of cresties at the Raleigh show for once!:D

[umop_apisdn]

well, the crested availability is all over the place at the shows here. i probably was the single vendor with the most crested geckos for sale (~25), but i still only sold a few singly, then wholesaled them off to another vendor at the end of the show. i still wouldnt count on many adults being around, nor anything high end. for some reason, crested geckos just arent "in" around here...

[tank0204]

hey mike,
how was the turnout? alot of vendors?? what about other species of geckos, much to choose from??

thanks

[umop_apisdn]

well, it was the normal turnout, although i honestly expect things to get better again now that management has changed hands...

as for stuff to look for, i was the only vendor with CB and LTC uroplatus for sale, 2 or 3 other vendors had a little selection as far as leaftails went, which is average. as for other geckos, there might have been a couple of small leachies, but normally around here leachies and cresteds are all you can hope for as far as the rhacs go. you can expect pretty much any of your typical stuff (leos, fat tails, etc.). was there anything in particular you were looking for?

[tank0204]

well i got out of rhacs all together..i have been to the raleigh show about 6 times in the last 4-5 years. i'm going to the show on sept. 2, i'm not looking for anything specific, just wondering if there was more available this year. you setting up for this show??

[umop_apisdn]

nah, i dont plan on vending this time around. main reason i was a vendor at the last show was because i had so many crested gecko hatchlings and decided to get out of cresteds altogether, plus i had a couple other species which werent working out for me, and some were for sale just for space. i just dont have enough to sell this time around to justify the $140 fee for a vendor table. not only that, but theres the fact that i sold very few of my animals singly at the show (my hatchlings were already at dirt cheap prices) and ended up selling about 15 of them to another vendor at the end of the show for an even dirtier, cheaper price.

[tank0204]

well heck if you decide to go let me know and maybe we can meet up. i'll be there with my wife. we are leaving there saturday after the show and heading to myrtle beach for a few days. i'm planning on picking up a sweater box rack and maybe a couple geckos, thats if there are any geckos other than the usual.

[Gecko Ranch]

Most folks have no idea how hard it is for someone with a big collection to come out and vend at these shows. No-one but no-one has CB Uros at a typical show too!

I also find that shows have an evolution too, usually snakes sell the best at the first few shows in a locale, then folks over time start looking at the geckos. Some shows never really get that far. One thing that seems to occur at all shows, hot rock-type stuff and imports sell well. :(

[Dragonflames81]

I can tell you this at the columbus show here in Ohio I think it sucks. tons of leos, and dragons and real cheap lizards. I mean there are a lot of reptiles there but for someone like me looking higher end rhacs they have some but they are so over priced its crazy. When I see someone there with a table and all they have is a tokay, leachie, and ball python its kinda sad. Esp. when they want 40 for a WC tokay, 500 for a leachie and they don't even know what it is, and like 100 for a ball python.

[umop_apisdn]

well, fortunately i lived in raleigh for 5 years, so there is no doubt ill be there again, havent missed a show since i started attending a few years ago.

but julie, you're exactly right about that. unfortunately, the shows here have been stagnating....nothing all that new ever comes around. the vast majority of the animals are either WC or stuff that is very commonly bred. it is a rarity to find something that is....well....rare. the shows here are overwhelmed by wholesellers, which wasnt too bad seeing as i could get nice animals for cheap back when i was stocking up. but now, it's really tough when the guy a couple tables down from you is selling very similar stuff, or people dont realize the true value of what you're selling. not to mention, the few people i did manage to sell stuff to didnt listen to a word i was saying to them (i had a lady buy a buckskin male crested for $150 from another vendor after she bought a female from me, when i offered her a nice harley male for $100). i had plenty of people try to bargain/lowball me, telling me that they "could get these animals cheaper elsewhere/back in the day," but im sorry...i will not be selling off my CB uroplatus for prices cheaper than WC's go these days (at least not to some random guy walking by who ive never met before).

so yea, my first vending experience left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth, more bitter than sweet. if i were to ever vend again, it would likely be at a show outside of the southeast (with exception of the big florida shows).

