Just a simple grain of sand on the beach of time?

I have fantasized about this moment for a long time but never thought I would have to make a decision in such matters that would actually make a difference in the blue tongue skink world. How could I ever own a reptile that would be worth something monetarily?

In all truth, I feel that the whole concept of pricing an animal is as absurd as owning them. Ideally, animals live free under the sun, away from human’s fetid influence. But I, like millions of people in this materialistic and hedonistic world, derive pleasure and a sense of satisfaction experiencing and owning a sundry of scaly and furry creatures. Regardless of this realization, I have no plans of abandoning my selfish love for owning animals. Thus, I feel as their caretaker, I have an obligation to provide for my charges an optimal diet and living conditions as they are given no choice but to reside in their pens of isolation and monotony far away from their lush homelands. While the dichotomy of owning my blue tongues disturbs me, what is worse is the current state of affairs in the reptile trade.

I am, like any true reptile aficionado, intrinsically drawn to reptile shows and shops, frequently perusing the many displays and merchandise on exhibit like a wide-eyed child left to their own devices in a candy store. While all the animals are sweet only a few are truly sweeter as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My first love is blue tongues and I find myself enamored by them most often.  What truly bothers me tremendously is the great misconception in what a captive bred blue tongue is worth as compared to an imported one. Ray Gurgui and I have spoken about this topic for countless hours for months on end with no real solution to an endemic problem.

Why would someone pay more for a captive bred blue tongue skink when they can get an imported one for a third or more less? Who really appreciates or realizes the differences between them? Aren’t all blue tongues the same? As a blue tongue aficionado yourself, you may cringe at the layman’s ignorance but those types of people run the reptile trade. While an imported animal invariably have a slew of potential problems, a true captive bred animal is extremely clean, healthy and acclimated. What is even more disturbing is the ignorance of the laymen and their lack of knowledge of the difference species and sub-species of blue tongues.

Australia has banned exportation of their native wildlife since the 70’s. In the late 80’s, I managed to acquire several eastern and Northern blue tongues for $250 to $350 respectively. At that time, one would expect to pay a great deal for such a rare, large animal with an incredibly tame personality. It was like a dream but in the late 80’s and early 90’s there seemed to be many Australian skinks in many stores and shows as I saw many shinglebacks and blotched blues in my day. It seemed like a lot of people were breeding them at the time and I had contact with many of them then but now they are all gone. How rare are these Australian blue tongue skinks in the year 2005? Who is careful to keep their bloodlines pure when many are disappearing daily? What are truly destroying the Australian blue tongues are the imported skinks. The old time breeders in the mid to late 90’s couldn’t compete with the imported Irian Jayas who were reputed to have great personalities unlike their irascible often times less attractive Indo counterparts. A few stalwart breeders attempted in vain to maintain their prices to honor the rarity and differences in their blues but they eventually succumbed to the tidal wave and influx of the imported skinks. How could they continue to breed skinks which took an entire year to feed and cycle only to be sold at rock bottom prices, below the price of their care? So many of the true Australian bloodlines were forever lost in the sands of time and in the wake of ignorance. I wasn’t truly cognizant of  this inexorable change that would take place in the late 90’s, but even in the mid 90’s the Australian skinks were becoming increasingly rare and I made a huge attempt to acquire all Australian skinks that I could, even at great cost.

A change must be made in respect to the current prices of Australian skinks and all skinks in general. It seems that people have little respect for skinks when one homogenizes them by species or by worth. Why would anyone care for a Northern when it is worth just as much as any Irian Jaya or Indonesian skink? Why are people selling Australian, Tanimbar and Irian Jaya skinks for the same price? Those people sell their captive bred skinks to make money. They are willing to match the prices of these imported skinks as they have no buyers otherwise. They have produced these skinks in hopes of making a profit; they can not afford to hang on to all the babies who need great care and homes. Ray saw how people admired his captive bred and slightly more expensive skinks at last year’s Daytona , Florida show, but they all ended up purchasing an import for less from some huge, heartless mass reptile dealer. Who cares if it’s “Australian?” Who cares if it’s “captive-bred?” Who cares if people are harvesting animals by taking them without consideration how the loss of so many animals will affect the native fauna left in their homelands?

Money is not my motive. Respect and love for the great diversity in our reptiles and this great hobby is my motivation. It is just a matter of time before the influx of Irian Jaya and Indonesian skinks will diminish as all the animals in their native lands are taken for the pet trade. Currently, there are so many great, wild and pure bloodlines of the Irian Jaya and Indonesian skinks available. Why isn’t anyone breeding them? Will they ultimately be victims of greed and ignorance as most of the animals out there are destined to be? I am a realist, and this hobby for many of us is a two edged sword: one that cuts our bills as we are provided funds by selling our animals, but also one that cuts us spiritually. I find myself constantly at odds with this dilemma but I realize that a part of this hobby is fueled by a desire to own rare, expensive, and exotic animals. We are, after all, collectors as any beanie baby, Pez, coin or comic collector. So why are crested geckos, bearded dragons, and a slew of snakes worth exponentially more than any blue tongue? Are blue tongues so common they are the “fence swift” or “anole” of the reptile world?

Last year Kei Island Blue tongues were quite expensive, but now that they are coming in high numbers people are selling them for 100 dollars for adults. Imported animals drive prices down and with the prices go the respect that the animals should have. While a blue tongue has an average of 5-10 babies a year, a "Sandfire" bearded dragon has much more respect even though it has over 100 babies a year. I am bitter and disgusted at this absurdity. I want to change the reputation of my favorite animal, and I'm here to make sure it will go in that direction.

I use to marvel and dream of pied ball pythons and countless other beauties only to find out now that everyone has and is trying to sell them. Strangely enough the price is still 4000-8000 for a baby! While dozens of people have them, they still maintain a semblance of their price. The initial cost for that original pied ball was probably 50,000 to 100,000 or something other outrageous price. Yet it is a specialty animal. People have not forgotten their initial buy-in cost for those exclusive animals.

I never thought I would have a unique animal. I have seen orange Northerns or lighter, caramel colored ones but none as brilliant in coloration has the ones I have, as their orange coloration extends even to parts of their body that it wouldn’t on a normal Northern—even their necks and backs. I dreamed of but never thought I would have the first "pied ball" or "Sandfire" Northern blue tongue. While in the past Australian blue tongues were already expensive, my initial buy-in price was insanely exorbitant but having an opportunity to own two uniquely colored orange Northerns was a risk I had to take. I didn’t know if they would breed or that I could even breed them. When the Irian Jaya blue tongues came in, the world of all blue tongues has changed. People started to have easy access to tame blue tongues in the form of the constant influx of fresh imports. The rarer Australian forms were faced with complete loss or acquiescence to the new thoroughbred and top animals, the Irian Jayas. People relented and reduced the price of their prized animals and they started to disappear as hybrids and others began to spring up. I still recall those days when there was a significant difference in price and attitude from a Tiliqua Gigas Gigas and a Tiliqua Scincodes Intermedia. I still see the difference, not in any negative way but a way to say there are differences between "Louis Vuitton" and "Members Only." (This is for the old timers here). Thus, as blue tongues lost respect, I foolishly “forgot” about my two orange Northerns; they faded to the background as my other, seemingly more important projects came to the foreground for several years.

So to be blunt, am I talking about destroying this faulty foundation we have here in the blue tongue world? Must we all start paying more for "white, caramel, or black" Northerns? Should we pay more for "silver" Tanimbars and "yellow" Indonesians? I think we need to. I think we should. Specialty animals deserve specialty status and the price that goes along with it. I love the excitement of knowing that not only is my animal different but worth a lot more. Why aren't we attracted to other less expensive but large lizards like the Sudan Plated lizards or painted agamas? Is it that they cost only fifteen to thirty dollars that drives us away from them or that they're imported in such high numbers they are as common as sand on a beach? Is it just supply and demand that keeps us away? We have here our own specialty and love. Not too many people can set a price for something in the initial stages but I can. I will make this "new" orange line be what it deserves to be. When someone obtains one, they'll know they truly have something special and know they have as Shakespeare says "a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear; / Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! / So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows / As yonder [bts] o'er her fellows shows."

Once again, I am truly sorry for the exorbitant price set for my pure orange Northerns. All living things are priceless, but in the real world there is a hierarchy. Some animals are on the top of the waves some are on the sandy bottom. But are these oranges Northerns just a simple grain of sand on the beach of time?

*first published in part on www.bluetongueskinks.net  but recently updated June 20th 2005*