Northern BTS Prices at Reptile Expo 2014/Around Toronto?

[LucidTal]

Hi all!

I have been doing my research, and I am almost done setting up my first enclosure for the skink I am planning to get!

My question is: What is the price range for BTS Babies/Juvies/Adults from the Toronto Reptile shows?

I am super jealous of those in the states who can grab up BTS babies for $100.00 at shows, as to my understanding in Canada we have so few breeders, the price tends to be more towards $150.00-$200.00 per baby here.

I have a friend who works with an importer, and the importer quotes $125.00 per adult. I would rather not get a wild caught individual (or possibly even that importer), as the last skink he sent to my friend's location had mites...

Has anyone seen the prices/know the prices for the BTS at the Reptile Expos here in Toronto (The next one is February 2nd, 2014)?

Thank you!
Tal

[Richard.C]

The imported wild ones wont be northerns,rather indonesian species

Also even captive born and breds can carry mites,there easy enough to eridicate,its probably a good idea treating new arrivals for mites even if they dont appear to have any

Northern baby season over there is usually in the may to july period,so by feb they will likely be in the 6 month plus age groups

Im not sure on prices there,but we have a few breeders from your neck of the woods as members here so they may be able to help

[LucidTal]

Thank you for the reponse!

I hope that at the show, there will be some youngins who might be out of season... Now that I knowbthat mites aren't just on WC bts, I will be ready to treat the skink Ibget, no matter where they come from


Has anyone ever purchased a bts in Canada at prices comparable to the states?

The scaricity of CB bts must make the prices considerbly higher here.

[Dakota]

Not really. Northerns are around $200 or so from I've seen in Canada. It isn't uncommon to see a WC being offered for that much, too.. though it is recommended to pay that much.. lol.

[LucidTal]

I guess even Irian Jayas will be around that price too? That's rough.

It would be great if we could have more breeders in Canada! Haha.

I guess I will really be unable to get a BTS for less than 200 (specially after shipping).
That is unless I get it from Kijiji or from that importer.

[donkeybuff]

Northerns for 100 aren't very common in the US either. Most of them are sold for around 150, but the price is still lower, on average, than the price in Canada.

[LucidTal]

That is a bit of a consolation then

My friend said he could talk to the person who supplies skinks for the place he works at, and we might be able to get a nice skink for a reasonable price depending on what the man gets in, it's not all WC that he gets, as sometimes the seller sometimes buys out people's collections.

I also found this place in Thunder Bay:
http://www.thunderbayreptiles.com/lizards/Skink.php

They sell IJ's for $100.00, and Northerns for $110.00.

I guess some places do sell for much less, though one can't be certain of the quality without seeing it first hand.

[Dakota]

Those are prices from years ago.. they are higher now. And he is in the US, too.

ETA: OHH WAIT.. wrong dealer.. my apologies..

[LucidTal]

Haha, for a second you had me worried that the 'Thunder Bay' Reptile site and it's Canadian flag in the corner was in America by my gross oversight.

Does anyone know anything about these guys at all? Breeders/suppliers for them maybe?

Irian Jayas are looking more and more appealing, with their availability and pricing differences.

[donkeybuff]

I thought it was Ray at first as well! Those prices are pretty good; I would do some research into their reputation before purchasing. They seem like a very big business, so they may not have the time to give each animal the same level of care that a smaller breeder would.

[Dakota]

One thing I do not like ordering offline is that you do not know what you may be receiving..

It isn't uncommon to see a picture of a Merauke as the stock image, under the scientific name "Teliqua scincoides" (and yes, I meant to put the E), and you will receive a Halmahera. Ask for individual images of the animals in stock.

[LucidTal]

I would agree that it feels funny not to be able to see the animals in person, to see how they're doing.

I have contacted the person, I hope to hear back soon about their skinks, but judging from his inactivity on his site and on his business's affiliated Facebook page, I am not sure I will get a response at all. That and the fact I can'r find much on him or his business is disconcerting.

Still though, it would be nice to be able to find nice, local skinks more readily-- our few breeders in Canada are cleared out so quickly it seems, that by winter they're all out of stock.

[Jeff]

One thing I do not like ordering offline is that you do not know what you may be receiving.. ...

This point is valid, and I am not disagreeing with it, however, I would like to point out that it is not always true. When you deal with a reputable seller you can be confident that you will recieve exactly what you ordered. That is one huge reason to buy from a seller with a good reputation.

I have purchased quite a few animals online over the years. I took chances with some, and bought from sellers I didn't know much about. The majority of the time the animals from these sellers were not exactly what I expected. I wasn't terribly upset about it, because I knew I was taking a chance when I placed the order.

On the other hand, I have purchased other animals from trustworthy sellers such as kl (Kim), and knew without a doubt that I would receive exactly what was accurately represented by him during our correspondence. Without fail, I have been beyond satisfied with the animals I have received in this type of transaction

All I am saying is that you should have different expectations for what you will receive depending on who you are buying from. The best case scenario is to find what you are looking for being offered by a reputable seller. If you do, be willing to PAY A LITTLE MORE! These animals are generally worth twice what the seller is asking.

