For those looking for Blues

[james.w]

Deleted the link because the breeder isn't a member here and can't defend himself from all the negative talk and bashing.

 

[entropy]

He is proving to be hard to reach.

 

[chelvis]

I remember this guy, he did buy some impressive animals over the last few years. He wanted to buy my older male but my tegu is my buddy so wasn't up for it.

 

[nicklotz]

I've pmed and been looking at the board frequently. Nothing still if anyone knows a way to get a hole of him share the info pleeeeaseeeee

 

[VARNYARD]

Can anyone say quack? This guy claims to have more pure blood in his blues because he got tegus from different people???? How can this be when all of the blues in the US are out of Ron's six. That's right, there were only six blues imported, all of them in the US are out of them six hatchlings. So the claim he is making about getting them from different people is a ploy to pull the wool over your eyes, buyer beware of this cat, and do the reserch on the blues in the US.

 

[montana]

That was my first thought ...

Along with that cage give away ...

 

[laurarfl]

The cage give away guy is just trying to give some incentive for a new website upstart. He thinks it is worthwhile if it drives people to his site. It's no different than any other give away contest really.

I was trying to remember where I had heard of Russ Gurley. I think I have a Tarantula book by him. I wasn't that impressed with it when it arrived. Kinda weird that he made those statements about tegus from FL and AZ, as if that means anything.

 

[VARNYARD]

The cage give away guy is just trying to give some incentive for a new website upstart. He thinks it is worthwhile if it drives people to his site. It's no different than any other give away contest really.

I was trying to remember where I had heard of Russ Gurley. I think I have a Tarantula book by him. I wasn't that impressed with it when it arrived. Kinda weird that he made those statements about tegus from FL and AZ, as if that means anything.

The Bert book is even worse, the info about some of Bert's work was added by Timo I am guessing. There are things in that book that are not even close to true. Bert was a very close friend of mine for many years, and I can tell you it was nothing but a bunch of bunk about a few things printed in there.

It goes back to what I always say, just because it is in a book, does not make it a fact, you got to weigh it with a grain of salt.

 

[chris allen]

Man this stuff never ends. One person says blues are b.s., someone else says extremes are b.s.....who cares. If he likes blues, or I like blues, or whoever else why is it such a darn problem? If anyone has such a problem with him, why not invite him here to at least confront him directly. I've seen blues for almost 10 years now, and never have seen a poor example. In fact, I think the structure, temperment, and appearance on all of my blues can rival that of any of the black and whites I have from different sources. So whats the issue?

Why even have a section here for blues if you are so anti-blue?

To each his own.

Chris Allen

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Everything else aside since its been said and done I don't know how many times. But his own words in his advertisement makes him and his motives suspect and questionable. Just because they came from different States doesn't make it a different bloodline.

Just like he's offering to ship his babies to who and where ever. Their parents were also acquired the same way. So how does that make the bloodlines diverse?

As for inbreeding in the wild,.. yes it happens. But the ones born with defects and abnormalities that you see in captivity, hardly ever make it to sexual maturity or breed. Nature has it's own way of weeding out the bad seeds that People over look to capitalize on. Which is why there are Healthy inbred populations that live on,.. to sometimes create new species and subspecies.

 

[Shadowgamer21]

I don't think the negativity has anything to do with blues. Some people have learned to be wary of vendors of animals, whether it be reptiles or a dog. I recently had a problem here in AZ (just moved here) with these pet stores that are all about dogs. There are several around the Pheonix area. Everything seemed legit, the stores were really clean, the puppies all seemed healthy, they had all these papers for AKC and list of their bloodline, where the breeder was from, warranties/guarantees of every kind. You can tell this dog isn't from a real breeder by the way it acts. A month goes by and we see people picketing the place, saying they are from puppy mills. It's sad but you really cant just trust every person that is selling the animal you are looking for. Excitement about an animal can blind you sometimes. I recommend going with breeders that a lot of people can vouch for or one that you can visit in person.

I meant this as a reply to Chris Allen's post.

 

[chris allen]

I don't think the negativity has anything to do with blues. Some people have learned to be wary of vendors of animals, whether it be reptiles or a dog. I recently had a problem here in AZ (just moved here) with these pet stores that are all about dogs. There are several around the Pheonix area. Everything seemed legit, the stores were really clean, the puppies all seemed healthy, they had all these papers for AKC and list of their bloodline, where the breeder was from, warranties/guarantees of every kind. You can tell this dog isn't from a real breeder by the way it acts. A month goes by and we see people picketing the place, saying they are from puppy mills. It's sad but you really cant just trust every person that is selling the animal you are looking for. Excitement about an animal can blind you sometimes. I recommend going with breeders that a lot of people can vouch for or one that you can visit in person.

