Arriving at the Los Angeles County Fairplex there is a line quickly moving through the turnstiles clicking with each pass counting each visitor. While I’m not privy to the numbers I can only say with certainty that one thing is for sure. The Reptile Super Show in Pomona this past weekend was easily the most crowded reptile venue I have attended in my decade plus of events. This is our Pomona Reptile Super Show 2011 Part II
It’s hard to say what drew so many individuals as I saw equal numbers milling around with both product and newly purchased animal alike. I can tell you that all the vendors that we spoke with were very happy about the numbers in attendance as well as the sales that they were making. As far as vendors were concerned it seemed as though there was relatively even split of between the big names in the industry and those that are now making a name for themselves.
Some of the vendors that we specifically found intriguing were Jonathan from Crow’s Arachnids who had a multitude of
captive bred tarantulas some of which we had never seen. Freedom Breeder Inc. had some incredible Ball Python Python regius morphs for sale that took our breath away. Not to mention the Firefly Morph for sale at Rising Sun Reptiles was astonishing! When it came to new animals we hadn’t seen before though we all agreed that DM Exotics stole the show with their Paradise Flying Snake Chrysopelea paradisi.
There were many gecko breeders on hand; outside of ones from previous shows whom we now call friends such as Avangel Reptiles, Gecko Ranch, & Tangerine Gecko only one stood out as someone who we liked and that was JMG Reptiles.
As far as Bearded Dragons Pogona vitticeps were concerned there was no beating the Moonstone Dragons genetic creation of a Micro Scale Italian Leatherback Translucent female that was het for hypo! To top it off, Mark Romansky didn’t sell this one of a kind of animal; he donated it to the USARK auction. The auction was held after Saturdays show to help raise money so that USARK can continue their tireless effort of fighting against special interest groups that threaten the very existence of the reptile industry. We had the opportunity to sit down with Andrew Wyatt President of USARK and discuss the successes of last years fight as well as the upcoming battles. The entire interview will be posted on www.reptilelivingroom.com Friday. We also had Andrew explain why USARK is so pivotal to our industry so that our listeners who might be unfamiliar could get a better understanding of who they are.
As far as products manufacturers are concerned we talked with Keith of ZooMed and he proudly showed us the new product line of Turtle Tubs as well as some of the new foods they’d developed for both aquatic turtles and land tortoises as well. From what we saw there was every indication that the Pomona Reptile Super Show was an incredible success for anyone involved. We anticipate a repeat of this on June 25th and 26th when the Reptile Super Show comes to San Diego, CA. Make sure you mark those dates down and bring the family down to the San Diego Concourse to join in the fun that Ramy and his crews create. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!