[Dakota]

I mean by a large business that deals with thousands of animals.. they will not likely take pictures of each individual animal because of so.

Where did the random come from?

[Jeff]

Where did the random come from?

I added "..." to the end of your quote to indicate that there was more that I didn't include. I assume that inadvertently created a smiley.

To the point of my post, I was simply pointing out that it possible to purchase online with confidence if you are dealing with a reputable seller. I wouldn't rule out online purchases completely, just stick with the seller you can count on if you need to be sure you will receive exactly what you expect.

[Dood]

Have you checked the Kijiji classifieds?

I went to the Toronto expo (actually in Mississauga) in Oct and there were only a few BTskinks there (Port Credit pets comes to mind) but I wasn't impressed so I got my little Scatha from a guy with a female Northern and unknown male that I think was an IJ or possibly a Tanimbar, although he was very friendly and bigger than the female ( about 22 inches vs 18) and Scatha has been a very friendly lizard and hardly even huffs at me.

I liked that I got to see the parents, siblings and how they were kept - very well indeed

I'd visited several pet stores and most of the BTS I saw were unintentionally, or intentionally, labled as Northerns when it was obvious they were Merukes, Indos or possibly mixtures.

[TJreptiles]

Just picked up my northern for $150 a couple mouths back, he was the cheapest one in the building

[LucidTal]

Hi guys!

I am sorry I didn't reply recently, I somehow never got the notification in my inbox! Hahaha

Dood: Thank you for replying! Incidentally, I know exactly who you got Scantha from. I didn't realize it until I noticed you were from Ontario too. I will be buying the last of his/her available siblings!

So yes! Kijiji turned out to be a great place to get a BTS. I first contacted the breeder when he put his post up on Kijiji on December 26th, 2013, and at that time he still had 2 babies left. The babies were born July 20th, 2013, and I have pictures of their mum and dad to confirm your guess that the babies are Northern x IJ mixes. He/she costs $150.00 from the hobby breeder we're getting him from, and we're very excited. Also, they seem to be reared on Friskies like Ray (another Canadian breeder here, I believe?) chooses to use, and the breeder was more than happy to answer all questions and takes tons of photos and talk with a lot of love about the animals!

Tomorrow I will be receiving getting the skink from the breeder, and my best friend and I will rear him/her together. I remember from reading your earlier posts that Dakota was interested in the parent pictures. After I get the babies and if I get permission from the breeder tomorrow I will post the parent pictures with pictures of our new baby <3 . From your description of his good rearing and temperament, I am quite excited to meet our new family member.

Edit: Oh! I wanted to follow up to confirm that the skinks were indeed mixes bred at their home (not born from a mother who was WC ). Their mother was obtained two years ago, looks like a northern, and bore this litter of 15 in the recent summer. She is again gravid if I'm seeing her pictures correctly

Wish me luck! c:
Tal

[Dood]

Awesome!!

I'd love to have picks posted of the parents if the breeder agrees.

And I'd also be interested on the size and lenght of the skinks. I've only had Scatha on a raw diet and I am curious how he's grown compàred to his siblings on a pet food diet.

[Sebastian]

I'm over in cattle country, Alberta. I picked up my Northern for 200$ from a local breeder (Spankenstyne, who has an account on here I think but is more active on the TARAS forum) as a 4month old, in September. He was the runt, but he was the only one for sale and I knew I wanted
a) to get an animal from this breeder, everyone raved about how amazing his animals were (and when I saw how fat and pretty Gideon was I had to agree!)
b) I didn't want to order online, as it would cost just as much if not more

So I ended up with G. I've been very pleased with him. He's a bit huffy but it's just his disposition, he's a bit of a scoundrel, never likes sitting still, the second you take him out all he wants to do is explore. When I first started handling him, we were sitting watching a movie, he was on my shoulder, I put my hand in front of him just to keep him from wandering off and the scamp decided to bite my finger lol. I kept my hand there, since it didn't hurt. He tried again and when I didn't move my hand he gave up. He hasn't bothered biting me since. He has a couple scars on his head, but as the runt of the litter it didn't surprise me too much and it's nothing awful.

There's another Canadian breeder on here, melsexotics, she has produced some bbeautiful babies and she was my second choice if Chris didn't have any babies at the show. She is in Manitoba and ships. I see she's sold out of babies right now, but if you can wait till around September I bet she'll have another gorgeous litter.

Also, I think it was mentioned but have you checked kijiji? It's nice to rear the baby yourself, but i've seen some beautiful bts on kijiji that just need a home because the owner is moving or can't keep up with the animal in these tough economic times. Often times they come with tanks too. You just have to be more careful about wc vs cb.

When you get your baby post pictures btw!

Edit: Totally just read the last part of your post and I see you are getting a baby! Congrats, don't forget to post pictures when you get it!