[tank0204]

do you think the show will be any better since they changed venues??

[umop_apisdn]

it's the same venue as the spring show was. honestly....it did make a big difference, the dorton arena is a nice place, but not quite the kinda place i would pick to hold a reptile show. the new place is much nicer, much bigger, although i still had the complaint that temps were reaching the low 80's (seems they didnt kick the AC on until the show had been under way for quite a bit). theres definitely still kinks that need to be worked out, but i trust it to get better and better in the hands of the new organizer. he's doing a lot to remove the stigma from the old guys.

[tank0204]

well i'm anxious to see how it turns out then. hopefully there will be something worth buying this time around.

[rhacattack]

it's the same venue as the spring show was.

Where is it being held at now? I didn't make it to the May show; the last one I went to was at Dorton Arena.

[umop_apisdn]

it's really just across the parking lot from dorton arena. seriously...like a minute's walking distance. it's a bigger warehouse-type building.

[umop_apisdn]

well, ends up im not gonna be able to attend the september 2+3 show....someone at work already asked off for it, so im stuck with work. :(

[Gecko Ranch]

It is totally the show's loss buddy!

[rhacattack]

I know the feeling; I've missed a couple of shows for the same reason. I'll be there this time, so I'll let everyone here know how it was:)
Sorry you can't make it, it would be great to meet someone from the forum.

[umop_apisdn]

well, looks like ill be able to make it this weekend after all. ill be there both days, you'll probably be able to find me volunteering my time at the nc herp society booth. it will be in the far back left corner. cant wait to see what's there, but im not planning on getting anything!

[rhacattack]

well, looks like ill be able to make it this weekend after all. ill be there both days, you'll probably be able to find me volunteering my time at the nc herp society booth. it will be in the far back left corner. cant wait to see what's there, but im not planning on getting anything!
Well, I guess you won't see me there, lol. I went today, and I'm back home now; and I just read your post. There wasn't much at all in the way of rhacodactylus; I saw maybe three vendors that had any at all. Two of them had five or less juvie cresteds, mostly buckskin or flames. LLLReptile had more than the other two--a few (3 or 4) Pine Isle leachies(which I drooled over, but finances wouldn't allow me to purchase any:mad: :( ), several auriculatus, both striped and blotched, and several cresteds, which included a few flame juvies, a couple of dalmatian juvies, and an adult bright yellow tiger male. I bought a pretty nice red dalmatian juvie for $50.00, which turned out to be the only item I purchased at the show. It was a pinkish-red when I bought it, and later lightened up to a medium pink; it's also in the ugly-duckling stage, so hopefully it will turn out to be a nice red(and hopefully a female). I wouldn't call it a super dalmatian, but it is a pretty nice dalmatian, with both black and red spots. It does have one unique trait--a concentrated blotch of red spots(with a few black ones also) on the side of it's neck. I want to let it get acclimated for a few days, and then I'll try to catch it fired up and snap a few pics hopefully.

[umop_apisdn]

sometimes you gotta look a good bit to actually find the crested geckos. there were ~10 vendors with them. i was there both days, pretty much all day. i saw one hatchling from a vendor that was the darkest ive ever seen, supposedly a red, though it looked close to black when i came across it. i would have nabbed it if i were looking to get back into cresteds. also saw a few others with nice colors, then there were the buckskins and flames.

did you see the sarasinorum that LLL had out? they normally carry some cresteds and leachies, this time they had the aurics and saras too, first time ive seen saras at any of the shows here in nc/sc.

[rhacattack]

Some of those vendors must have had them hidden pretty well, lol. I had v.i.p. tickets, and probably walked the whole show five or six times. It does get hard to see much though when the big crowd gets there. Yes, I did see the sara; I was also surprised to see it. I was hoping I'd find some red striped gargoyles, but all I saw were white stripes. I think I do remember seeing that dark crested, I'm just not really planning on getting into the blacks. Anyway, I do like the fact that it is in the Exposition building now instead of Dorton Arena; it's much more suitable for the show.