I meant this as a reply to Chris Allen's post.l

Ill try to say this politely.....you would have to do some research on all of this especially before trying to compare tegus to dogs or a breeder to a pet store selling dogs. I know first hand just little bits that went into his project and it is nothing less than amazing and something that many of us will never get to do.

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To add to that... I think what my intent here is, is to just say people should come to their own conclusions and do their own research instead of listening to any one person, any one book, or website...etc. Instead of degrading or putting someone else down try to be supportive. There's bad seeds anywhere you go, but take the time to make your own judgements.

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I don't think the negativity has anything to do with blues.

How so when bobby's last sentence above says So the claim he is making about getting them from different people is a ploy to pull the wool over your eyes, buyer beware of this cat, and do the reserch on the blues in the US.

I think thats pretty negative towards Russ, and also towards blues.

 

[Shadowgamer21]

There's bad seeds anywhere you go, but take the time to make your own judgements.

That's exactly what I was saying. I do not think the people are bashing him, so much as warning other people about a possible scam or animal mill. That doesn't mean that he is or is not. It's just a heads up to look before they leap.

 

[AdrianPaul]

I think everyone agrees that the fauna post sounds somewhat "fishy", thats why there is discussion here. I also do not like any posts that don't say what the price of the animal is. Its a first sign of a ripoff artist for me.

 

[teguboy77]

Wow agree chris allen well said i kinda said something along the same lines before,people tend to follow others words,and never even experienced it first hand for them selfs just my opinion.

 

[VARNYARD]

I will not support a lie, bottom line, call it what you wish Chris.

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chris allen: Ill try to say this politely.....you would have to do some research on all of this especially before trying to compare tegus to dogs or a breeder to a pet store selling dogs. I know first hand just little bits that went into his project and it is nothing less than amazing and something that many of us will never get to do. To add to that... I think what my intent here is, is to just say people should come to their own conclusions and do their own research instead of listening to any one person, any one book, or website...etc. Instead of degrading or putting someone else down try to be supportive. There's bad seeds anywhere you go, but take the time to make your own judgements.

Oh, I must have misunderstood you Chris, what you want is for me to turn a blind eye to the truth and just let everyone just find out the truth on their own.

 

[laurarfl]

I don't know anything about Gurley's tegu breeding project. I do think that his ad seems to claim that buying tegus from different states is part of his anti-inbreeding campaign. Perhaps he didn't intend it to read that way, but that's how it comes across. I just would have like to have seen more detail in his arachnid book.

I have never owned a blue tegu, but that is mostly due to price and availability rather than the inbreeding issue. He's been around too long (turtles and such) to be a con artist. People either like his tegus or not, and will either buy them or not. The demand for blues is pretty high, so I'm betting he sells out.

 

[entropy]

He got back to me, fyi. He just said he'd keep me updated, but no pricing info, etc. I'm sure that would depend on how many Tegus he actually hatched anyway.

 

[chris allen]

Turn a blind eye to what truth, and what lie?

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You know what, I apologize for even posting and cluttering this place up. I should have known better before posting that it was pointless and would get nowhere.

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There's bad seeds anywhere you go, but take the time to make your own judgements.

That's exactly what I was saying. I do not think the people are bashing him, so much as warning other people about a possible scam or animal mill. That doesn't mean that he is or is not. It's just a heads up to look before they leap.

Dude.....this guy was called a quack. If thats not bashing I don't know what is. Come on, most people that have been in the herp hobby or industry for awhile either have heard or know his name. Plus it's easy enough to google it. It's not like he just appeared out of thin air.

 

[Toby_H]

I wish the link was still there so I could review it before posting...

I think it's fairly well known, as it should be, that only 6 Blue Tegus have ever entered the Pet Trade from the wild... and that all Blue Tegus born in captivity are the inbred results of those offspring...

If I remember correctly from a a couple days ago when I did read his add... he collected many Blues from multiple sources and hand selected a few he chose to breed. This is still inbreeding, which is unavoidable when breedign Blue Tegus... But it appeared to me he is selectively breeding for the 'right' qualities (health & temperment as opposed to color or size).


It seemed to me he is making the best of a bad situation...