From: sonny@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (joseph.j.de rosa)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
Subject: Re: Great Reptile Weekend
Date: 7 Apr 92 18:25:40 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Mar31.192723.10049@igor.tamri.com> donb@tamri.com (Don Baldwin) writes:
>What a GREAT weekend for herp events!
>
>On Friday, we met Joe De Rosa from the East Coast, who's out here in
>California visiting family and friends.  Valerie Haecky also stopped
>by, then we all went over to the March BAARS meeting.  One BAARS
>member had his pet Green Anaconda there (about 6 feet long and very
>tame), which I managed to hold.  The meeting was also quite interesting,
>with a local veterinarian discussing reptile physiology and pathology.

The BAARS meeting was quite an experience. I've been to other specialty
society meetings before (killifish etc), and was not quite prepared for the
number of people present. There musthave been almost 100 people there, many 
with a reptile or amphibian that they were quite willing to let others handle.
It was a really neat way to get familiar with a number of animals in a short 
time (most shops won't let you handle everything you want to, for lack of
time. Most places also don't like letting people handle animals when they know
you aren't going to buy. These weren't problems,since virtually nothing was for 
sale).

I was very impressed with many of the members of the club as well. There is 
alot of experience in this group, and everyone seemed pretty friendly and 
willing to share their experiences. It was a fun evening, and I will definitly
try to attend more meetings whenever I can (Living in New Jersey will cause
SOME problems,but I plan on attending at least one a year).

>On Saturday, we took Joe over to check out East Bay Vivarium, in
>Berkeley; he seemed pretty impressed.  

Don and his wife were very nice to me. I was really glad that they had the time 
to spare to show me around. This was the first time I've met with anyone from
the net, and it's nice to know that some people are so friendly.

The East Bay Vivarium was a wonderful experience. They had a really nice 
selection of animals, and all seemed to be in great condition. I was especially
impressed with some of the small geckos that they had. Most of the animals
werenot very well DISPLAYED,but wererather kept in maintenance cages. That 
makes the animals pretty hard to see,but MUCH happier. It's nice to know 
that a store takes such an interest in the animals they keep.

We all ended up at the "baby snake counter", where a salesman let us
look at (and handle) all the smaller snakes thatwe asked for. Some were
REALLY neat (they had this one striped red-tailed boa that was spectacular,
and a real friendly blood python that were both calling out my name). The
salesman was pretty friendly,even after he realized that none of us was going
to buy any livestock. I enjoyed seeing the place.

>On the way home, we stopped by a friend's pet shop and somehow managed
>to leave with a baby boa constrictor (it's a bit sick, hasn't been
>eating or shedding well, probable respiratory infection).  Due to its
>health problems, we were given quite a good price on the little critter.

Yes, this smaller place was pretty nice. I liked the owner and his sales help,
both pretty well informed about the animals that they keep, and aware of
someof the specialists in the area. I had a long conversation with Alvin 
(the salesman) about killiefish, and he referred me to another shop in 
San Francisco. The reptilesin the store were very good quality, but alot
seemed to be having some trouble shedding. The red-tailed boa that Don left
with was one that was having problems. It is a nice snake, and I'm sure that
it will recover from whatever it is that is wrong. 

The rest of my trip was a little more exciting than the weekend, since I
ended up with a fractured leg and a rental car that had been broken into by
a bear in Yosemite. This was yet another unforgettable vacation for me. And
I REALLY had a great time.

Thanks again, Don, for such a nice time.

Joe DeRosa
jderosa@attmail.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp