Where is our hobby headed?

Gsc

Gsc

Fifth Instar
I wonder about this alot. Over the last 15-20 years, invertebrates steadily gained popularity in the pet trade. No longer do you just see Chilean Rose Hairs and Emperor Scorpions.. usually a GOOD exotic pet store will have a few different species of Tarantulas...maybe a few scorpions...possibly some millipedes.... even maybe a few hissers every now and then.

It seems that Europe is always a few steps ahead of us...

I fell that roaches have became more popular due to reptiles... they make a great alternative feeder to crickets. Educated pet owners were searching for something cleaner, easier & healthier.... Hobbyists soon turned to roaches (next to crickets, they are the most popular feeder of insect eating herps).... People realized how cool they can be... Soon people were keeping them for pets and not just feeders. New and exotic species found their way into the hobby...Madagascar Hissing Roaches really opened many peoples eyes (from school teachers/educators to parents) about the "pet" quality of roaches. I have heard many people say that hissers remind them more of a beetle than a roach....

I hope to continue seeing the hobby progress... HOPEFULLY more species will make their way into the US pet trade...hopefully WE can help establish some of these species.

I am very excited that Australia, Europe & Japan are breeding the Aussie Rhino Roaches... they are a LONG LIVED, SLOW, PET QUALITY ANIMAL. Finally enough adults have made it into the hands of keepers here in the US... It is only a matter of time before they start producing babies...hopefully BEGINNING to establish their foothold into the US market.

Attractive species such as the Domino Roach and Glowspot Roach really got people talking. While they too are far from being fully established in the US hoby, they are close... Even non-roach people will call them "PRETTY"....

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Am I completely wrong? Do y'all see it differently? What species do you see really impacting the US hobby? What species do you want to get ahold of/help establish?

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Boards like this one reallty help to bring everyone together... The internet advanced the herp hobby (remember hand typed reptile price list that here snail mailed to your address?)...hopefully it'll do the same for us!

Just tossing out some ideas to see everyones hopes/views/feelings....

Cheers,

Graham

 
Gsc said:
I wonder about this alot. Just tossing out some ideas to see everyones hopes/views/feelings....Cheers,

Graham
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Well it is my thought that the invert hobby has been experiencing some growth, not steadily, but growth. I have emailed with people globally who all agree on this. Remember when the herp industry really took off some years ago (particularly when people discoverd ball python color morphs) ?? Now inverts are gearing up. May be another year or two, but I am anticipating getting caught up with Japan and Germany on this pet selection. Only in the past few years have we finally advanced freshwater fish keeping to the same technological levels that is common in Germany (particularly withthe understanding of aquatic plant cultivation in conjuction with tropical fish).

ANYWHOO, I remain positive withthe bugs. P.s.- It would help ifyou push Orins' selection of books. They are all pretty good.

Salaam,

Matt

 
Agreed...the saltwater fish hobby has really taken off recently with tank rasied corals (unheard of 10 years ago)!!!!

BTW: I've ALWAYS pushed Orin's books- Hands Down...the best around...so much GOOD knowledge packed between the covers... When I was selling inverts online a few years back, I always sold his books...

I really think that The Allpet Roach book had alot to do with the increased interest in roaches...I was thrilled when I stumbled accross it... i dreamed of many species in there that i currently own now. I still look through it at least once or twice a month...rereading the info...always pick up on something new.

I REALLY do hope we catch up with Japan's and Europe's Insect hobby...Could you imagine HUGE live invert shows like the herp shows? Tables strewn with oddball bugs...all captive bred... ahhh... so nice...

 
Gsc said:
I REALLY do hope we catch up with Japan's and Europe's Insect hobby...Could you imagine HUGE live invert shows like the herp shows? Tables strewn with oddball bugs...all captive bred... ahhh... so nice...
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Yes, however though we may eventually have larger invert shows, they will never be of a scale in Japan or Germany. Unfortunately the USA has enough regulations in place that many are not anything that can be changed by a hobby industry that has the potential to bring in crop-harming microorganisms via live insects. A basis point would be a note I got from an entomologist from the USDA simply put "we are not concerned as much about the insect itself so much as the large assortment of gut pathogens they bring with them."

What really needs to happen is to have someone set up a quarantine facility where foreign insects can be imported to that facility, kept alive, and the diet/caging could facilitate the cleansing of harmful pathogens somehow. When the imported insect can test "clean" it could then be distributed to the purchaser/importer some weeks or months later. Problem there is also funding for such a thing. Then restrictions could be lifted and regulations put in place.

 
There are a number of invertebrate conferences here but we'll never have all the cool wild insects since it's nearly impossible to import them and herbivores like exotic phasmids and grasshoppers we're not allowed to keep. Also, you can't even bring the legal inverts back from conferences as carry-on anymore by plane because of 9/11 security. Most of the roach cultures in the US today have been in the country since the 60's and 70's and at least one dates back to the late 40's. The European and Japanese cockroach hobbies are barely a shadow of what they are in the states based on sheer number of hobbyists. You'd have been lucky to find one person in Japan keeping roaches ten years ago. Germany seems to be the only country with many hobbyists and most of the interest has been in the last few years.

 
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Huh. Would not have thought that. I made my assumptions about the Japanese insect hobby based on the popularity of beetles as pets, and a recent news article about how hissing roaches have become 'chic' in upper class culture.

:huh: :mellow:

 
Indeed i've noticed the hobby's risen considerably since i started looking into it back in 2001. Back then you'd find essentially only roachman's stock and a few others selling hissers, and any other species could only be heard about via word of mouth or by consulting one of the few people who owned them. Perhaps that was simply because of my location and limitations here, but it seemed as though the hobby's become more accepted and more widespread. I guess the internet is good for something! It's good to show that cockroaches aren't just pests either, but interesting creatures that serve an important place in the ecology of the planet and can be very attractive and brightly colored.

Its unfortunate that certain species still remain unavailable, and i'd really like to get my hands on some lubber grasshoppers and other inverts but i suppose it won't be possible so long as i'm living here. Being down in florida for a week really is a treat, i've seen P. surinamensis and pancholra niveas just around the house. Its amazing.. i spent 50.. 60.. maybe even 100 dollars on trying to get successful colonies of these in NYC yet down here there will be an adult surinam on my doorstep and cuban greens fly into my face. Plus I've seen tremendous lubber grasshoppers down here, truly mouthwatering for an insect enthusiast. If one could stand the heat (which i can't do), Florida is a gold mine for exotic species in the US.

 
The hobby has grown a lot in the US in recent years as well. I saw hissers in a pet shop 20 years ago and they may have been in shops before then.

It is interesting to see the different roaches in Florida though I never could find a Panchlora despite hearing they were around.

The lubber grasshoppers are Romalea microptera which are native and found west to Texas. They'll eat romaine lettuce in captivity.

 
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Orin McMonigle said:
Most of the roach cultures in the US today have been in the country since the 60's and 70's and at least one dates back to the late 40's. The European and Japanese cockroach hobbies are barely a shadow of what they are in the states based on sheer number of hobbyists. You'd have been lucky to find one person in Japan keeping roaches ten years ago. Germany seems to be the only country with many hobbyists and most of the interest has been in the last few years.
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WOW- didn't realize that!

 
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